After our return from the southern climes just before Christmas 2024, the low temperatures of Blightly and the dismal skies encouraged us to seek some sunny warmth. Frances checked out the weather in the northern hemisphere and concluded that the best place for some winter warmth was the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa. A last minute short holiday was booked on Tenerife – Los Cristianos.
As well as chilling out we managed three trips, a boat trip to see the pilot whales and dolphins, the capital city of Santa Cruz and finally a trip to Mount Teide.
As this was a chillout holiday, I kept my iPhone camera more in my pocket than out. The highlight of this trip was a visit to the plateau of Mount Teide. We were hoping to ascend the volcano, but alas, the windy conditions at the summit of 12,188 ft on a gondola closed the facility down for the day.
Our trip to Mount Teide included a visit to see the impressive Los Gigantes Cliffs and then the most challenging road trip we’ve ever had, to the old pirate village of Masca. Originally an aboriginal Guanche settlement before the Spanish conquest in 1496. Situated at an altitude of 2,130 ft in the Macizo de Teno mountains, which extend to the northwesternmost point of Tenerife. Today the village is home to approximately 90 residents and free-range avocado trees!
The volcano Teide was a sacred mountain for the aboriginal Guanches, its summit at 12,188 ft makes it the highest point in Spain and the highest above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic. Teide is the third-highest volcano in the world.
Teide started forming 170,000 years ago and remains an active volcano. The volcano and its surroundings make up Teide National Park, which has an area of 147,000 acres. Teide is the most visited natural wonder and national park in Spain and Europe and, by 2015, the eighth most visited in the world, with some 3 million visitors yearly. In 2016, it was visited by 4,079,823 visitors and tourists, reaching a historical record.
An astronomical observatory is located on the slopes of the mountain, taking advantage of the good weather, and the altitude, which puts it above most clouds and promotes stable Astronomical seeing.
Regretfully the gondola to the summit was closed for the day, owing to the wind strength, which is not uncommon at the top of the volcano. I had to settle for ‘plugging it’ to ensure that we could explore the area.
On our return, we visited the tree huggers at Pino Gordo, perhaps the largest pine tree east of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a well-known Canarian Pine (Pinus canariensis) in the village of Vilaflor. It is close to 32 feet in circumference and 147 feet tall.
Finally, a walk from Los Cristianos to Costa Adeje, we gazed up at the Hardrock Cafe guitar and magnificent facade. As well as noting that you can take the pie eaters out of Wigan but you can’t take Wigan out of the pie eaters!
ooOoo