Tenerife, Canary Islands

 Wednesday, 23 April, 2025

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Mount Teide on Tenerife

The Canary Islands are located just 62 miles from the African country of Morrocco, but they are an “autonomous community” of Spain.  Even though Spain is over 600 miles away.  Tenerife is the largest and most populous island and has a population of just under 1 million, nearly half of all the Canaries.  Tenerife hosts more than seven million tourists each year, making it by far the most visited island in the archipelago.  Because of it temperate climate, it is a popular destination for Europeans.  As expected, Spanish is the official language, but English as well as German are commonly understood.

Teide National Park, located in the center of the island, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and our destination for today.  It contains Mount Teide which has the highest elevation in Spain as well as all the islands in the Atlantic Ocean.  It also has the distinction of being the third-largest volcano in the world!  Teide is still considered an active volcano even though it has not erupted in well over two centuries (1798).  Its maximum height is 3,715 meters (12,188 feet), our adventure today will take us to about 3,500 meters (11,650 feet)!

We met our German friends for breakfast before walking from the ship to the car rental place.  We got there just as it opened at 8AM.  The attendant spoke nearly unaccented English, and I asked if was from the U.S.   He said he wished that we were true and if so, he would be there instead of here.  Turned out he was Cuban.  Jan mentioned that he went on Holiday there and they talked about those places as we checked in.  I was going to be a second driver, but he required my passport, and I did not bring it with me.  Dorothy was going to be doing the driving, which she seemed fine with.  The mid-sized car had a standard shift, I think most of them did, but Dorothy was comfortable with it and didn’t mind.  Jan and I got in back at his suggestion although it was a tight fit, especially for him.  He would help with navigation. 

Jan and Dorothy had visited this location previously on a family holiday, and Jan returned for a second time to ride a bicycle up the mountain.  That was 23 years and a few pounds ago. 

Our destination was the Teide Cableway, an aerial tramway that goes up Mount Teide.  Starting at its base station at 7,730 ft ASL, it ascends to the top station at 11,663.  It carries 44 people and takes 8 minutes traveling at 26 ft/sec.

Our route would take us through the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Dorothy did a great job of driving.  This is the first time in a long time that we are on the right side of the road.  Even in the city there were steep hills and not many streets went very far without going through a roundabout which required a lot of shifting as the car was not very powerful.  Soon we were on the outskirts and got serious about gaining altitude.  Curve after curve we edged our way upward on the two-lane seemingly narrow road which was full of sharp blind turns and hairpins.  Video: Dorothy negotiating curves

The terrain when we started was quite desert-like with cactus, sand and rocks, but now as we climbed, we entered into pine forests.  Some area quite dense, but most would make for fairly easy navigating aside from the continuous mountain climb.  We passed several pull over viewing areas because we had one in mind that contained a geocache. Video: Pull-over where cache is located We arrived there only to find that the cache, although only about 50 feet away, was about 120 feet nearly straight up a steep incline.  Jan and Dorothy did not feel safe attempting it and we should have as well, but Sue was already on her way.  So, I followed, picking my way up grabbing on to rocks and tree branches.  Video: Climbing for the cache   The pine trees had recently been burned and still had black soot on their surface.  New growth was sprouting everywhere but this was once a serious forest fire.  We finally arrived and the view of the Orotava Valley was fantastic from up there.  We both looked around and at first could not find the cache.  It would have been sad to have expended all this energy and not score the prize.  But we kept looking and I was happy when I moved a rock in a crevice and found the container hidden underneath.  We logged our find and made our way back down, feet first. 

Climbing through burned forest for cache

Sue signing log with 
Mount Teide in background

Our next stop was an Earth Cache, called La Tarta, or “The Cake”.  While excavating to build this road, they uncovered this terrain that tells the story of the different volcanic eruption over the centuries or even millennia.  Each one of the layers originates from a different eruption and was deposited over a period of days and weeks.  They even built an overlook so people could view it from above, although we took our pictures from the road.

"The Cake"

As we continue to climb, the forest is thinning and eventually we are above the tree line.  The topography is back to volcanic sand, rocks and brush.  We pass by the Teide Observatory, in operation since 1964. 

Teide Observatory

This is one of the three best spots in the world to observe the sky, along with Chile and Hawaii.  The observatory is located at an altitude of 7841 feet.  It offers tours but is not on our schedule. 

Jan has pre-purchased tickets for the cable ride which included a time of 11:20.   We arrive at the parking area which is quite full, and we must walk to get to the terminal.  We have time to visit the ever-present gift shop for Sue’s pin and some fabric.  Jan and Dorothy collect refrigerator magnets.

Video:  Cable Terminal

Our wait in the queue is not very long and soon we are on our way to the terminus which we can’t even see from the base station.   It was an ear-popping eight-minute ride, and we were glad to have dressed for the occasion as we can see splotches of snow in protected areas.  The sun is shining however, and it is another beautiful day.  I find it hard to believe that we have been blessed with such good weather this whole trip!  Video:  Waiting for our cable car

There are hiking paths going both directions, but our destination leads us to one particular direction where more caches are located.  This involves more climbing!  We make our way to the first one and since we are not supposed to deviate from the path, the cache should be within arm’s length.  We search for a short time without success, but Jan and I decide to proceed on.  Sue and Dorothy will continue to look for it. 

Jan making our way to next cache

Snow along the way

Remember, we are at 11,000 feet plus, the oxygen up here is scarce.  Both Sue and I admit to being a little dizzy.  Altitude sickness is a real thing to take into consideration.  Jan says the next cache is about 500 meters.  So off we go.  Why does everything seem to be uphill?  People are coming and going because the path dead ends eventually and you can only go further if you had obtained a permit to do so. 

Sulfur dioxide gas
escaping 

We pass an earth cache that draws our attention to a discoloration that is an opening for with an occasional wisp of vapor coming out that smells like sulfur dioxide which is indicative of volanos that are still active giving off these gases.  Smells like rotten eggs.  I venture over to it to touch one of the surrounding rocks as required.  They want to know if the rocks are cold, warm or hot.  They are warm to the touch as expected.  I hear a guide holler at me to get back on the trail, which I am happy to oblige.

We arrive at the coordinates for the regular cache, and we have no trouble locating it and recording the find.  There is one more Earth Cache that Jan want to visit.  It is at the end of the trail before further exploring would require a permit. 

Earth Cache for crater of
Pico Viejo volcano

End of trail without permit

We take the required selfies to claim credit.  We have been walking for over 30 minutes, and we are only supposed to be on the summit for one hour.  But what can they do?  We are confident there will not be a problem, it is designed to keep the traffic moving.  But there is no way to see even half of the views up here in that amount of time.

When we get to a place where there are no people around, it is amazingly quiet and peaceful.  I need to stop regularly to catch my breath and rest.  It is a wonderful place for reflection and to take in the magnificence of the place we call Earth.

I manage to take a video from the cable car on our way down.  My phone has already died once, but I brought along a portable charger to give it a boost.  Jan points out our next stop on the way down.  It is the Paradores Hotel and Restaurant.  We will have lunch there.  It is where he and family stayed while on Holiday here.  Video:  Return cable car

It was a short drive after disembarking the cable car walking back to the car.  There was a long line of cars, but Dorothy drove up to the entrance and the guard arm for the hotel guests happened to be up, so we took advantage and parked close to the entrance.  The lunchroom was just opening, and we enjoyed a lunch of some local favorites. 

Dining at Paradoras Hotel

Sue had a crusted prawn dish, Dorothy, a cheese plate and Jan and I had the papas arrugadas.  This is an iconic dish everyone says must be experienced. 

Sue's crusted prawn and
my "Papas" and dips

It is basically boiled new potatoes with a salted exterior, paired with red and green sauces.  We shared our dishes, and it was all very good and most enjoyable. 

We were running a little late, so we called for our bill and headed down the mountain.  We were unfortunate to get behind a tourist bus, which there were many.  It went very slow and had to stop on almost every tight turn to allow other cars to get by before taking up most of the road to get around.  This was really putting us in a quandary, we were coming up to a fork in the road which the shortest route was to the right but if we had to follow the bus all the way it would take forever.  We took the left fork longer but hopefully less time.

We are on top of the clouds but we have to get down
through them to get back.

This route took us down through the clouds which did not help the situation as they were quite dense and that slowed us down as well.  Once through the cloud cover, we had to go through the city of Puerto de la Cruz, then on to a freeway to our destination of Santa Cruz.  Before the freeway, Jan said google maps had us arriving at the car rental at 4:15!  All aboard was at 4:30.   It was at least a 10-minute walk from the car rental, so we were all a little anxious.  Once Dorothy got on the freeway, she put the pedal to the metal and we managed to gain a few minutes, but time was still tight.  The ship would not wait for people unless they were on a ship’s sponsored tour, we were not!

Thankfully we had no traffic problems and we arrived at the rental kiosk about 4:10 and we all made it back before they pulled up the gangplank. 

It had been a wonderful day and a fitting end to our shore experiences, with a little drama thrown in for good measure.

I hope you have enjoyed following along and I appreciated all the comments along the way.  I may post another blog or two while we visit Sue’s two sisters in England and Scotland.  We will see how it goes.

Until then…..