Once at end of the world

In the not-too-distant past, before Christopher Columbus, this tiny island off the coast of Africa was the end of the world, the western extreme of early maps.

As I stepped on its black, volcanic shore, I tried to imagine that I didn't know the New World was only a jet plane ride away, or that international newspapers had arrived on the morning's first ferry boat from nearby Tenerife, an island that like La Gomera forms part of the Canary Islands archipelago.

I pictured La Gomera's only commercial port, San Sebastian, as Columbus would have seen it when he made a pit stop here before setting off for discovery: sparse, dry, a palace glaring at me from the cliff above the port and traders pushing native treats like goat cheese and fruits my way.

Reality wasn't terribly different, other than the fact that the huge steel boat I arrived in was filled with wet bars and television screens and that my first view of the land was of an enormous parking lot.

Columbus first landed on La Gomera in 1492. As the most westerly known land, it was a logical place to stock up on fresh food, but the island's widowed governess, a beauty so famous that a jealous Queen Isabella banished her from the peninsula, had more than a little to do with the fact the explorer put off his journey for nearly a month and made several later trips to the island.

Columbus, also widowed, was enchanted by the governess, Beatriz de Bobadilla, and by the island itself, which always enjoys spring-like temperatures and, although only 11 miles across, contains enough micro-climates to feel like an entire continent. Their story is one filled with passion, betrayal and other Hollywood-worthy elements. I was fascinated and so decided to focus my exploration of La Gomera on what theirs would have been like.

Tiptoeing behind Columbus and his beloved took me first to the streets of San Sebastian, the capital and largest town on the island. Past the noisy central plaza, where juice bars and newspaper stands are the only things competing with the neighborhood children's' soccer games,