La Laguna

Getting out of the villa before noon seems an impossibility as the surroundings are so relaxing. We spoke to David and Rosemasry about the internet connection. They had kept saying it would be sorted out but yesterday the Telefonica chap came out and went away without resolving the problem. We need a connection to make contact with our friends the Jacksons who arrive here today.

David said he would sort it out by evening. We had planned a walk in the Orotava valley but the weather on the mountain looked threatening so we decided to go to the old town of Laguna. Parking was a mare but totally by accident we found a space not far from the town centre.

The place isn't that big with two main streets of old houses. As it was siesta time, may of the shops were closed,much to the bemusement of tourists like us. At the head of the main street was a distinctive campanile attached to a church.

We also went in to an old courtyard where a reproduction of Picasso's Guernica was displayed, made totally out of coins.

Joan came across a party shop and was looking for Happy New Year signs in Spanish for our party on Sunday. Unfortunately it was all in English.

Back at the villa David sorted out our internet connection at last so we can surf the web to our heart's content.

We looked at the villa where the Jackson's were staying and it is about a mile away across the barranco.

Currently cooking Aubergine Parmigiana for dinner.

Rest day

After Wednesday's adventures we decided to stay at the villa and read books all day. Kevin even finished one. Frustrated by lack of internet!

Tamaimo to Montana de Guama

Today we decided to take a walk from Tamaimo to the Montana Guamo, up the souththwest part of the coast near the Los Gigantes cliffs. In the German guidebook we are using it was described as a "comfortable circular walk onto the ridge above Tamaimo [that] opens up wonderful views of the valleys and gorges on the southwest coast."

The first part of the walk was welsignposted up to a peak called the Cruz de Misioneros, a route used by pilgrims allegedly. Looking up at the cross we were to reach, Kevin said "Do you want to do this?" It looked steep but we assumed from both the description on the book and fron having done other routes with, for example, Stations of the Cross, on them, that the way would be easy. Wrong!

Immediately the path was rugged and steep. For ther less sure-footed it involved a bit of scrambling, though inially this was just not that relaxing. The description of the walk suggested that once one made the cross, the walk evened out a lot so it seemed worth it. As we rose higher and higher the path became more open and steep. We followeed the yellow and white marks which led us up to the mission cross. The last part was exposed and vertiginous. The view at the top was awesome but a way ahead was not obvious. The only path we could find skirted the edge of a perilously steep slope across the mountain's side. Reluctantly we decided to call it a day and tiptoed back down - and as any one who has done walking knows, coming down steep bits is harder than ascending!

Towards the foot of the climb we met a couple about the start the ascent, but they must have thought the better of it as they were soon following us back to Tamaimo.

We drove home along the lowere main road which took us through miles of banana plantations, with the bunches protected by blue plastic bags. It had been raining in El Salto as the patio was puddled and the owners of the villa had covered up the outside furnture.

For the first time on holiday we ate inside - a vegetarian lasagna made by Joan. Kevin flicked through our odd collection of TV channels (no BBC, ITV or news channels) and came across Nigerian Pop Idol, complete with its own version of Simon Cowell.

Whalewatching

The internet connection at the villa has gone on the bleep again, so we could not post. It is frustrating as we were trying to book trips and also some walks where access is limited per day. The ascent to the very rim of Teide is already booked up till the day we leave.

After a frustrating morning of losing signal we decided to drive down to Los Cristianos to try and book a boat trip. Getting there was easy and we managed to get a parking space on the main street down to the beach. It was quite busy, with not a spanish voice to be heard.

At the beach there was a small bay with sand with lots of sun beds and umbrellas. WE also noticed quite a number of people in disabled scooters. In fact you could hire one for 70 Euros a week. Immediately we saw kiosks selling boat trips for fishing, snorkelling and whalewatching. The first one we went to was cheaper than the trips we had seen on the internet and was in a boat that was fitted with sailing masts, though there were no sails on it. The boat sailed in under an hour so we bought tickets and spent the remaining time eating cornets.

The capacity on the boat was 136 but there were only a handful on board, so our trip was uncrowded. We were surprised that we were not given buoyency aids. The boat trips we went on in Chile insisted on a jacket being worn. Still it was a big boat. We set off for sea, towards La Gomera. Kevin kept thinking he saw whales so took a lot of pictures of waves!

Eventually a crew member came to the fore and whistled. Soon there were a few short fin pilot whales around the boat, one with a calf in tow. Sadly thet stayed with us only a few minutues but it was wonderful to see them nevertheless. The boat then headed towards fish farms nearer the coat in the hope of finding dolphins, but there were none to be seen. There were however a lot of seabirds nesting on the cliffs nearby. All to soon the 2 hour trip was over, and we drove home to a mexican meal of fajitas.

Los Abrigos

The couple who rent the villa have gone away and the internet was not working today, which is frustrating as there are several things we want to book which would be easier by internet.

Time seems to just disappear here at a 12 noon we were only just finishing breakfast. Today we settled for a walk along the front at Los Abrigos which is the bit of coastline we can see from our villa. There is a small fishing port, a small beach of black sand, misnamed the Playa Grande! Along the front there are several hotels and apartments, and a few terraces of restaurants.

At the end of the resort, which was surprisingly quiet, was a marina with sea going yachts and boats. Several had taken out to sea.

Back at the villa we had a BBQ as it went dark.

Christmas day

Another hot day! Another lazy start!

We both bought each other the new Peter Kay DVD for Xmas, so we have a spare one now.

We had some panetone for breakfast, and set off up the roads to Teide. On the way up we stopped to take photos near the site of the last eruption and then carried on up to the car park by the Samara volcano. The walk we did skirted the side of the Botija volcano (2122m), next to a fairly recent lava field. It was quite an uphill trek but at the end flank of the volcano we were rewarded with views of the Reventada volcano's cone, where much of the lava had come from. We could also look down on the clouds beneath us. It's strange that during the middle of the day when you look up towards Teide it is cloudy, but on the top it is sunny. Yet a no point does one drive through cloud on the way up.

We met a few other walkers who had the same idea as us for Christmas Day.

Back down everything was quiet. Even the old men who populate the street cafes and benches had gone.

Back at the villa, we ate a Xmad dinner of pumpkin and spinach nut roast with mushroom sauce, roast potatoes, carrots and french beans, followed by Xmas pudding and brandy sauce.

We tried to get the DVD to play but the TV system here defeated us so we watched Howard's End instead.

Garachico

Today we visited the town of Garachico on the north side of the island. We went clockwise round which took us up and down some outcrops and through the lava flows of the most recent eruption in Tenerife, Mount Chinyero near Santiago del Teide which erupted in 1909. The road down to Garachico from El Tanque was quite narrow, winding with steep slopes. (But nowhere as bad as some of the roads which we travelled on in Chile (Pisagua) and Peru (Majes).

Garachico was the main port on Tenerife until the Montana Volcan Negro erupted in 1709, taking most of the town with it, and filling up the harbour with lava flows. It is now a small place, with a few seafront restaurants. We passed the opportunity to walk back uphill for 250m to the Mirador and instead wandered around the quiet streets. There was a nativity scene in the lava flows at the waters'edge. A small castle was closed for the day. Outside it had gardens with poinsetias, red and cream.

There was also a walk amongst volcanic rock pools which was officially closed for the winter months and what looked like a newly constructed outdoor pool.

Back from the seafront was the main square with two churches and a statue of South American freedom fighter, Simon Bolivar. His mother came from here and the town still has strong links with Venezuela.

We ate lunch at a pavement cafe overlooking the sea and bought some local wine to take back to Finca Paloma.

We decided to take the motorway back, which was longer but quicker than winding up and down again.

Back at the villa it is a cooler evening (16.6 c) and a little windy.

El puertito de Guimar to Montana Grande

Today was another hot day - a pattern is emerging. However up on the mountain there were clouds. We decided to take a walk furhter up the coast at Guimar. It is a short run up the motorway, and then we turned down to Puertito (little port) of Guimar.

Having left the car, it became clear that the village was built on a lava flow. Indeed the flows stopped artificially at the roadside. Further on they ran directly in to the sea, where small shanty type houses had been built directly where the flows hit the waves. The paths so far have been well marked with a lot of interpretation boards. This route was across the Malpais (badlands) of Guimar. This was a lava flow created when the nearby Montana Grande exploded 10,000 years ago. Now the landscape is being overtaken by candelabra cacti and other bushes that love this inhospitable territory.

The path initially skirted the water, as it crossed the lava field. There were some salt pans where locals used to pour in salt water, leave it to evaporate and then harvest the salt. Further on there were some small lava caves at the edge of the water. We met a few other walkers, including a man in flipflops who decided to go back as the way was so rocky. On the horizon we could see a freight ship.

The path then climbed to a promentory before turning inland towards the volcanic cone. We saw several lizards. At the foot of the volcano we ate lunch before heading seewards again, near a water channel ("levada"). It was still cloudy inland but started to clear as we drove home.

As shops close early for Xmas tomorrow, we stocked up with supplies both for Xmas day itself but also for our party on New Year's Day.

Dinner was eaten on the verandah - a tomato and mozzarella tart with the local speciality of papas arrugadas (wrinkled potatoes) with a mojo verde (green sauce).

El Salto mainly

Today we hardly left the compound that is our villa. Joan had a bit of a cold so we spent the day lying by the pool, reading novels. Our landlords had gone away to Fuerteventura to look at some other villas they manage.

Hot! In the shade over 23 celcius. At nightfall we drove down to San Isidro. Ate a meal of tagliatelle with Stilton & asparagus for dinner.

Roques de Garcia and El Teide

This morning the heat cranked up a bit. David came to try and sort the internet out but it still is slow and intermittent.

We decided to head up into the hills where it might be better for walking. We took the road from San Isidro, through Grenadilla and Vilaflor. It reminded us of Peru with its slow zig-zagging upwards.

Eventually we came to the old caldera out of which Mt Teide rises. Most of the pictures we have seen shows Teide as snow capped, but, now , in the middle of winter, there was not a flake of snow to be seen. We parked at the visitor centre near the Roques de Garcia, a wellknown tourist point. Here there are series of unusual rock formations made out of ancient volcanic plugs. They are all shapes and sizes and have names like the finger of God and the Cathedral.

We did a walk recommended in both our guidebooks which skirts around the edges of the rocks. There were quite a few walkers doing the same path, though it was far from crowded. We didn't hear any spanish spoken though!

The initial part of the walk was flattish and at the end of the rocks another path led up to the Pico Vieja (Old Peak) another four hours walk away. Passing on this opportunity, we then headed down a scree path over a lava flow until we reached the bottom of the caldera, filled with stones and black sand. The final part of the walk was a stiff climb uphill to the tourist viewpoint. We rested to watch two rock climbers scaling the Cathedral rock, and then made it to our own summit!

We came back off the volcano a longer, but less windy route which initially crossed a lava flow from the last eruption of El Teide in the 1700s. As we descended we could see the island of La Palma not too far away.

It was dark by the time we reached the villa. Joan made a vegetarian paella which we ate on the balcony.

El Medano

The WiFi in the villa has not been working. David, the owner, had explained that the house was being transfered on to a new system, but they went out before we could mention the fault.

Today we drove down to the nearest bit of sea at Medano. We can see it from our villa. It is a resort but not as developed as Los Christianos and Playa de las Americas.

We walked along an alley past restaurants, mainly offering seafood dishes. Then we came to a beach with black sand and out on the water there were plenty of windsurfers and people on surf boards with parachutes. The breeze was strong and lifted some of them in to the air.

We walked to Montana Roja, a volcanic cone at the end of the resort and climbed up it. From the summit we had a fine view of the runway at Tenerife South Airport which was constantly busy. We could also see large swaithes of netted area which they grow something beneath.

On the way back we called in for more provisons and ate a dinner of goat's cheese and quince jelly tart with salad and fried potato.

David came roound to look at the WiFi router but couldn't fix it immediately.

Played cards on the terrace once it was dark.

Finca Paloma, El Salto

Today we had a restful day at the villa. There is a heated pool which overlooks the "barranco" (gorge) and plenty of gardens to wander in.

We took the car down to San Isidro to the supermarket and stocked up. Ww decided to have an early BBQ. We'd bought some vegi burgers which when opened were bright red, and when cooked not too pleasant. The very green spinach sausages were somehwat better!

Quite clooudy and a stiff breeze.