La Gomera is like a little jewel among the Canary Islands of Spain. It stands on the Atlantic off the African coast. In terms of occupied area, La Gomera is ranked second-smallest amongst the 7 main islands in this group. It’s located at a nice position. At least the 28°06′N 17°08′W28.1°N 17.133°W coordinates have earned it a nice location amongst the canaries.

The government of this island (cabildo insular) remains in its capital city called San Sebastián. But what appeals people more about this island is the ecology. This island is originated from an oceanic volcano and is roughly circular in shape. It has occupied an area of around 22 kilometers (15 mi) in diameter. La Gomera is around 1487 meters (approximately 5000 feet) high at the pinnacle point called Garajonay.

The shape of this Island is pretty much compareable to an orange which is cut in half, then evenly split into some segments, which left profound ravines and barrancos in between. Such barrancos, are however enclosed by the rain forest called laurisilva (laurel). However, the higher reaches of the thickly wooded region remains virtually eternally shrouded under clouds and mild mist. By direct influence of such climatic conditions, this area is rich with lush as well as diverse vegetation, which form the confined environment of the Garajonay of Spain – an exotic National Park that was eventually declared as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites back in 1986. However, the slopes happen to be very criss-crossed because of the paths presenting a wide variety of levels of puzzle or difficulty to adventurous visitors. As a bonus, you get the stunning views, which most of the seasoned hikers love.

In La Gomera, some mountains in the central region actually catch lots of moisture from passing trade of wind clouds. This has contributed a lot in yielding a thick jungle climate which only got better a cooler air. But this contrasts a lot with the climatic conditions of the much warmer and sun-baked cliffs which are close to the sea levels. And in between such extremes you can finds a charming gamut of interesting microclimates. Throughout the past centuries, inhabitants in La Gomera always farmed on the lower levels. For doing this, they channeled runoff water for irrigating their vineyards, orchards or banana groves. In 2003 alone, around 19,580 people were living in La Gomera.

Wine lovers really adore the distinctive taste of the local wine. This local wine sometimes is coupled with a special tapa (snack) made out of the local cheese and roasted pork (which is substituted by goat meat sometimes). There are a wide selection of culinary specialties such as almogrote, cheese spread, or miel de palma, the exotic syrup mined from the local palm trees. The locals of this island have a one of a kind way to communicate across profound ravines through a really astonishing whistled speech known as Silbo Gomero. Such whistled language happens to be indigenous in La Gomera. It’s existence was documented throughout the Roman era. Many people believe that this speech was explored by the aboriginal inhabitants of La Gomera - the Guanches. However, Silbo Gomero had been adopted by some Spanish settlers back in the sixteenth century. This one survived when the Guanches ultimately died out. As this one of a kind means of communicating was highly threatened of extinction in the beginning part of the twenty first century, contemporary local government used to put mandatory laws so all the children goes to the school to learn.

In the La Gomera mountains, the aboriginal inhabitants used to worship their god, called Orahan. In that time; the island’s summit as well as center as the grand sanctuary. Truely, a large number of these natives started taking refuge in that so called sacred territory back in 1489, since they were faced with imminent defeat against the Spaniards. This, many historians say, earmarked the sunset of the La Gomera’s conquest.