La Gomera, Canary Islands
On our second day in the Canary Islands we visited the island of La Gomera, one of the geologically oldest and also one of the most remote of the western islands. La Gomera is characterized by deeply eroded volcanic rocks and in the center of the island, the lava that filled the necks of the original volcanic pipes stand high as the resistant erosional remnants after the rest of the volcanic lava has been eroded away. The entire landscape of the island is comprised of very steep slopes, with nearly vertical faces in many places. There are a number of quite challenging hiking trails all over the island and some of us took one of these while others of us enjoyed a thrilling bus ride along the narrow and winding mountain roads.
Because the geographic relief of the island is so pronounced, the original inhabitants of the island, the Guanche, developed a whistling language to communicate across the deep valleys. The language, called “Silbo,” contains four consonants and four vowels, and while it once was used to communicate in the Guanches’ language it was long ago adapted to Spanish. Now when a Silbador, such as Luis (who entertained us at lunch with a demonstration of his skill), uses the language to communicate in Spanish, the words are quite recognizable. The language almost died out, as during the Franco years it was forbidden to use it, but today there is a major effort to revive it and it is taught in schools and passed around by Silbadors like Luis to the young people of the island.
On our second day in the Canary Islands we visited the island of La Gomera, one of the geologically oldest and also one of the most remote of the western islands. La Gomera is characterized by deeply eroded volcanic rocks and in the center of the island, the lava that filled the necks of the original volcanic pipes stand high as the resistant erosional remnants after the rest of the volcanic lava has been eroded away. The entire landscape of the island is comprised of very steep slopes, with nearly vertical faces in many places. There are a number of quite challenging hiking trails all over the island and some of us took one of these while others of us enjoyed a thrilling bus ride along the narrow and winding mountain roads.
Because the geographic relief of the island is so pronounced, the original inhabitants of the island, the Guanche, developed a whistling language to communicate across the deep valleys. The language, called “Silbo,” contains four consonants and four vowels, and while it once was used to communicate in the Guanches’ language it was long ago adapted to Spanish. Now when a Silbador, such as Luis (who entertained us at lunch with a demonstration of his skill), uses the language to communicate in Spanish, the words are quite recognizable. The language almost died out, as during the Franco years it was forbidden to use it, but today there is a major effort to revive it and it is taught in schools and passed around by Silbadors like Luis to the young people of the island.
