Benchijigua, a paradise that will be a trend this 2022
In the Canary Islands, as it is well known, what makes them different with the rest of Spain is nature, and even more so if you travel to La Gomera, that small island of just 370 square kilometers. And even more so if the traveler discovers the Benchijigua Integral Nature Reserve, where endemic and endangered species make up a large part of the reserve’s population. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why Benchijigua became one of the many protected landscapes of La Gomera.
Thus, among extensive laurel forests, sprout evergreens (evergreen plants that grow in rosette) or taginastes. Birds such as the common wood pigeon, the canary tit, the short-eared owl or the buzzard fly over them. Although these animals and plants are of great importance to the island, the elements that perhaps most interest travelers are the landscapes. In this field, the python or Roque de Agando and the cliffs that it has, take all the fame.
The Roque de Agando is probably the geological formation that attracts the most attention during a visit to the nature reserve. It is a phonolitic piton, that is, a relief of volcanic origin originated after the hardening of lava within a vein, lava flow or crater. In this case, the piton reaches 1,246.7 meters above sea level and emerges from the landscape as if it were a finger pointing to the sky. Roque de Agando is the most emblematic natural monument of the island. On the other hand, the ravine known as Benchijigua or Santiago cliff also offers a spectacular landscape in which the routes leave visitors speechless.
The reserve of Benchijigua with the Roque de Agando on the right. | Shutterstock
Located in the municipality of San Sebastián de La Gomera, capital of the island, and between the Benchijigua and La Laja ravines, access to the reserve is limited. Even so, it can be reached by more than one road. Either by the TF-713 road, which connects San Sebastián with Arure, by the forest track of this village, by the road that starts from the neighborhood of Las Toscas or by a private path.
In any case, entering the Benchijigua reserve, which has been said in Fitur 2022 to be one of the travel trends this year, is to enter a maze of different routes. The most remarkable is perhaps the one that connects the Agando cut throat area with the bottom of the Benchijigua ravine. The trail that joins the Guarimiar and Benchijigua ravines is also not far behind. In short, this place, next to the also protected landscapes Garajonay and Orone is a destination where the Canary Islands nature is discovered in all its splendour.
