We left Madeira under a clearing sky heading south toward the Canaries. Once outside the harbor we saw a beautiful, four-masted bark called the Kruzenshtern, a Russian sail training ship. Altering course we sailed close by the drifting bark. After circling her and waving to her ship's complement, we saluted with three blasts from our horn and she replied. We resumed our heading south for St. Miguel de la Palma. As the sky cleared we watched for a green flash but waited in vain as the horizon retained a few low-lying clouds.
Overnight we continued on calm seas and at breakfast time could see La Palma in the distance. By noon we were docked behind the breakwater ready for our afternoon excursion.
As we climbed higher on the eastern side of the island we came closer and closer to the clouds. We were in the trades and on the windward side of the island where most of the precipitation is. The ravines were filled with introduced chestnut trees. Near the peak we entered a 1,100-foot long tunnel which led to the western side of the island. The transformation in the vegetation was dramatic. The chestnuts disappeared and were replaced by Canary Island Pines, which reminded some of us of the Ponderosa Pine country of the American West.
Our destination was the caldera on the western slope of the island. With peaks jutting nearly vertically above the pass where we parked our buses, we began a hike along a woods road through the steep hillside. Choughs, crow-sized birds found only on La Palma, flew acrobatically among the trees and called distinctively from their perches.
Islands are famous for endemic species, those that are found no where else and the Canaries are no exception to this phenomenon. As we walked the trail we saw a small, brown bird, hopping tamely in the trail. It bobbed its tail, showed white feathers on the sides of its tail and had streaks on its breast. All of these characteristics define a pipit. Indeed, this pipit is found only in the Canaries and is called a Berthelot's Pipit after an ornithologist who studied the fauna of the island in the early 19th century.
The pines dominated the landscape so much so there was little understory. Low growing shrubs of the genus, Cistus, covered the ground. It seemed as there were only two species of plants in all of the caldera, a tree and a shrub. As we walked along the steep hillside we marveled at the beauty stretched out before us. We were especially struck by the quiet except when the birds sang. It was a magical walk.
