GETTING THERE
the whiteness. Ahead across the sea, the peak of Teide on Tenerife, her flanks draped in snow, rises out of the mist like a Greek statue guarding its modesty. As we trek across the snow in a silence broken only by the occasional chirrup of an insect, the world seems a million miles away, the landscape almost lunar.
A raven visits us at lunch, a raptor soars overhead, and occasionally we step aside to allow a Lycra-clad mountain runner to sprint past at improbable speed like a gazelle in racing colours. Otherwise, we are alone.
The other-worldliness deepens as the golfballs of the Roque de los Muchachos observatory pop into view.
Conditions on the Caldera make it among the very best places in the world to explore the deepest reaches of the universe.
Among the bank of telescopes is the Magic (yes, there’s more than one kind of enchantment on this island), a massive concave mirror searching space for dark matter. PACKAGE HF Holidays is offering a seven-day guided walking holiday on La Palma including flights, transport and en-suite half board accommodation at the Parador de la Palma from £949 per person. Walk tall: Barbara Lantin trudged through snow and climbs above the cloud;
Together with Tenerife, La Palma is the most volcanically active of the Canary Islands with seven eruptions since the Spanish occupation in the 15th century, the most recent in 1971.
Reassuringly, none were especially devastating, but there is no escaping their effects.
At Fuencaliente — the name means warm spring, but the source was buried in an eruption — we cross the southernmost lava field of the Cumbre Vieja (old summit) ridge that runs like a spine down the centre of the island.
Every kind of lava crunches beneath our feet from the fine ash or picón on which flourish the distinctive creeping vines of La Palma to larger coals and rubble-like boulders.
This is not a monochrome landscape. Small plants of an almost fluorescent yellow-green make the wilderness resemble a garden.
And lava itself is not uniformly black, but shot through with streaks of rust red, orange and even cream. a street in La Palma
In fact, the whole island is splashed with colour. Houses painted pistachio, vermilion, citrine and terracotta, verdant forests and lush banana plantations stand out against stark hills, ravines and valleys.
A striking contrast hits the eye as we descend to sea level and see below us the red and white stripes of the Fuencaliente lighthouse and beside it, the checkerboard of the salt pans.
These produce half a million kilos of salt annually through evaporation of sea water through a series of pools. The product is deliciously delicate, but sadly, not available in the UK.
Another walk takes us through the “magic tunnel” to the sunnier west side of the island. Here we follow old mule paths through precipitous gorges above a cobalt sea from Tinizara to Tazacorte. Rob points out edibles — including loquats, custard apples and prickly pear — and birdlife: wagtail, blue tits and — yes — a canary. A kestrel sweeps above us. The day finishes on the black sand beach of Puerto de Tazacorte, a tiny resort backed by brilliantly-coloured houses and fringed with dark hills.
By the end of the week I am exhausted but exhilarated. Every night I devour the wholesome three-course meals provided by our hotel, the Parador de la Palma (there is always a fish option) and sleep deeply in my room overlooking the Atlantic.