Tenerife is ...
... for us the highest and the lowest!
We managed to experience both ups and downs on this journey – literally!
From a peak (approx. 3,700 m) where even the birds were jealous of our height,
to a point where the fish could pat us on the back (approx. -30 m).
A journey between mountain and sea that has passed every test of fear of heights and deep fever!
But more on that later ;-)
Tenerife is ...
... divided into two!
There is a huge difference between the north and south sides of the island.
On the one hand because of the weather, because it is much colder in the north - estimated around 5 degrees. And it rains more because the clouds - as usual in the Canary Islands - "rain off" in the north and the sun has more room in the south ;-)
This results in the "to the other" almost automatically. Because the party crowd crave warm or hot temperatures and the gastronomy scene knows how to take advantage of this. At lunchtime you can sometimes meet beer-bellied guys walking around town without a shirt to keep their bellies in shape at completely overpriced snack stalls.
In the north, it's a little more "sophisticated" -
so no foam parties by the pool with rave sounds that fill half the town in terms of volume.
Everything gives the impression of being a little more high-class.
The Jardín de aclimatación de La Orotava, often simply called Botánico, is a medium sized (6 hectares) botanical garden in Puerto de la Cruz. It is still considered one of the most beautiful botanical gardens today and is one of the most visited attractions in Tenerife. Almost 400,000 visitors make the pilgrimage there every year.
There is space and living space for over 5,000 plant species, 120 tree species and a collection of over 50,000 plants from five continents.
Feel free to take a look at the 53 pictures in the gallery.
The Loropark started as a pure parrot park (Loro: the Spanish word for parrot). Over time, more and more animals and attractions were added (see WWW).
We had a guided tour here where we learned a lot of interesting background information about the park. We also had access to areas that are closed to the general public. For example, we were once observed by an orca through a porthole - it was somehow surreal...
Loropark Info (WWW)
(Words With a Warning - not funny!)
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Loro Parque has been criticized by several organizations, including Whale and Dolphin Conservation and PETA, particularly for keeping orcas.
Although the park's commitment to the conservation of parrots and other animals is highly commendable, we have deliberately not shown any pictures here because we are opposed to keeping captive orcas.
The Teide, officially known as Pico del Teide, rises at an impressive 3715 meters as the highest peak on the Canary Island of Tenerife and is also the highest mountain on Spanish soil... although not on the mainland ;-)
So here we have set our current altitude record!
And since nothing is drawing us to the Andes or the Himalayas, it will probably stay there for a long time ;-)
The so-called Teide (see picture on the right) is actually just a tiny 'burp' (let’s steer clear of the word 'fart' ;-) which formed long (around 8 million years!) after the original volcanic eruption.
On the map on the left you can see the entire volcano when you mouse over (big red circle) and then the Pico de Teide (small circle) - i.e. the summit of Teide.
The entire landscape of the volcano looks like you are on a strange, uninhabited planet. No wonder that many ovies were filmed here (Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, Clash of the Titans, ...)
We made the way up here with a group in the coach. The bus was driven by a woman - with killer heels!!!
While the tourists crept fearfully along the serpentines in their rented small cars,
the lady skillfully maneuvered us through the narrow streets - respect!
Not because she's a woman, but because she did it with her heels ;-)
I have 11 pictures of the volcano and the area here.
The Observatorio del Teide (Teide Observatory) is an observatory on Mount Izaña, at 2400 meters above sea level. Due to the increasing settlement of Tenerife, the initially excellent conditions for nocturnal sky exploration suffered over time. For this reason, the Teide Observatory has specialized in solar observation, which is operated 24 hours a day in cooperation with other observatories around the world.
In keeping with this, the astronomers set up a (small) telescope for us visitors
with which we could observe the sunspots:
If you plan a trip here, take warm clothes with you. It's really cold there!
(...so: NOT on the sunspots, but in the observatories ;-)
I'll show you the observatory in 14 pictures.
"Climb aboard the yellow submarine 'Sub Fun Cinco and experience a unique underwater experience in the Atlantic Ocean. The excursion begins in the exclusive port of Amarilla on the southern tip of Tenerife. On board the fun 'Sub Fun Cinco' you dive to a depth of around 30 meters. Observe the many fish, such as flutefish, squid, barracuda, parrotfish and the pride of the sea, a family of stingrays. During the tour, the submarine actually lies on the seabed, where you'll be accompanied by experienced divers who will lure the fish even closer to the window so you can take even more breathtaking pictures from the panoramic windows."
So much for the advertising text for the submarine - and here are the ... what was that ... breathtaking pictures:
It is probably unnecessary to mention at this point that we set our depth record with the submarine: an incredible minus 30 meters!
Just a little word of warning:
It's very cramped in the submarine! We were lucky that the boat was only half full -
if you can't handle tight spaces well, you might want to avoid the trip!
Submarine: 12 pictures.
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