Our Canary Islands adventure got off to a good start on the island of Tenerife. We spent the first full day walking around the capital city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the attached (original capital) city of La Laguna, where we decided to base our activities. There is a tram system between the two that works very well, and we used that to move around both places which were very walkable, although slightly slanted towards the water. The pedestrian-friendly La Laguna downtown area, with it's colonial charm was our favourite of the two.
The next day we drove around the island with our rental car. None of the Canary Islands are large, and we mixed in about 4 hours of driving with 5 different stops totaling the same. The hairpin turns at the south end of the island made for incredible cliff side views for the navigator, while the driver was consumed with the narrow road and oncoming traffic. Many viewpoint stops allowed both of us to relax and enjoy the vistas. Puerta de la Cruz, with it's seaside walls and picturesque streets was a fave, along with Playa de las Americas with it's lively waterfront promenade and spots to relax with a drink and enjoy the atmosphere.
We saved today for our drive to Mount Teide, the highest peak in all of Spain and the 3rd highest volcano peak in the world (behind Hawaii's two), near the south end of the island. The sky was totally blue and we envisioned views from the top of the crater that would allow us to see all seven of the Canary Islands. The road there was fabulous.........wide enough for two large vehicles to pass one another, nicely paved and with a gradual climb from the sea that did not involve switchbacks. The views were incredible along the way, with viewpoints showcasing shorelines on both sides of the island. Then the trouble started. We arrived at the cable car station.......I had discovered a day earlier that hiking up required a special permit.......to find a multitude of other vehicles all searching for a parking spot when the few scattered lots around were all full. Similar to our national parks they do not want to encroach on the land, which in this case is filled with lava rock. It took us an hour to find a parking spot until we tripped over a vehicle about to depart. It became obvious that they need to consider making a change like the NP does in Zion (Utah) and other popular places we have ventured to, where they create a large parking lot away from the precious land and then bus visitors in and out to avoid the mayhem. We then walked about a kilometre up a hill to the station, only to find out the cable car was sold out for the day.......before noon! It kind of reminded me of our Taj Mahal experience in India. Once again we made the best of a bad situation which was not hard to do with an incredible volcanic landscape around us. We drove a bit further along to Roques de Garcia where we were able to walk amongst lava pinnacles which had outlasted the terrain around them. The Visitor Centre had a descriptive video of the island's creation and volcano history (English headphones) which soothed our sad souls. The one hour drive back to La Laguna was just as enjoyable as the drive out.
Tomorrow we will leave Tenerife and take the 80 minute ferry to Gran Canaria where we re-start our engines.
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| My bride at the Museum of Modern Art in Santa Cruz de Tenerife trying to create her own wall masterpiece. Actually, it was a collection of old magazines, with scissors and glue available for visitors to create their own tiny, creative piece of art. it was interesting and fun to view how different people's minds worked. |
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| Looking back at Plaza Europa in Santa Cruz while walking one of their pedestrian-friendly streets. |
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| We fell in love with this building in La Laguna while walking around. Did you already notice the mustachioed face resemblance they have created? |
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| While in La Laguna I had a tasty pulpo (octupus) dinner, almost as good as my Camino de Santiago meal a few years ago. |
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| Our drive around the island of Tenerife began with this wonderful view of Mount Teide above the clouds. |
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| The fascinating seafront of Puerto de la Cruz on the west side of the island. It was easy to walk around with many sights and left us wondering if we should have chosen this city as our base. |
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| At the point where I decided that my driver needed a break from the narrow road hairpin turns at the south end of the island. This hill seems to be collapsing one small segment at a time. I would certainly be worried if I owned a property at the base of the hill. |
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| Your greeting when you arrive at the ticket window for the cable car to the peak of Mount Teide. In whatever language you prefer, it is not the news you were hoping for. |
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The view a short distance from where we parked (bottom left) to get to the cable car. They really need to do something about the access since interest in Mt. Teide is growing almost as fast as the frustration level of the visitors. I can envision another eruption happening soon, but this time at the base of the cable car station.
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| Roques de Garcia - the lava pinnacle on the right is called The Cathedral. A smaller volcano once existed on this site and the pinnacle is the hardened lava which emerged from the centre of the volcano and outlasted the surrounding terrain around it. |
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