Fiesta of San Antonio, Garafia

This weekend, it was the largest fiesta on La Palma - the fiesta of San Antonio del Monte. And luckily for us it's only a 20-minute drive away so we definitely weren't going to miss that opportunity! In fact, the fiesta is held over several days as the Saint's Day of June 12th is always celebrated and then the nearest weekend to it. And if the Saint's day and the weekend happen to be very close together, then the celebrations merge and it becomes a four day event.
The whole fiesta takes place, if you didn't guess, at a place called San Antonio in Garafia, which is between La Zarza archaeological park and Llano Negro in the north west of  La Palma. If you drive to San Antonio when there is no fiesta, then you will wonder what on earth this great big flat area is with nothing there other than a church, children's playground and a range of stone-built BBQ cabins. Just wait until the fiesta when you'll be joined by approximately 2000 other people!

Saturday is the big day as this is when there is most music, food and dancing. Hey, you do like dancing don't you? Well, if are not too keen, you can always watch but there is plenty else to do and really something for everybody.

For children, there is the climbing wall and rope slide which is supplied by Garafia Aventura - well done guys, those kids were having a great time!
There are also lots of stalls offering a range of items such as Mexican blankets, cowboy hats, sunglasses, jewelry, fishing rods and also a whole section with handmade artesenia items such as jewelry made from dragon tree seeds, leather and materials.

There is also a dog agility competition and best of breed with the pastor Garafiano dogs (Garafian shepherd dogs), a competition for the best of La Palma cheese and wines made on the island but one of the big attractions is the animals. At San Antonio, you'll be able to see goats, pigs, horses, donkeys, mules and about as many cows and bulls as you could wish for.

One of the things I quite like to watch is a competition where the oxen, working in pairs, pull a weighted sled. The oxen have to complete a timed circuit with the sled and after each successful circuit, more weight is added until a winner is declared. By the time we finished watching, the weights were up to 700k - tough guys!

But the basis of the fiesta has a religious significance and is to celebrate Saint Antonio. On the Saturday, the Saint is taken from the church and paraded around the grounds held high on a plinth carried at shoulder height by the devoted. This is a real honour and the hour long procession is accompanied by more than a hundred followers and brass band with the bearers being changed many times.

Towards the end of the day on Saturday, the animals are awarded prizes after which dancing, eating and drinking goes on well into the night. Literally hundreds of people camp overnight, or several nights so as to avoid the wearisome process of going home when there is still plenty of fun to be had.
And Sunday ... it's time for mass.
Hope to see you at San Antonio next year! Meanwhile, here are some random photos for you.

Which is the best month in the Canaries?

When people ask which is our favourite month on La Palma, it's always difficult to answer. Each month and season has something special to recommend it!
Spring is of course fabulous for the wild flowers - great bundles of sweet peas that line the donkey paths and always in the vibrant colours of hot pink and stunning magenta, terraces blanketed in purple and yellow and bright red poppies springing up wherever they get the notion.  But then winter is pretty great - after all, the winter sun is what a lot of people come to the Canaries for. Summer is lovely with long days in the garden, swimming or beach combing down at our local beach of La Fajana de Garafia just a 12 minute drive away and the nightly chorus of crickets and frogs.  And autumn is also beautiful with the colours as the chestnut tree leaves turn to amber and we are picking baskets full of figs from the trees on the finca.
We have a special reason the look forward to May though because this month heralds the start of when we get both a sunrise and a sunset from the finca. Crazy I know!  
Here's a photo of our lovely sunrise as we look east towards Barlovento.

A sunrise is definitely worth getting out of bed for and is so inspirational. And of course for those who are planning a long walk, then an early start during summer is usually advisable - great to have bed and breakfast accommodation right by the GR130 walking route in that case!

And then in the evening, we can enjoy the sunset. And that's the great thing about sunsets, you never know if it's going to be fiery and fill the sky with the intense glow of a volcano erupting.

Or gracefully slip down in the sea.

Whichever theme it chooses, it's always a magic sight.

And to think that when we came to live here in Garafia in the north of La Palma, we didn't knkow if we would see either the sunrise or sunset at all. You can read the story about it on our 'Relocating to the Canaries' here.

Road works between Los Sauces and Barlovento

Still on the subject of roads on La Palma, the road improvements in the north east have entered their second phase.
After a long pause from when the first phase finished, we are really pleased to see them going ahead again (in the hope that this will finally be it!). However, this does inevitably mean potential delays and even closures while they have a 'good old bash' without cars going by.

Here are the details:
Between Los Sauces and Barlovento, the road will be closed Monday to Friday as follows -
09.00 - 11.00hrs
11.30 - 01.30hrs
16.00 - 19.00 hrs
To put it another way and be abundantly clear, it is only open 11.00 to 11.30hrs, 01.30 to 16.00hrs and after 19.00hrs.
This is in place until 24th May.