TENERIFE: Coastal walk to Las Galletas on TENERIFE.

Friday 20 February.

The plan was to go for an easier walk today. It was a coastal walk from Los Cristianos to Las Galletas but didn't turn out to be as easy as we anticipated when we did an extra loop to the top of a mountain. We made our way out after breakfast for the express bus to Los Cristianos. We had our fleeces on when we left for the bus but when we started the walk later it was much warmer and our tops were soon off and in the daypack.

The route began at the harbour in Los Cristianos and Moira had a map of the town that we used it to find our way from the bus terminus to the waterfront. Our way from there was along the prom and it was already busy with people out walking and lots of joggers. At the end of he esplanade it became a gravel trail that headed towards the Montana de Guaza, this large hill that blocked an easy route along the coast. The guide book said we should go straight and the path got very steep to reach the top. Unfortunately there were lots of different paths cut into the hillside and we ended up following other people who were making their way to the top. Unfortunately they were taking an alternative route that cut inland to the actual summit of Guaza. It was a very busy track and lots of people were on the path as we looked backwards down the hillside. It was a good walk, not too steep, and we were rewarded with some magnificent views. Over to the left were the hills we had crossed on Thursday, Conde and Imoque while along the coast was Los Americas and Los Cristianos. At the top it was quite flat and again there were lots of tracks but no signposts or waymarks. There was another couple there and we decided to follow the route they were taking.

We were on a wide gravel path that continued to be flat for a time with views of rounded peaks on the inland side. After a while the track started to descend gradually and we could see busy roads below and a town in the distance. We overtook a couple who spoke English, they were heading for Las Galletas as well but like us were lost. We left them and eventually caught up with the couple we followed from the top. They didn't speak English but were only going as far as a bus stop to get transport back to Los Cristianos. Eventually we reached the busy road that we had seen from the top and it had a good wide hard shoulder. There were lots of bus stops and buses running so there was a way back if we didn't find our coastal route. We headed in the direction of the sea. At a roundabout there was a road sign, the major road went to Las Galletas while a smaller road headed directly to the coast at Palm Mar which was on 'our' route and where we should have been by now.

It was about 2 km to the coast and the first part was still a busy road but there was a good path running at the side. Then once we entered the town we had a pavement all the way to the esplanade. We found a bench where we had a break for a cup of coffee and a biscuit. We could now see the path that descended from the top of the cliff, the one we should have taken; Los Cristianos was still partly visible on the other side of the cliffs. It was now mid-day and we had three alternatives: take the route back over the cliff path; walk to the main road again and catch a bus; carry on to Las Galletas. On consulting the map and guide book we found that we were about halfway along the route at Palm Mar, and it was now flat all the way along the coast and easy to follow. We had plenty of time and estimated it would take another 2.5 hours and we would get there about 3 pm with a stop for lunch. So we chose to carry on to Las Galletas.

At the end of the prom there was a well defined gravel track that followed close to the coastline. There were lots of rocky coves with the surf breaking in a shower of spray. The path was smooth initially but turned rocky after half an hour then flat and easy again as it made for the lighthouse, Faro de Punta Rasca which had been visible in the distance for some time. The walk to the lighthouse we both felt was very similar to the route we had taken a number of times to the lighthouse at Cape Trafalgar when at Conil. On the steps up to the lighthouse we sat and had our lunch. It was beautiful with the flat shoreline covered in shrubs and cacti while inland were the high mountain ranges. We had met a number of people on the route going the other way but now as we took our break some people passed heading for Las Galletas.

Shortly after leaving the lighthouse we came to a large banana plantation with a wide track between it and a line of palm trees. It was a very pleasant walk along this fast attractive track which eventually became a narrow path again as Las Galletas came into sight. It was a large town and stretched quite a distance along the coast and round a bay. There were lots of tracks over the flat foreshore but we kept near the sea and headed towards the far end of the town where we could see the harbour and the marina. We crossed a couple of small beaches before reaching the road and a pavement into the town centre.

We hadn't gone far when we spotted a bus stop on a street to the left. We checked and there were lots of people waiting and confirmed it was for the Los Cristianos bus. There were buses every 15 minutes but we must have just missed one as it was over 10 minutes before the next one arrived. It was about 2:45 am and we didn't think we would make it into Los Cristianos in time for the express bus at 3pm. We were pleasantly surprised when the bus that turned up now was the 477 express that went all the way to Los Gignates. Later Moira checked the time table and found that a few of the 477 buses went all the way to Costa del Silencio, the other side of Las Galletas, and back each day. We were lucky in that we didn't have to change buses but it was anything but express and took nearly 2 hours to get us home. It stopped at nearly every stop for people to get on and off, the ticket machine wasn't working and it took ages to process each passenger's ticket.

When we got into the flat the first thing was a cup of coffee then I worked on the photographs I had taken today. I put them onto the computer and when connected to the Internet unloaded them to Google+. While that was going on it was time for the TV quizzes. Suzy phoned on FaceTime about 6 pm and we spoke to her for about 15 minutes while watching Hollie get up to mischief. They are all keeping fine and Hollie was supposed to be helping to put the shopping away in the cupboard. Later the photos of today's walk were finished and they turned out well with some nice ones of the coast and waves breaking on the rocks.

After dinner I worked on a crossword until it was time for 'Mastermind' and that was followed by the 'Three Musketeers' which wasn't bad. It was off to bed at the usual time after a harder day's walking than we had planned.

LOS CRISTIANOS to LAS GALLETAS PHOTO ALBUM.