El Teide, the volcano on TENERIFE.

Tuesday 3 March.

 

We were up at 7 am for breakfast and got ready for the bus to Las Americas. Moira filled the flask and made sandwiches for lunch and we were on our way. It was the express bus we caught and now that we were both used to the route and nothing new to see we took out iPads with us and read as we travelled to Las Americas bus station.

 

We caught the same connection that took us to Arona last week for our walk from there. It was expensive costing €29 and we hoped that was a return ticket. We got good views of the mountains Conde, Imoque and Brezos us the bus climbed further up through the spread-out settlement of Ifonche to the next town of Vilaflor. A few people with day packs and hiking poles got of the bus there so there was obviously some hiking routes starting there. From Vilaflor we continued to climb on a winding zigzag road through first of all a dense pine forest. As we got higher the trees thinned out as the ground became more and more rocky and the vegetation got sparse. Next it change to a lava strewn desert with a few cacti but mostly rocky cliffs and jagged pillars of of rock as we passed into the crater of the original volcano. The peak of El Teide was a subsequent eruption many thousands of years ago that built up a secondary crater.

 

The bus stopped at the Parador, an expensive hotel and the El Teide National Park centre. There was a 10 minute break there while the driver had a rest after his hectic drive up the twisting narrow road. We had a walk about and had a good view of the peak of El Teide. There were a lot of cars parked along the road and lots of people climbing a set of tall jagged rocks, Roques de Garcia, further along the road. When the driver came back and we got going again we had a choice, either to get off at the cable car station or go to the terminus further along the road to the visitor's centre at El Portilla. We weren't sure what was at the visitor's centre and decide to get off at the cable car station and go to the top.

 

This was expensive as well, €52, but we couldn't travel all the way here and not go to the top. There was a queue for the cable car and we had to wait about half an hour before we were on the way up. I was bit worried coming down again because if there was a hold-up and as there was only one bus back, we had to catch it or get stranded. It took 6 minutes to get to the top cable station so now I wasn't too worried about getting down in time if there were 10 an hour. The car was very crowded and we were cramped in,so didn't get a good view as it climbed. There was window open in the car and the air blowing in was very cold and when we got off there was snow lying about. We had our fleeces on but put rain jackets on top, we also had long trousers on today. This was a wise move as we were now quite comfortable compared with some people in only shorts and t-shirts and open sandals with bare feet.

 

Before we got onto the cable car they sold us a pamphlet of walks at the top for €2. There were 3 walks from the cable car station. One in each direction to view points while the third went to the crater at the top. The numbers doing the walk to the crater was restricted for ecological reasons and to do it you had to obtain a permit; I didn't think we would have time to do that one anyway. We took firstly the one to the east, which went to the Mirador de La Fortaleza. It was a good path at first but became rough and rocky as it crossed the lava field. The people on the path weren't walkers, slow and clogging up the trail; we had to push past some of them. We were now at an altitude of 3500m and the air being very thin caused us to gasp for breath especially on any rises we encountered along the path. The view at the look-out point was obscured by the cloud that was lying below us. The sides of the mountain from here were covered in snow and contrasted strikingly with the black lava. Near the Mirador there was another path that came up from the road at the bottom. The sign said that it was a difficult descent estimated to take 4hours 30 minutes. I spoke to an English guy coming up but he said he had just walked down about 500 m before turning back up, he said it started as a nice gravel track gradually sloping down but soon became very rocky and steep where he turned back. We decided to investigate ourselves and walked down for about 10 minutes. It did get rougher and as the view wasn't particularly good we headed back up again. We met a young couple who had walked up from the bottom and they said it wasn't too difficult. When I examined the route description again I found that although it was very high altitude the climb, it started at 2348m to finish at 3555m, so was a climb of just over 1200m, a good Munro! Though the thin air would make it hard going.

 

Back on the track we made our way gain to the cable car station, Estacion Superior, and picked up the path to the western look-out point. This was a much better path, not so rocky but it did drop quite a bit as it zigzag to the Mirador Pico Viego, 3497 m. Here the view was a lot better and we could see building of the towns on the coast. A profile map pin-pointing spots of interest that allowed us to pick things out along the horizon. The high points on the island of La Palma were visible above the clouds in the distance but we couldn't see anything of La Gomera. The towns we could see we took to be Puerto de la Cruz, Santiago del Teide and Las Americas. Below was clearly the 800m in diameter crater of the Pico Viego and further behind the mountains around the outer edges of the original crater with Parador in front. Another route descended from here and crossed the summit of Pico Viego. After lots of photographs we made our way back to the cable car station.

 

There wasn't any queue for the cars going down so we decided to have our lunch sitting on the wall while soaking up the scenery. We sat beside a group of guys who told us they had just run up, it took them 2 hours and the distance was 8 km, they were having something to eat before running down again. They were from England and had come out for 3 days especially to do this run. They were training for a 6 day event running across the Sahara Desert. We got talking about long distance running and ultimately the Comrades which they want to do sometime. I told them about a lot of the ultra distance and mountain races I had done and we had a good chat. They were all, we guessed, to be in their 40's and it made we envious that I wasn't that age and able to take part in these marvellous endurance events.

 

After lunch we made our way down again. There had been a bit of a queue building up at the station but we got on the second car and soon at the bottom again. As we had about 90 minutes before the bus arrived we decided to walk to the Parador and catch it when it came through there. As we descended to the road there was a path clearly visible on the other side that crossed over a small rise in the general direction of the hotel. Sure enough when we crossed the road there was a signpost on the track pointing to the Parador. We followed it up and over the rise and then on the other side it seemed to be taking a route away from where we wanted to go; we followed it for about 10 minutes but it must have been taking a long loop. We had been walking for 30 minutes and the bus was arriving in 45 minutes, we decided to turn round and head back to the cable car station again. It was now fast going as we stretched our legs and picked up the pace. It still took another 30 minutes to get back and we were only relaxing on a seat for about 5 minutes when we saw the bus turn off the main road and come up the hill to where we were.

 

When the bus reached the Parador the driver had a 10 minute break again and quite a lot of people got on. I don't know where they all came from as there being only one bus each day, I would have thought only the ones that came on the bus this morning would be going back. There was another bus there that was heading for Puerto de la Cruz, a long queue was waiting to get on it and when it left there were people having to stand. It took an hour to get to Los Cristianos and we spent the time gazing out the window at the tremendous scenery. On the way up we were on the inside seats but now we made sure to get on the side with the best views. After the flat sandy looking surface of the old crater we started to drop through the rocky Alpine desert to the slopes covered in pine trees that got thicker and thicker as we dropped. Then after Vilaflor it was the mountain around Arona before reaching the coast at Los Cristianos. It was slow going to Las Americas as we were now in the rush hour traffic and we just missed the express bus when we eventually arrived at the terminus.

 

We didn't have long to wait when a normal 'slow' bus arrived and we were on our way home. We read our books on the iPads and the journey didn't seem to take so long. We missed the quizzes on the TV tonight, it was nearly 7pm when we got in. Moira heated up a pizza for dinner so it wasn't long before we were having our meal. We watched a couple of programmes from the Freeview recorder tonight. One was the about the life of the singer Nat 'King' Cole which was good and then Andrew Marr's 'History of Modern Britain'. This episode was about WW2 and was quite interesting.

 

It had been a hard day, probably partly due to the altitude and we were very tired. We got to bed at 9:45pm but there wasn't any reading tonight, we were soon sleeping.

 

 

EL TEIDE PHOTO ALBUM

 

 

Part of the crater edge.

El Teide.

 

Roques de Garcia.

 

El Teide from the crater edge.

 

The original crater.

 

View from Mirador de La Fortaleza

 

Moira at Mirador de La Fortaleza

 

Panorama from Mirador Pico Viejo.

 

Pico Viejo

Mountain runners from England.

 

Panorama from Estacion Superior.

 

Cable car.

 

Hopefully the track to the Parador?

View from the bus.

 

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Gym then relaxing on TENERIFE.

Monday 2 March.

 

A day very similar to yesterday. I went to the gym after breakfast while Moira went out to do the weekly shop. The weather was lovely again and it was going to be another hot day. At the gym I worked only on my abs. I did sit-ups, twists, side bends, planks, bends with a rope on the cable station, and crunches. I did some balancing on the half sphere and medicine ball before heading back.

 

Moira hadn't arrived to let me in the gate but I got through when another resident opened it. I thought Moira had forgotten the time to let me in but when I went upstairs she wasn't in the flat. When I came down again she was walking along the pool side, she had been in the supermarket at the gate getting bottled water.

 

The afternoon after lunch was spent listening to the radio and reading. I am well into the Alistair Darling book and it is interesting the decisions that had to be made during the banking debacle and recession at the final years of the Labour Government. I was aware of the hostility between Blair and Brown but didn't realise that Darling also found Brown a difficult person to work with. It's amazing that the people running the country can't work together as a team and its no wonder things go wrong.

 

In the evening it was more quizzes after dinner. As usual on a Monday we had 'Uni Challenge' and 'Only Connect' but after that there was nothing we wanted to watch and got to bed. It was early and we read for an hour before getting to sleep. Tomorrow we are heading for the volcano, El Teide, and it will be an early start.

 

 

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A quiet Sunday on TENERIFE.

Sunday 1 March.

 

We were both feeling very stiff after our walk yesterday. I had a nice hot shower when I got up and it helped to loosen the muscles. Moira made the breakfast this morning, our usual 'full English' for a Sunday. I watched 'Match of the Day' on TV then washed up the breakfast dishes before getting ready to go to the gym. Moira walked with me as far as the sports centre then carried on from there to go along the beach.

 

After warming up with the dumbbells I worked on my arms. It was a session solely on my arms and I am now managing to build up to some heavy weights. I used free weights as well as the machines and it was a good hour's session. It was another lovely day with a blue sky and very hot. When I got back it was straight out on to the veranda to sit and have lunch.

 

It was again a normal Sunday afternoon listening to the music on Radio2. I managed to complete yesterday's prize crossword in the 'Telegraph' and submit it. I began today's crossword but could only manage a few of the clues. I read some more of my Alistair Darling autobiography, it is very good. The pool area was very busy and noisy with lots in the pool swimming. I think there are more people in the complex at the weekends.

 

We continued listening to the radio when we came in for dinner and didn't put the TV on until later. Then we watched 'Countryfile' followed by 'Call the Midwife' before getting to bed early. We spent an hour reading there before getting off to sleep.

 

 

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The completion of last Monday's walk on TENERIFE.

Saturday 28 February.

 

It was back into the hills and to try to finish off the walk we had to abandon on Monday when the weather deteriorated. Instead of walking all the way round again from Santiago del Teide we planned to take the bus to near Erjos and start from there. To make the outing longer we intended to walk all the way back by the path down the pass from Santiago del Teide.

 

The bus was slightly later, 8:35 am, at the week-end and we headed down to the stop after breakfast, in plenty of time in case it arrived early. The weather was perfect yet again as the bus wound its way up the zigzag roads, we were hoping it wouldn't change again as we went over the top. The hills and ridge were very clear this morning and we could see what looked like a distinct path that went round the end of the mountain that overlooked Los Gigantes. We decided when we descended that way later this afternoon we would investigate the track and see were it headed.

 

We didn't take the bus as far as Erjos but got off at a restaurant one stop before the village. This was where the track from the wetland ponds came up and met the main road before continuing on the other side. Moira had copied the instruction from her iPad to a sheet of paper and it made it easy for us to follow the route. We started by taking a side road, TF 373, that went eventually to San Jose de Los Lanos. Not far along this road we turned onto a concrete path that started at the side of a house. It was flat and easy going at first but the began to climb and get steeper and steeper as it headed to a col between two hills. The weather was still clear but we could see thick cloud over the sea to the north and it seemed to be heading our way. There was also a strong wind blowing and it was cold, with the wind chill factor it wasn't very pleasant; Moira put her rain jacket on top of her fleece but I just endured it.

 

When we reached the col the track rejoined the TF373 road again and we were on it for about 100m before picking up another track. There were actually 2 tracks, one was an officially waymarked route the TF 43.2 and went to the Chinyero volcano; our track wasn't waymarked but was well defined and very easy to follow. It was good underfoot and fairly flat as it followed the contours round the hills above the Valle de Ariba. There were a few turns we had to take at t-junctions and our instructions were very good and easy to follow. We had magnificent views of the hills on the other side of the valley with the rugged tops above Masca and the coast and the start of the ridge that runs down to the coast at Los Gigantes. As we progressed along the route we got views of El Teide from another angle, the snow on its upper slopes seemed to be melting and getting thinner. Eventually after a very beautiful walk round the tops we reached a tarred minor road that dropped down a twisting route through the valley to the village of Ariba and then on to Santiago del Teide. The clouds we had seen earlier over the sea had now drifted in and were over the tops of the mountains and mist was covering the pass, Puerto de Erjos, but was burnt off by the sun before reaching the other side.

 

In Santiago del Teide we stopped at the church where there were benches outside to sit on for a cup of coffee from the flask and a biscuit. We had a look inside the church before starting off again. It was small with some statues but no nice windows so nothing special. It was now very warm and we were both down to just shorts and t-shirts. It's certainly strange how quickly the weather improves here as you drop in altitude. We picked up the track down at the other end of town and were now on familiar territory. We made quite good time descending and this route is really enjoyable and the surrounding mountains are magnificent and invariably offer us something new to look at. We stopped at the farmhouse just after Tamaimo where we had a break on a wall for coffee once before. The goats weren't there this time we had seen them further up the hill in a pen and the farmer was now in the field below loading feed in his truck to take to them. We had our sandwiches and coffee and a welcomed rest before carrying on.

 

Near the bottom when we reached the banana plantation we went to investigate the track that we had seen, going round the hillside, from the bus. We discovered it was a concrete irrigation channel and unfortunately not a walking route. We had to just carry on home, it had been a good long walk anyway, about 16 km and we were now both tired and still had the long drag down the road to do. We stopped at Lidl on the way and Moira bought some strawberries and iced cream for our dessert tonight. It was 3pm when we got in and we and been walking for about 5.5 hours, not a bad outing.

 

We sat out on the veranda with a drink, it was very warm here and the pool area was busy with people sunbathing and a lot more in swimming. I worked on the prize crossword in the 'Telegraph' until it was time to come in for the football results. Morton beat Peterhead 2-1 but Stranraer also won today so Morton stay in second place in the league. I wasn't feeling very well after dinner, Moira said she thought I might have got dehydrated during the walk and wasn't drinking enough. I relaxed on the sofa and watched TV after dinner. There was rugby on, the second half of France v Wales, Wales won 20-13. Later there was a programme about a guy travelling through the south of America researching the music of the areas. This week it was through Alabama and Georgia. It wasn't bad but there was too much talking and not enough of the music played. It was after 10pm when we got to bed, I've started a new book from the library; Alistair Darling's account of his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the banking crisis. I've read the first chapter and its interesting.

 

 

PHOTOS of TODAY'S WALK.

 

Concrete path up from Erjos.

 

 

Santiago del Teide and the mountains behind.

 

 

The contour path above Valle de Ariba.

 

 

Beautiful Spring flowers.

 

 

El Teide in the distance.

 

 

Track down to Puerto de Santigo.

 

 

 

 

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Editing VF book on TENERIFE.

Friday 27 February.

 

It was an easy day today after the frustrating efforts yesterday to get to Santa Cruz. We will get to the city yet; sometime before we return to the UK. After breakfast I read the paper and tried the crossword while listening to 'Desert Island Discs' on the radio. I went to the gym at 10am and Moira left with me but went in the other direction to Lidl for some shopping.

 

The weather was lovely and hot while I walked up the hill to the gym and I was thoroughly warmed up for the start of my workout when I got there. It was my legs today and I used all the machines as well as squats again with the big ball against the wall. I did a few ab exercises before finishing off and heading back to the flat.

 

In the afternoon after listening to Jeremy Vine on the radio while having lunch we sat outside in the sun. I finished my book then started to do some more work editing my VF book. At 5pm is was inside for the quizzes before dinner. I did more of the VF book before 'Mastermind' came on the TV. After that it was more TV, the 'Three Musketeers', before getting to bed at 10 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sales talk instead of excursion in TENERIFE.

Thursday 26 February.

 

The excursion to Santa Cruz with Millard Travel turned out to be another disaster. It all began well as we set off again after breakfast to meet the bus at the corner in plenty of time. A young man who was then joined by his father came up to us and said that they were involved in organising the trip and the bus would be along in a few minutes and sure enough it soon arrived. When we got on a guy with a clip board asked which trip we were on, the one to the bodega and Santa Cruz or to the Mercedes forest. It appeared there were two tours today and the bus from Los Gigantes and the other one that started from Las Americas came together somewhere before Santa Cruz and they separated us into the different tours then!

 

Before getting going there were more people to pick up, all the way into Los Gigantes. The last pick-up point was the bus stance in Los Gigantes then the trip really started. The route was the one we are very familiar with, up the winding road to Santiago del Teide and down the other side through Erjos to the coast. The weather was the same as the other day, lovely blue sky all the way up then thick mist and cloud once over the top. At least this bus was a bit quicker as it didn't have to keep stopping to pick people up and could keep going steadily. The guy with the clip board gave a bit of a commentary as we drove along, first in English then switched to Spanish. He pointed out a few things we hadn't noticed before; like the pine trees on the slopes that don't need much soil and somehow managed to root into the rocky surface; that the new motorway had been used in the making of a Hollywood film and they blew a big hole in it with explosives and that was why it still wasn't in use; and a camel ride place after Erjos where we saw the camels lined up. Other than that he talked a lot of rubbish typical of tour guides. When we got down near the coast it kept away from Icod and Puerto de la Cruz and picked up a motorway, now making good time along the highway. The guide told us we would be stopping soon at a service area to reorganise the different parties and trips and would be coming around to collect the fares. He also wanting €2:50 each for fresh orange with the proceeds supposedly going to some cat and dog home. We just paid for the trip, €2:50 was expensive for a glass of orange juice. He also said that there was some sort of presentation we would have to sit through before the trip continued.

 

We arrived at the service area just off the motorway and beside a small town. We were all divided into language-preference-groups and where we were going then put into separate rooms. There were tables and chairs with a flask of hot water to use with instant coffee or tea bag. Also we got a Magdalena cake and a glass of wine. It was 10 am and we had to wait until the ones on a bus from Los Americas arrived, about half an hour later. Once they settled down with their breakfast and wine the presentation began. This was done by an obese Scots woman who was quite amusing at first but the whole thing began to drag and got thoroughly boring. The brochure said an interesting Product-Info event; I thought the presentation would be, maybe, about the environment, climate, and other things of interest about the island or if they were selling something perhaps some local ethnic product or at the worst 'time share'. It turned out that she was selling bedding; mattresses, pillows and duvets; from Germany. She asked if anybody had been to the presentation before and a couple at the back put up their hands and said that they had bought the product and it was wonderful and effective for the guy's bad back; I though they were plants in the audience and afterwards was convinced they were. As I said it became very boring and it didn't seem to be going to end; when she finished her discourse on the mattress and began on the pillows. I looked at my watch and it was now mid-day we had been there nearly 2 hours. I looked around and others were looking fed up and trying to keep their eyes open, I decided I had had enough. I stood up and asked how much longer we had to suffer this nonsense as we had paid for a tour not a sales talk. She took exception to my interruptions and it was then that the exchange got heated and we walked out.

 

In the corridor I saw the clip-board guy from the bus and asked him when we were going to get started again. He said 'soon', I asked for an exact time but he didn't know. Surely they have a laid out itinerary but he just looked blank. I asked for our money back and said we would find our own way home. Another woman who seemed to be in charge got involved and another shouting match developed, she told me it was in the brochure that we had to attend a presentation, but not for 2 hours I pointed out and it still was going in full swing. Eventually she funded our €30 and we stomped out to find our way back somehow.

 

Fortunately it was only a short distance to the main road that ran parallel with the motorway. We walked along it and soon found a bus stop, the town was called Tacoronte and eventually I found somebody who knew about the buses that ran through here, he told us that there was a bus to Purto de la Cruz every half hour. We only had about 10 minutes to wait until one came along. Tacoronte was quite a way from Puerto de la Cruz and it was after 1pm when we arrived at the bus station. It had been a nice drive and we saw another part of the island that we hadn't been to before. From the bus stance we walked down to the front, it was cold with a bitter wind blowing from the sea. We found a bench near the harbour that was sheltered by a tree from the wind and there we had our lunch; luckily we had come prepared with sandwiches and a flask of coffee not depending on what the trip had organised for our lunch.

 

The wild Atlantic at Puerta de la Cruz

 

After lunch we strolled along the front but it was cold so returned through the shopping areas which were more sheltered from the wind. We did a lot of window shopping before heading back to the bus station for the 3 pm bus back home. It was cloudy and then misty at Erjos as the bus climbed over the hill but on the other side Santiago del Teide was again bathed in glorious sunshine. The drive down the pass is always a joy and the mountain and ridges now magnificent in the afternoon glow. It was a long bus trip back and it takes 2 hours from Puerto de la Cruz and it seems to pick up or drop off people at every bus stop.

 

We were back at the flat in time for the quizzes and I relaxed with a cup of coffee while watching them. For dinner we had pizza then read our books until 9pm when we watched 'Death in Paradise' which was a bit better this week. When we got to bed we read for about an hour before getting to sleep.

 

We had a lot of discussion about this excursion afterwards and what the firm hoped to achieve. First of all they did have a captive audience as most people would feel trapped in the middle of nowhere and have to put up with it; not like us, we can find our way to and from anywhere, we did managed to navigate our way from Canterbury to Rome without many problems. Next people on holiday may buy local goods, like the carpets on sale in Tunisia when we were there or the papyrus picture we bought in Cairo but its doubtful whether bedding is of interested. For a sale like that it had to be short and sweet with a tantalising bargain to be had, this one went on far to long and the price was a big secret only to be revealed at the end. There was also too much phoney science in an attempt to make people feel guilty about not looking after their and their family's health. Lastly the couple that said they had purchased the bedding on a previous visit were definitely part of the act, there is no way that anybody would go on one of these trips again knowing they had two hours of torture to sit through. So reader, if you are going to Tenerife be warned about going on an excursion where there is some product presentation to endure and avoid it like the plague.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another relaxing day on TENERIFE.

Wednesday 25 February.

 

It was a lovely day today but Moira decided to take it easy and relax on the veranda with her knitting and her reading. After breakfast I worked on my blog and listened to the radio before getting ready for a session at the gym. As Moira wasn't going out I took the keys to get in at the gate when I returned, so I didn't have to leave the gym at a set tie to meet Moira to let me in.

 

I warmed up with a short session using the light dumbbells then did some balancing on the half sphere and the medicine ball, I'm getting much better. I concentrated on my back, shoulders and deltoids today and built up gradually to some heavy weights. I finished off doing squats with a large ball between me and the wall. I rolled down the wall as I bent me knees then rolled the ball up again, I think the idea of using the ball is that it keeps your back straight. It ended up with a 80 minute session today as there wasn't any rush before walking back in the warm sunshine.

 

It was lunchtime when I got back and Moira had made a minestrone soup which we had with a crusty baguette. Afterwards I finished a crossword then started to edit a few more days on the VF pilgrimage. I have now reached a third of the way or 600km and its interesting to read again all that we went through to accomplish the marathon walk.

 

It was the usual quizzes on the TV when we came in, and then after dinner there wasn't much on the box that we wanted to see. I read my book and it is really enjoyable. I did put the TV on later to check out a programme on the history of women' rights, it turned out to be very interesting and we watched it before returning to our books. It was nearly 10:30 pm when we got to bed tonight and tomorrow we have the excursion to Santa Cruz, hopefully the bus will turn up this time.

 

 

 

 

 

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