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One of the world's most ancient forests, the mass of moss-cloaked laurel trees in the PARQUE NACIONAL DE GARAJONAY is La Gomera's most outstanding attraction. As many as four hundred species of flora, including Canary willows and Canary holly, and sixteen varieties of laurel flourish here among swirling mists. Atlantic trade winds barrelling against the island and condensing into cloud cause these mists and supply enough moisture for plants to thrive, producing a dense, light-blocking canopy and encouraging moss and lichen to smother everything. Up until the end of the tertiary period, around two million years ago, when ice ages wiped it out, laurel forest covered most of the Mediterranean region. This climate change had less of an effect on the Canaries, allowing last remnants of this dense forest to survive on damper islands such as Tenerife and La Gomera. When humans first arrived in La Gomera most of the island was covered in laurels, but logging has since restricted it to a relatively small upland area, protected since 1978 as a national park and registered as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Hikes in the cold, damp, atmospheric forest often head up the island's highest peak, Garajonay , where, when it's not too cloudy, great views spread over the dense tree canopy below and beyond to neighbouring islands. Some of the thickest and darkest forest is further north near the hamlet of El Cedro , home to the park's only (very limited) accommodation options. More readily accessible places to stay are just outside the park in the main upland town of Chipude , a good base for park exploration, and near the impressive mesa La Foraleza , a good short hike and once an important Guanches spiritual site.
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