Along the 12.2 km of this Stage of the trail, which runs between the towns of La Dama y Alajeró, the hiker will go through several ravines and wide ridges, crossed by terraces and dotted with small rural settlements and villages with a great heritage of traditions and culture. These combined elements define the harmonious and beautiful landscape characteristic of the south of La Gomera.
Stage 6 of Nature Trail Costas de La Gomera begins in the village of La Dama. This small town located on a wide ridge formed between the ravines of Erque and of Iguala has the largest area in the whole island devoted to the cultivation of bananas.
After walking along the main street of the village, a few meters before reaching the shrine of Ntra. Sra. de las Nieves, the trail descends along a set of steps until it reaches the recently upgraded motorway leading to the beach of La Rajita. At this point, hikers should be extremely careful, since they must walk down a roadway for some 70 m until reaching a directional post that marks the point where they should turn right. Here begins a steep and twisty descent to the beach of La Rajita, in the place where the ravine of La Rajita meets the sea. The traveler is now in the lower Stage of Paisaje Protegido de Orone (Protected Landscape of Orone), which extends into the inner part of the island and includes within its confines important geomorphological features such as Fortaleza de Chipude, being also home to several endemic species like the tree Euphorbia (Euphorbia lambii) and several species of succulents or Crassulaceae(Aeoniums sp.)
Along this winding and steep descent, hikers can enjoy spectaculars views of the beach of La Rajita, one of the few beaches with access by road in the southern part of the island, flanked by the vertical cliffs of el Viejo and, a little further along the trail, the point of la Nariz, which juts impressively into the Atlantic Ocean.
Once we reach the ravine, walking between balos (Plocama pendula) and asters (Launaea arborescens), we see several semi-abandoned buildings belonging to an old cannery that was located in this place. This old salting factory, still in operation until the seventies, processed the abundant fish of the tuna family or of tuna-like species fished in the waters off the southern coast of the island, such as tuna and mackerel. At present, the old jetty and some buildings are still standing as silent witnesses of a once flourishing fishing industry which acted as one of the key economic engines of the island.
Returning to the trail, we now walk along the road for about 130 m, heading away from the beach. Then, the road turns right and crosses the wide ravine along a path with a cobblestone surface that is not very well defined, to reach a place where there is a small transformer; then we begin a steep ascent along the rocky hillside, climbing up from the bottom of the ravine.
In the course of this zigzagging ascent, hikers can enjoy again good views of the beach of La Rajita. There are not many changes in the vegetation, which is dominated by balos, magarzas or marguerite daisies (Argyranthemum frutescens) and Euphorbias, while, in the last part of the ascent, we also find beautiful specimens of cardón or Canary Islands spurge (Euphorbia canariensis), which is a more evolved stage of the plants found in spurge communities and cactus groves, and only grows in rocky escarpments difficult to get to, like this one.
The ascent up the basalt slope ends when we reach the ridge of Pelé, where the trail branches off to the left, toward Arguayoda, and we pass by the track that leads to the beach of La Negra to the right. After a gentle ascent along the slopes of Cañada de Pelé, and after reaching the hill of Los Roquillos (on the right side of the trail), the path continues along the lengthy ridge of Arguayoda, moving away from the ravine of La Negra, on the right side of the trail. The unmistakable profile of Fortaleza de Chipude looms on the horizon, over a landscape of long terraces covered in winter by a green layer of grass that, with the arrival of summer, is transformed into a great golden carpet.
A few meters before the village, we reach an asphalted Stage of the road that leads to this small town, where an excellent artisan goat cheese is produced. After going around the small shrine of San Sebastián, whose feast day is held on January 20, a small pebbled and stepped road leads to the Valle Alto neighborhood. After crossing this part of the village, we reach a junction with the motorway that goes up the ridge of Arguayoda, passing by the rural towns of El Mantillo and El Drago, and the shrine of Ntra. Sra. del Buen Paso. Looking back, we can enjoy the view of the small village surrounded by a palm grove, like an oasis with the blue of the Atlantic Ocean as a perfect backdrop for this beautiful picture.
The road enters again the protected landscape of Orone, with views of the terraced slopes of the glen of Tabuchón. Around the ravine, several agricultural terraces are still in use in which potatoes are grown taking advantage of the moisture created by the presence of the ravine. After passing by a shepherds’ shelter at the foot of the rocky hillside, the trail offers stunning views of the ravine of la Negra (Barranco de la Negra), with the beach of la Negra in the place where the ravine meets the sea.
Moving away from a path that leads to a small group of houses in the hamlet of La Manteca, we reach the glen of Fragoso (Cañada de Fragoso), where there are a few scattered palm trees that thrive on the humid environment created by the small ravine. Then, a smooth descent takes us into the heart of the ravine of la Negra, first through the ravine of Cinco Palmas, traversed by a well-kept pebbled path that runs between palm trees and small ponds, and, after the abandoned hamlet of Casas de la Negra, along the ravine of Almagrero, where palm trees, spurge and century plants have invaded the derelict terraces, once fertile and profitable.
The trail ascends now along a twisty path that gains altitude gradually, until reaching the top of the ridge of La Sabinita or hillock of Los Almácigos, from where we can enjoy good views of the slopes of mount La Cabeza, with numerous small caves on its walls, and mount Oveja in the background.
After walking past two abandoned houses, hikers reach a water tank located under mount La Cabeza, where the trail turns left and continues along an asphalt road. A gentle descent takes us to a small hill and mountain pass known as Degollada de la Negra, from where we can glimpse the ravine of Almagrero on one side (to the left in front of us) and on the other the ravine of Charco Hondo (to the right), each more spectacular than the other. This road Stage is shared with vehicles; after some 400 m, the trail branches off to the right, passing by an isolated house, where a directional post indicates the distance to the village of Alajeró: 2.4 km from this point.
A few meters ahead, in the vicinity of the town of Magaña, there is a modest building where it is possible that some of the goats that graze on the hills may jump out to meet us, and, if we are lucky, we might also appreciate the skill of the shepherds making the traditional leap with “astia” (pole) that allows them to negotiate with great skill the terraced hillsides in search of their flocks.
On a gentle descent, we can soon see a particularly appealing nook, the ravine of Charco (Barranco del Charco) and its ponds. We follow the route, passing just above a small pond surrounded by plants characteristic of these ravines, such a palm trees, prickly pears, balos and century plants in the more humid areas, and spurge and gorse in the driest areas, which are located in the middle and upper parts of the slopes.
The trail winds up the slopes of Tapopay and reaches the point of the same name, where the narrow path is followed by an asphalt road that takes us to Alajeró. It is well worth making a stop to enjoy the scenery of green ravines dotted with small rural settlements and villages and slender palm trees.
At the head of this ravine we can see the oldest dragon tree or drago (Dracaena draco) in La Gomera, the well-known drago of Agalán. This long-lived tree - emblem of the municipality of Alajeró - is more than 400 years old and has miraculously survived the devastating fire that razed the valley in 2012, as has a small house surrounded by a beautiful palm grove that is visible form this point in the ravine of Tajonaje.
Already on the road, the trail continues, skirting mount Castilla and offering picturesque views of the mountain of Calvario, crowned by the shrine of San Isidro, which looks quite small up there on top of the promontory. The trail reaches now Fagundo Street - in the village of Alajeró - leading to the town hall square, where this Stage of the nature trail comes to an end.
Here visitors should not miss the church of San Salvador, built in the seventeenth century and a beautiful example of neo-classical architecture, with one of the oldest sculptures in La Gomera – Jesus Christ Crucified (sixteenth century) – and a distinctive façade built entirely in stone.
The leap with astia (pole) or shepherds’ leap appeared in response to the challenges created by the need to move quickly and safely through the rugged terrain of the island, and has become a part of the cultural heritage and identity of the Canary Islands.
The astia, as it is called in La Gomera, consists of a tapered wooden pole or rod (palo) in the form of a truncated cone, about two meters long and with a metal tip acting as a spear head (regatón), which is usually protected with a leather bit (cuero o calzoncillo).
In the past, a large part of the population used this technique in order to move from town to town across the steep and difficult terrain of the island, but the shepherds’ leap is now almost exclusively practiced by the few goatherds and shepherds who are still engaged in agricultural activities, although it has also become a non-competitive sport that keeps the tradition alive.
The Protected Landscape of Orone is comprised of two impressive ravines: the ravine of Erques-La Rajita and the ravine of La Negra, connected at their head by a common bed carved by erosion. It has an area of 1,788.1 ha, and altitudes ranging from 0 to 1,355 m, and is located in the municipalities of Vallehermoso and Alajeró.
This landscape is home to valuable endemic species such as the tree Euphorbia (Euphorbia lambii) and several species of Crassulaceae(Aeonium sp.). When it comes to bird life, particularly noteworthy are several nesting species associated with coastal habitats, such as the little shearwater (Puffinus assimilis), the Bulwer’s petrel (Bulweria buiwerii) and the osprey (Pandion haliaetus).
Part of this space is located in the surrounding area of Parque Nacional de Garajonay (National Park of Garajonay), designated as an ecologically sensitive area (ESA); additionally, there is another ecologically sensitive area in the lower part of the bed of the ravine of La Rajita. Within the park, we find Monumento Natural de La Fortaleza [Natural Monument of La Fortaleza], and very special “roques” or volcanic plugs such as those of La Fortaleza, Imada and Teremoche.
This area has high scenic and cultural value, consisting as it does of a landscape of traditional rural settlements integrated in scenery of rugged terrain carpeted with old agricultural terraces lining the steep hillsides.