Clouds make the sky look more interesting

Clouds make the sky look more interesting - that's what I tell myself, anyway. The weather is changable in the Canary Islands during winter, and no-where more so than on little El Hierro, first in line as it is for the Atlantic squalls. It's been giving me some good practice at capturing clouds at their best.

Today I hiked up a few kilometers into the mountains from my hotel in search of Arbal Santo Garoe, the sacred tree of the Bimbache. Technically it's the site of said tree, as the original was blown down in a storm circa 1600, but they planted a new one in 1949 and I thought that as good a goal as any.

The clouds scudded by as I climbed, rewarding me with a big burst of sunshine when, after a few wrong turns, I finally found The Sacred Tree. I had time to grab a few shots of the view and then, as I paid my respects to The Tree itself, the cloud rolled in and enveloped me. Most of the walk down was in (and then under) cloud/rain, but I'd found The Tree so that was fine.

Today's weather was wetter than the last couple of days - I caught a good bit of tan yesterday whilst exploring the volcanic wastes in the North West - but clouds have been a feature every day. Keeping to my cloud-based theme here's one typical shot from each day so far.

PS Sorry for not blogging earlier, internet access is somewhat erratic out here

View down to the sea from Arbal Santo Garoe: The Sacred Tree

Shafts of light pierce the clouds at Mirador de la Pena

Rain rolling in as the sun sets, taken from the coast road high above Playa del Verodal