The weather?, No, not much to say about that, and not much to do with it, either, except talking about it. By the way, an unusual habit people in the North have. On La Gomera noone mentioned the weather. It just was there, anyway. All the time. Of course, it changed from time to time, but mainly we had 23°C during the day, and 16°C at night.

Except when the wind came over from Sahara, with a fine dust in the air, falling down all over, both inside and outside, while the ocean also got upset... (More about this in our Beach-story).

But at our place it was nice and cosy (picture at left, and picture below). Except when the wind from Sahara came whirling down the mountain-side. Then nothing was quiet during late night-hours.

During daytime it was a bit quieter - and even if it blew from time to time,
it was very quiet and cosy on our roof. And my wife really estimated how fast her
laundry dried - almost before she got it up there.
Our house has 4 apartments on the upper floor, and 1 larger one down below.

Of course we ought to write something more scientific about the weather.
La Gomera is in the subtropic zone, and the trade-wind comes normally from the South,
thus getting rid of a lot of humidity up in the mountains - that's when you have what
they call 'horizontal rain', which is something special for La Gomera, we have been
told but not yet seen.

When high pressure in winter lies above the Azores, and low pressure around Greenland,
then the weather-people say it is just as it should be. Then we have 'normal' winter
back home in Norway, and so it is just the right time to go to La Gomera.
Then, suddenly the weather changes, and it snows on Pico de Teide in Tenerife,
and the temperature drops down to 12°C at night. Can you imagine that!

Just the contrary when Sahara-wind comes along. Then the temperature hits 31°C during
daytime, and drops to 25°C at night. At the same time they measure 22 in
Oslo (Norway), but that was at the other end of the thermometer.

They say they have rain in 69 of the 365 days every year, but when it rains,
it only rains at one place at a time - the sun is shining on the rest of the island.

There are not too many hotels and apartments on La Gomera.
Well, there have been built a lot the past few years, and more to come.
Quite a few landlords let you have their space for at least for one week at a time.
We stayed here for almost 3 weeks, and had to pay 5.000 Ptas a day. Some people rent
for less than that - others pay more. Much more. Modern times also have reached
Valle Gran Rey, and some people have begun counting money.

We have been told that you still in some places on La Gomera, may have a room
for two from 2.000 to 3.500 Ptas. If you are travelling on your own, you often get hints
on where to stay in the restaurants or in a bar - or by the taxi-driver. But it is not
unusual then, that their commission is included on your bill.

Again, we are not to sure if it is up to us to tell other people how and where they can
spend the night, but as a first-time visitor we were well satisfied with our apartment,
and gladly recommend our agent to you, if you wish to try.
Write or call, or send a fax (in spanish or english) to Juan:
Viaje Gran Rey, S.L.
Borbalan s/n.
ES-38 870 Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera
Islas Canaria (Kanariøyene), Spania
phone: 34 922 805 480   fax: 34 922 805 293

Scandinavians may contact me by e-mail.

As mentioned earlier - you could go on and write, write and write about
all there is here on the island, but one good hint if you want to try it for yourself,
there is the book written by Nicholas Albery. E-mail: rhinos@ntlworld.com
You can read the first 11 pages free on this URL and we recommend that (english):
http://www.gomera.org.uk/
and the book itself contains several phonenumbers and addresses
for accommodation all over the island.