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.