After fare-welling our son Andrew at JFK we flew out on New Years Eve for Tenerife, Canary Islands. Arriving late afternoon we took a taxi to our Airbnb with reasonable ease and were met by our host. A spacious apartment, brightly decorated and very comfortable. With our hosts living upstairs. During our stay they were a big help and with limited English/Spanish there were a lot of laughs. We used google translate often. The next day we headed to the grocery store, a short walk, for basics. I do enjoy strolling around a grocery store to see the different produce as I figure out a menu plan. Oh the ham! We contemplated renting a car however after observing the driving habits of the locals, changed our minds. The bus system on Tenerife is great, you can go anywhere with relative ease so this was our preferred mode of transport. The TITSA buses are modern, on time and comfortable. After a couple of days sight seeing the local areas of Santa Cruz with its lovely plaza and municipal park and San Cristobol de la Laguna, an ancient capital with several old churches and museums a very long and interesting history.
San Cristobol de La Laguna
Our next stop was Puerto de La Cruz, we had a small apartment with a big view. The city had a lovely esplanade and beautiful black sand beaches. The water was warm enough to swim for David, not me though, I enjoyed people watching. The next day was a highlight as we hiked along a coastal walk called Rambla de Castro that hugs the coastline with spectacular views. We enjoyed a picnic lunch along the way. At the end point we managed to find a bus back into town.
The following day was another day of big views. A very scenic bus ride to El Teide in the Teide National Park. First stop the chair lift to almost the top of the volcano with an elevation of 3,555 meters, also very cold at 1C. Could really feel the thin air. There were walking tracks stretching all around the volcano with more spectacular views even with the amount of cloud.
From one mountain to another. A bus ride to Punta del Hidalgo and our most favorite view, the balcony was a dream and we couldn't stop pinching ourselves. Our next mountain trek was an 11 to 12 kilometer climb to a 700 mtr elevation it was tough as we didn't take enough water and once reaching the top the long anticipated restaurant was closed so back down we went. That cold drink at the bottom was the best.
A bus ride into the laurel forest of Cruz del Carmen was our last adventure in the Canary islands. Again the landscape was different, this was lush with more of a rainforest. The track we hiked was an ancient road used by local people. We encountered our first rain whilst waiting for the bus back to town
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Great pictures!
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