Walking on Tenerife - The Medio Ambiente Are Still Trying to Kill Me

I had no idea what to do. I squatted down and peered at the ground in front of me… nothing, not even the slightest suggestion of a path. I was a pine needle’s width away from putting my ear to the ground; not for any particular reason other than it looked good when Hawkeye did it in Last of the Mohicans and Aragorn in Lord of the Rings.

The forest stretched almost from horizon to horizon in front of us (well that’s what it seemed like), every inch of it looking exactly the same. Only Mount Teide dominating the horizon to the right provided an indication that at least the general direction we were going was right.

The Medio Ambiente had done it again. They’d sent us off into the wilderness with shiny new signs which kept us welcome company where the path was clear and which deserted us completely when it wasn’t. And now we were in danger of becoming lost forever… or a few hours anyway.

To be fair I can’t lay all the blame at their door. Although we were on a former official walking route, we had strayed from the new path that, for some strange reason, the Medio Ambiente now wanted us to follow.

We were in the hills above El Tanque with friends Richard, Nikki and Basil of Tenerife Dogs fame. Basil was unperturbed by this turn of events, enjoying his frolic in the forest, whereas the rest of us stared at the expanse of forest in front with expressions which must have matched those of the 300 Spartans facing the Persian army at Thermopylae.

It had started out well enough with an easy stroll along a clear path through the pines from the recreation zone at Arenas Negras. The first alarm bells should have sounded when a signpost, which had pointed the way 18 months ago, didn’t appear where it should have done. Still, there was only one clear path and we followed it although it veered away from the way we were sure we wanted to go.

The signposts along it looked shiny and new; something which would normally be helpful. On Tenerife this isn’t always the case. Eventually we arrived at a path which circled the Chinyero Volcano, not the place we intended to be at all, and decided to retrace our steps and follow another new sign to San José. The route took us back in the right direction; however, within a few minutes the path became almost anonymous and there was a severe shortage of any helpful signposts whatsoever. A strategy of fanning out like a police line looking for a body helped get us back on track and we eventually joined up with a main path beside the impressive looking black and rust coloured cone at Arenas Negras.

We followed the ‘unofficial’, but more interesting, path around the volcano through a strange landscape of scattered pines, with perfect circles of tobacco coloured fallen pine needles at their base, and uneven lava formations. The path was easy to follow and the views of Mount Teide and the peaks of La Palma breaking the sea of clouds were breath stealers.

All was well with the world until we reached the point where the path completely disappeared.

I remembered similar happening the last time we walked this route, but this time I had an ace card. There was a small campsite of wooden chalets which was right above the end of our route and which should have become visible as we walked in a straight line from the end of the clear path… except this time there wasn’t.

We stared and stared at the forest, but there were no hints to the right direction, nothing… apart from the thinnest of straws. A flattish section of the forest up a slope to our right looked vaguely familiar and sort of like the spot where the chalets had been, but even as I climbed I knew that it was more in vain hope than anything else. Sure enough I reached the top and my hopes were dashed; there were no chalets. Unsure of what to do next I wandered a few feet to a ridge to think what I was going to tell the others…and there below me was the recreation zone where we’d started.

The relief was palpable and we were able to enjoy our bocadillo lunch at the comfort of a picnic table before heading to Fleytas Bar for the most welcome of post walk beers to debate what had happened to the chalets.

This experience is exactly the reason we have written walking routes on Tenerife and this particular route will be coming your way sometime in the near future – as soon as we can figure a way out to describe a path through a forest where everything looks exactly the same.

Walking on Tenerife – The Mystery of the Adeje Troll

Something spooky is going on in ‘them thar hills’ above Adeje.

A couple of years ago we spent quite a bit of time walking in the Adeje Mountains as research for the ‘Walkabout’ series we were writing for Living Tenerife Magazine. On one path we came across a particularly strange rock formation which looked like a face; a troll’s face to be exact. I took a couple of photos of it, so here’s the proof that it wasn’t simply a hallucination brought about by sniffing some toxic flora along the way (not that there was any, but the smell of curry plants at one point had been quite intoxicating).

Last weekend we returned to the area to map out some routes in more detail in preparation for our new ‘Walks in the Old South’ addition to the Real Tenerife Island Walks series and as we drew closer to the area where we’d seen troll face we kept a look out for his distinctive features.

However, he’d gone!

At first we assumed we must have missed him, even though he had been right beside the path, and the return journey turned into a mission to find him. But as we passed the spot where I was 99.9% certain he’d been, he simply wasn’t there.

Maybe he really had been a troll and after we’d published his photo decided his cover had been blown, so upped sticks and headed deeper into the forest.

Or maybe his face had simply eroded. Personally, I much prefer the first explanation. The World needs a bit of magic now and again.

Tenerife Lizards

Wherever you walk on Tenerife it’s a fairly safe bet that you’ll be accompanied by lizards scuttling around in the undergrowth and playing ‘chicken’ across the path in front of you.
It never ceases to amaze me how these painfully shy creatures suddenly turn into your best mates the moment you get your butties out of the rucksack. I reckon it’s evolution; lizards have learned that the crinkle of foil or the rustle of plastic equals crumbs.

Yesterday was hike-athon day for us. Three hikes in one day, an arduous feat as my buttocks will now attest. The final hike was from San Miguel de Abona to La Centinela Mirador and as we sat on a bench overlooking the southern landscape I remembered the last time we were here. We’d sat down on the same bench to eat our lunch and within seconds lizards popped up from everywhere grabbing the crumbs we threw and disappearing back into the undergrowth with them.

One time we were hiking through an overgrown barranco in Guimar and we nearly stepped on a lizard that was peeking out from a crevice in the path. We stopped and Jack started photographing it at close range. We were amazed how confident the little fellow was. He didn’t move at all despite the close proximity of the camera lens. We must have been there for 3 or 4 minutes before I sensed that something was wrong. The lizard was actually trapped. He’d got the top half of his body through the crevice and was firmly stuck. Who knows how long the poor thing had been there and more importantly, how long he would still be there had we not come along. This was an abandoned barranco that was extremely difficult to navigate and clearly hadn’t been traversed for a very long time. In all likelihood he would have starved to death there.

Jack carefully dislodged a couple of rocks and the lizard wriggled free. For a moment he just stood there, as if he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, and then he was off, scuttling into the undergrowth and away, already composing the narrative he would tell his children and grandchildren.

The experience gave us a warm glow, a combination of feeling really good that we’d just saved a life and mortification that we’d spent several minutes photographing the poor thing in the throes of his ordeal.
So next time you’re hiking, keep an eye out and pack some extra crumbs for the lizard life.
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Walking on Tenerife – The Closure of the Barranco del Infierno

Back in August we told you that the Barranco del Infierno was closed for a bit of a facelift.
It was estimated that the work would take a few weeks to complete.So, working on a formula specifically developed for Tenerife – take the official estimate and double it – we thought that it was time to check with the people at the Barranco del Infierno how things were progressing.

The bad news is that the Barranco is still closed. The good news is that the person we spoke to reckoned that it should be open again by around mid October. The typically Tenerife uncertain news is that he added a ‘mas o menos’ at the end.

Now we’re guessing November, but watch this space.

If the Cap Fits…

I love hats. All my life I’ve wanted to own and wear hats and have spent countless hours in front of shop mirrors trying berets, caps, trilbys, cowboy hats, top hats and beanies. But the sad fact is I really don’t suit hats. So when I find one that looks okay, I tend to stick to it.
And that’s why the cap I wear when I go hiking which was once velvety black is now faded to grey, scruffy and dirty (despite its intimate knowledge with the inside of the washing machine) and has travelled much of the world with me over the countless years that I’ve owned it.

Last week I was rummaging through the various boxes of goodies in the ‘Todo a Euro’ sale at the local Al Campo supermarket and distractedly pulled a khaki coloured baseball cap from a box and put it on.
“My God,” said Jack. “That actually looks good on you.”
With a grin of delight I threw the cap into the shopping basket and went back to get one in a different colour for Jack.

When I got home I took the old caps off the rucksack handle where they permanently live and replaced them with the clean, shiny new ones.
I felt a twinge of regret as I threw the old ones into the back of the wardrobe and a slight worry that the newness of the cap would only serve to emphasise the age of the rest of the outfit.
Hmm, I fear this could end up costing me a lot more than the Euro I paid for the cap.

Walking on Tenerife – Simply Stunning Scenery from Off the Beaten Track #2

We have two very contrasting areas which involve heading above the clouds for our ‘Stunning Scenery’ shots this month. The first is still an area which is relatively unexplored by visitors and where it’s possible to walk all day and have the forest all to yourself. The upper Güímar Valley is a bugger to get to from anywhere - even if you live in Güímar. This has an upside as it keeps the forests virgin and any walks feel like real voyages of discovery, but it does mean that a lot of effort to get there is required and if you’re using public transport… well, good luck.

This photo was taken near the start of the Pedro Gil route. The ruddy track leads into the pine forest and around a volcanic cone. The deeper you delve into the forest, the more remote it feels as the rocky valley walls loom overhead and any sound is courtesy of birdsong – it’s a magical and mysterious spot.

Ironically the second photo isn’t that far from one of the most visited spots on Tenerife, Mount Teide, and yet it could be a million miles away. Hundreds of thousands of people might visit the mighty mountain, but only a handful of them stray from the well beaten path where more crater treasures await the intrepid visitor. This shot was taken on the Montaña Guajara trail during winter when the sun was hot on the skin, snow lay on parts of the ground and a sea of cloud added a spectacular backdrop to the barren landscape creating a wonderfully unique scene.

Walking on Tenerife – Return to the Enchanted Forests of La Orotava Valley

We never tire of walking in the La Orotava Valley – the forests are simply enchanting, the views are epic and the air has such a clean fresh quality that to breathe it feels like cleansing the lungs with purifying pine scented goodness.

A couple of friends, Richard (Life on the Reef) and Nikki (Tenerife Dogs) fancied a change from the ultra cool wind surfing scene at El Médano and suggested we meet up for a walk. And as we don’t need much persuading to put down the metaphorical pen and head into the hills for a date with nature, we jumped at the chance.

The Aguamansa circular walk is the perfect introduction to walking in the La Orotava Valley. It’s only just over two hours long and meanders through the emerald pines and below the organ pipe rock formation appropriately known as Los Órganos before heading downwards through the forest to join little country lanes on the approach to Aguamansa.

The weather was perfect for walking. At the level of the route, around the 1000 metre mark, at this time of year it’s warm without being hot. There were a few clouds around, but they were below us which just added to the visual feast of the upper valley. I always get a buzz, no matter how many times I’ve experienced it, of looking down and seeing a sea of white fluffy clouds below me. Mount Teide standing proud on the opposite of the valley, a dry and ruddy looking giant rising above the lush green forest, just adds that special finishing touch.

It was doubly pleasurable on this occasion to walk the route in the company of people who appreciated the beauty of the valley as much as we did and time passed quickly as we chatted and strolled, stopping every so often to absorb the views and marvel at the wispy lichen hanging from the trees like beards.

It’s a gentle, relatively easy walk; the only potentially dodgy bit being at the final descent where the forest meets the country lanes which is quite a steep section of about a couple of hundred yards or so. When the ground is dry, as it is at this time of year, it can add an ‘extreme sport’ element to the route and the danger of participating in a bit of impromptu ‘dry skiing’ is always a risk. On this occasion, I was the only ‘victim’ and just before I reached the bottom, my left leg shot out and down I went. Actually, my backside didn’t actually hit the dirt, but my right knee did, so Andy technically declared it a ‘fall’.

The route finished back at the little log cabin La Caldera restaurant where we replenished energy with some cervezas, Spanish tortilla, Carne con papas, papas arrugadas and fresh trout from the trout farm just down the road for under €30 whilst forest workers came and went and riders trotted by on their horses.

It is a blissful little walk which shows another, stunning face to this marvellously diverse island. It’s just a shame that the majority of visitors to Tenerife never experience it.