There are less than 20, 000 people living on La Gomera. It’s a very small island but it has a very distinct and unique culture.

The “Gomerans” love their wine and cheese. The local wine produced here is very distinctive and is normally taken with a tapa of Gomerian cheese, roasted pork or goat meat.

Tradition has always been an important part of everyday life on La Gomera. The preservation of “Silbo” is a fine example of their commitment to traditional methods.

Silbo is a form of communication that’s completely unique to these islands. It’s a form of whistled speech that was used to communicate across large distances over the valleys.

Apparently, the locals can whistle a message the whole way around the La Gomera in just in 40 minuetes.

It was invented by the original inhabitants of the islands (the Guanches) and then adopted by the Spanish settlers in the 16th Century.

Silbo nearly died out during the first part of the 21st Century, so the government made it a compulsory for all school children to learn it.

La Gomera was Christopher’s Columbus’s last stop before his epic voyage in 1492 to discover the Americas. He stayed in a house in San Sebastian which has now become a major tourist attraction.