Garajonay National Park

The Garanjonay National Park is located in the center of the island of La Gomera. Since 1981, it is part of UENESCO’s world heritage, the highest title in natural preservation. The park occupies 40 square kilometers and it extends in each municipality of the island. It has the name of the Garanjonay Mountain, the highest point in the island, which culminates at 1484 meters in altitude.

It is the best example of laurisilva that you will find. The laurisilva is a humid tropical forest that in the Tertiary age occupied the majority of Europe. It is a dense forest that has been preserved in La Gomera thanks to the humidity in the peak of the island. It is almost always covered in clouds. It is a pity because you cannot see the surrounding islands, but the park is beautiful.

The central peaks of La Gomera, frequently enveloped by fog, maintain a fascinating forest, lush and dense, whose permanent greenness, frequently soaked in humidity, stands out from the dryness of the coast and the lower parts of the island.

This plant formation receives the name of laurisilva, which means laurel forest, since most of the wide variety of tree species that compose the forest have leaves that are similar to the laurel, which indicates its adaptation to the humid subtropical atmosphere and the soft temperatures that govern the foggy area of the north of the Canary Islands, where the laurisilva is stationed.

It is one of the most beautiful national parks! It seems taken out of a fairy tale and it feels as if gnomes are just around the corner, especially when the signs tell you not to get off the path since you can easily get lost.

I spent some time in the island of La Gomera and it is a wonderful place.