Yesterday we visited the historic little town of Betancuria which was built among the high mountains in the very centre of the island to protect it from pirates. This didn’t work and the town was attacked many times, the worst being in 1593 when the town was sacked and 600 captives were taken as slaves. The church was rebuilt in 1620.

It is situated in a very beautiful and fertile valley, full of flowers and palm trees.

We enjoyed lunch at a very quaint and pretty coffee shop in one of the oldest houses in the town.

These are the ruins of the Franciscan friary, built in 1414.

Nearby is one of our favourite walks through a dried up river bed between the mountains.

It is very remote with lots of unusual prehistoric plants and huge boulders.

We were thinking it reminded us of Jurassic Park...

and we quite expected to meet a T. Rex around the bend….

When, suddenly we came face to face with the skull of a massive pterodactyl….

Or was it just a rock?

Whatever that was, one thing is for sure, you are bound to meet plenty of goats. These little twins, gambolling over the rocks, were just a few hours old.