Tenerife February 2008
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On the leading edge of a storm front we abandoned grey Sheffield for Manchester Airport, leaving the old mother fretting with visions of us upside down in a ravine off the Snake road or blown into some bottomless bog never to be seen again. Not to be, and with the first rains pounding onto the wings of our plane we were up and away into brilliant sunshine at 10000m.
We flew into Tenerife's Southern airport, glimpsing on our descent some excellent views of an almost snow free Teide, which at 3717m and the highest peak in Spain was a little surprising. Within an hour we had reclaimed our luggage, picked up our car from Record Cars (via Holiday Autos) and we were on our way to our accommodation at San Andrés a few Km beyond the capital Santa Cruz, on the Anaga Peninsula, in our ignorance, we chose to drive through the capital instead of staying with the main road. Our acommodation was a fairly basic 2nd floor flat and despite its proximity to a road junction we were rarely troubled by noise. We had a view out to sea and on a clear day we could see Gran Canaria, the coast here proved quite busy with some heavy shipping moored out in the bay but it was within easy walking distance of Tenerife's only (imported) yellow sand beach at Playa de las Teresitas. See picture 01, San Andrés in the distance.
Over the next 12 days we walked mainly on the Anaga peninsula which gave some excellent outings in rugged and at times quite remote settings plus a couple of walks near Teide. Here are the more interesting days out.
31/1/08. Shopping. Finding a large supermarket in Santa Cruz proved to be something of a nightmare in its busy one-way systems, occasional supermercado signs lead nowhere and even when we sighted one in the distance we could find nowhere to park. The best place proved to be the giant CarreFour just off the motorway west of Santa Cruz.
01/02/08. We woke late to a warm and sunny day. The car is parked under some trees across the road, the pigeons have left many little messages which built up over the holiday to the point where the locals began to point and titter. After a lazy breakfast we drove along the coast to the village of Igueste and tackled one of Sunflower's shorter walks to the derelict semaphore station on Punta del Roquette. Short maybe but it involves 300m and 22 zigzag up an old mule track whence I realised that I was pretty unfit for walking. Looking back, our summer trip to Andorra had probably been my last period of exertion, the Scotland trip didn't involve much walking and the South America trip didn't involve any. After that I went down with Bronchitis so all in all I shouldn't have been too surprised at my state. Picture 02, topping out on the mule track. Picture 03 is a view of the Roque de Antequera from the semaphore station, a feature that we would come back to later in the holiday.
02/02/08. Today, a proper walk. We drove up the tortuous though well surfaced roads up onto the spine of the Anaga peninsula where at times it was possible to glimpse both the north and south sides. Our objective was at the end of the road, the pretty village of Chamorga, Sunflower route 29. We parked and walk down the Barranco de Roque Bermejo, (see Gallery) redolent with Prickly Pear and giant Euphorbias to the tiny settlement and harbor at Roque Bermejo, where people seemed to be surviving by fishing and farming on precariously perched small holdings. The return was via the lighthouse and a long hill which took us through a delightfully rocky area with lots of unfamiliar plants. See 04. Fitness was creeping back though power-to-weight ratio was taking a bit of a knock with Mal's gourmet evening meals, see 05.
03/02/08. Another s***ing perfect day, no rests for the unfit and we were soon off again, this time for a touch of something different. We crossed the spine of the peninsula and parked at the end of the road in the small town of Punta del Hidalgo on the north coast. Following Sunflower route 22 we soon reached a series of canals, the Madeirans would call them levadas, which traversed the steep sides of the Barranco del Rio. These were good sport and dry, but as they lacked any decent side path one had either to walk or crawl along the trough or teeter along on the narrow parapet. Picture 06 shows Mal on a typical bit, picture 07 shows Euphorbias with the Barranco behind. Our canal ended at a dry dam from where it was necessary to ascent (slowly) some 300m of steps cut into the soft basalt which led to the pretty village of Batan de Abajo where there was a bar that we failed to locate. After a further wearisome ascent (perhaps my fitness still has some way to go) we dropped down to the adjacent village of Bejía and into our return Barranco Seco. This also sported a canal with the added bonus of a tunnel which required a torch for safe passage. The canal developed even more outrageous positions before passing through more tunnels then fizzling out into a goat track. Good day out.
04/02/08. A rest day, the rain dance had worked and there were threatening clouds over the hills. After breakfast we drove through cloud and heavy drizzle to Puerto de la Cruz, the rather touristy town on the north coast of the island, drank coffee, ate cakes (except for Suzy who is Coeliac), browsed knickknack shops and visited the botanical gardens. These were well worth a visit, (gallery) with some amazing trees and lily pads, amongst lots of other stuff.
05/02/08. Dark clouds again but they seemed to be attached to the north side of the peninsula. We opted for Sunflower route 30 which took in day one's short walk and a lot more. The 22 bends above Igueste seemed easier this time but it's not long before we have lost our track and are backtracking to find it. Obvious, how could we miss it? But we did and it's at this point that we reallise that there are many more well used paths than the ones shown on the maps. The Barranco de Zapata was a jungle of large prickly plant life and the path was only just discernable in places. Picture 08, on route to the Barranco de Zapate, 09 Euphorbias. After this barranco the track climbed and crossed steep and crumbly hillsides where slipping was not an option before dropping down to a black beach at Playa de Antequera in the shadow of the Roque (see 03) and a couple of huts. These appeared to be occupied but the owners seemed still to be in bed, houses for those who value there privacy as there was no road access and just one small boat moored out in the bay. Our return to Igueste was long and hot and a small track up the Barranco de Antequera crossed and recrossed the dry stream bed numerous times. As we gained height the vegetation noticably changed until at a small rocky col at 650m we could see over and down into our return valley. It was the best part of an hour on a rough descent track before we hit the road and another 40 minutes before the village of Igueste arrived.
06/02/08. We opt for a change of scenery and head towards Teide which is a 60km drive up some rather bendy roads. Our objective was Montaña de Guajara which at 2717m is Tenerife's 3rd highest peak, Sunflower route 12. As we gained height from the motorway turnoff the scenery became more interesting, the pine forests thinned and and the rocks steadily acquired more and more bizarre colours and shapes. Soon we were crossing what can only be described as desert. There were sheets of sand of every colour from pastel green to dark red, lava fields of deep brown, some so rugged that they may yet to be traversed by man and alarmingly shaped pinnacles appearing to be held in place by magic. Most of the traffic turned off to the ski lift on Teide but we pressed on to the the Parador de las Cañadas, a hotel set in the midst of this desolation. Picture 10, Agave flower and Teide taken from the Parador.
The circuit of Montaña de Guajara started easily along a broad dirt road, zigzagging between amazingly coloured walls and pinnacles of yellow and red. After some 50 minutes we left the track and and started to climb, followed a footpath through scrub and lava up to a broad col at Degollada de Guajara. Degollada means a ruin but it seemed to have returned to the earth whence it was born so to speak. Our track turned right towards our summit, though its actual top remained hidden behind a shoulder until we were much higher. The temperature dropped and the wind increased and there were a couple of stops to add extra layers. Despite its relatively modest altitude we all seemed to be feeling the altitude to some extent, Mal more than most and it was with some relief that we gained the wind shelter on the summit. The descent on our circuit was more interesting and after a couple of false starts looking for the start we found ourselves descending a steep and bouldery track below the large cliffs that bordered the NW side of the summit. Picture 11 shows the cliffs in the background. The track gradually improved and we eventually found ourselves back on the starting track.
10/02/08. Whilst in Puerto de la Cruz we picked up a copy of the excellent little Rother walking guide to Tenerife, today we decided to try it out with route 32. Once again we drove up to the spine of the peninsula but instead of dropping down to the coast we parked at Cruz del Carmen at about 950m. It's always nice to cruise down to the car at the end of a long walk, this obviously was not going to happen today. The route took us down through gloomy cloud forest then out into the sun through tenuously cultivated fields then down again via a rocky track through scrub and prickly bushes into the bed of our old friend the Barranco del Rio (see 03/02). From here the only way was up. The setting was beautiful and the sun continued to shine on us though our destination ridge appeared thick with cloud. The first leg of our ascent took us to Batan de Abajo where this time we managed to locate the bar. Then, horrors, we descended via a curious road tunnel leading nowhere, which must have been part of some grand and doomed scheme, back into the upper parts of Barranco del Rio. The track zigzagged up, seemingly for ever, and the clouds grew ever thicker. Eventually we broke out at a broad track where, despite some confusing text in the guide book and with the help of a couple of local walkers we made Cruz del Carmen, but not before the heavens opened to give us a good drenching 5 minutes from the car.
11/02/08. Browsing the Rother guide, see picture 13 we were intrigued by walk 10 which took in a series of derelict canals cutting across some wild and untracked mountainsides. The walk started from above the town of Güímar on the south side of Teide and in order to avoid some initial and wearisome road walking for 90minutes up a steep hillside we attempted to get the car to the end of the tarmac. After a false start we returned into the Güímar one-way system and tried again, the turnoff that we had missed was one that we had previously dismissed as someone's drive; streets were very narrow.
After some 40 minutes walking we arrived at the old watercourse of Canal de Fasnia which in places had convenient concrete cover plates, except when they were mysteriously missing, destroyed by rock fall or the canal invaded by trees. In places it was necessary to balance along the 15cm parapets, dodging left or right as appropriate, walk in the channel or scramble down through thick undergrowth to gain the next section. Eventually we came to the first tunnel where I tested the roof with my head, and which required torches and took some 10 minutes to traverse. Fortunately in the tunnels there was a narrow maintenance path at the side of the channel. We emerged in the spooky Barranco del Agua in thick mist where we took a lunch break and sat on a thick gurgling black pipe that had been threaded along the canal up to this point but now veered off; it was slightly warm presumably taking water from some thermal spring. Later, more tunnels were encountered, some with windows (see pictures 14 and 15) and some without. Between the tunnelled sections the canal crossed the Barranco Teguigo and rounded bold aretes where, had the clouds and mist co-operated there would have been some stunning views to the south.
The girls went on strike but Bob and I pressed on. More tunnels, more vegetation, more aretes and so it went on. After some 20 minutes, at the back of a near vertical gully we turned back, the canal however continued, plunging into yet another tunnel.
12/02/08. The weather remained unsettled on the north side of the peninsula but in hope we travelled to Taganana to start a walk but as rain set in we opted for plan B, coffee and cakes. We drove through the village and down to Almaciga on the coast where we spent some time watching huge Atlantic rollers break on the jagged coastline. See picture 16. After refreshments and more wave watching we parked at the end of the road at Bernijo where passing locals make unintelligable comments about our pigeon poo encrusted car. We walked along the cliff top path for an hour or so where there were some splendid views of The Roques de Dentro and Roques de Anaga.
13/02/08. We tried again and parked at Taganana as the rain drummed on the car roof. Patience paid off however and within 20 minutes the sun broke through and we were off. Our walk combined two Sunflower routes 27 and 25 to make an excellent circuit, crossing a jagged ridge to gain the village of Afur, then down Barranco Afur del Tamadite, one of the few that we had encountered with any water in it. It was quite jungly in places with thickets of bamboo, waterfalls and tempting pools. The barranco eventually ended at a black boulder beach, Playa de Tamadite from where we had to make considerable ascent along the path back towards Taganana. The cliff scenery was quite stunning, big and crumbly which forced the path higher and higher as we progressed. Eventually, the path joined a minor surfaced road which, frustratingly continued to climb before dropping us back to the car.
14/02/08. Home via the car wash.