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Tenerife Island Teneriffa
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At the very heart of the Canary Island of Tenerife is the Parque Nacional de las Cañadas and the majestic Teide. With its 3717 m it is Spain's highest mountain and certainly the most exciting mountain landscape on the whole of the Canary archipelago. The singular world of the Teide is dominated by rock, in all facets, shapes and colours.
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Right: Inside the crater's rim, jagged rocks emerge from the coloured scree.
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Above: A view past one of natures stone sculptures moulded by erosion on the Pico Viejo and the Teide summit showing in the background.
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The mountain landscape on Tenerife changes throughout the seasons with a white sugar coated Teide in winter and with the pink and white flowering gorse and brilliant red 'snake's head' (Echium) softening the landscape and delighting the eye in spring.
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Right: Bizarre sandstone cones scattered over the grey-black moon-like landscape of the Paisaje Lunar east of Vilaflor.
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The volcanic landscape of the Teide may appear inhospitablebut, nevertheless, it is taken over by vegetation slowly but surely.
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Above: A stand of young pine trees on the descent to Guia de Isora. The long needled Canary pines are of prime importance to the vegetation and water balance of the soil, they virtually have the ability to pull the moisture down out of the clouds.
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Left: On the rock formations that have been broken up through erosion, the pines find support and a suitable environment.
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Right: Clouds over the volcanic landscape of La Cañada.
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The Canary pine is a survivor with the ability to withstand forest fires undamaged. Shortly afterwards the first fresh needles appear on the trunk and the branches.
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The scarcely wooded pine forest on the lower mountain regions of Tenerife is an invitation to extended walks or hikes.
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Above: Easily distinguishable is the borderline in the vegetation between the pine forest and the mountain region.
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Gorse and rock-roses thrive in the upper mountain regions.
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In addition to the pine forests are dense laurel forests which are to be found mostly in the north and the lofty Eukalyptus trees in some other regions.
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Above: For the spring the delicately perfumed Tajinaste shows itself dressed in white flowers.
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A multicoloured flowering blanket covers the valleys and plains in springtime.
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All this splendour was once ruled over by the Guanches, the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands, until the Europeans arrived and with them the slave-traders.
Below: Statues of 10 of the Guanche chiefs line the Plaza in Candelaria with a view of the Basilica de Nuestra Señora.
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In the rural areas of the north, the flowering almond trees are a truly fantastic sight.
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Above: Guanche statues as a symbol of the island's mythology.
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There have been many changes since the time of the first conquistadors. The Tinerfeños, mostly of Spanish origin, have developed their own culture and traditions with festivals, food and rites. The harbour towns are still the most important trade centres in spite of the conquerors of today coming usually by air.
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Above: Both large and small sailing boats find an anchorage in the harbour of Los Christianos.
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Nowadays instead of the identical high rise holiday blocks of the 70's and 80's the trend is to a better class of tourism. This is also apparent in the south of the island where there are attractive landscaped holiday developments.
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Imaginative hotel complex with a landscaped pool on the Costa Adeje.
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With its large and gently sloping sandy beaches the south offers all the prerequisites for an ideal seaside holiday.
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Apart from the large and well known sandy beaches in the south of Tenerife there are numerous small bathing bays and beaches to be discovered along the other coasts.
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The west coast shows itself from its most precipitous side. Here, the steep rocky cliffs, Los Gigantes, become the stage for dramatic sunsets.
Left: The Montaña Bermijal on the north-west tip of Tenerife.
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A specialised plant world is found in the coastal regions, among them the spurges with their milky sap such as the column euphorbia as well as bush sorrel and marguerites.
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Now widely spread, the fig-cactus was once used for breeding cochineal beetles from which a purple-red dye was extracted.
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Above: Opuntia with their red edible fruit.
Below: The attractive Crassulaceae are to be seen in the middle and lower regions of the island.
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The legendary dragon tree (Drago) is also naturally to be found on Tenerife and the largest one can be admired in Icod de los Vinos
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The town of Garachico, once Tenerife's largest harbour, was almost completely destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1706 and only the Castillo de San Miguel and the Convento de San Francisco were spared.
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If one travels around the north-west tip of Tenerife (above) one should not miss out a visit to the small town of Garachico.
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Rich merchant families rebuilt Garachico even finer than before which nowadays shows an intact medieval urban townscape.
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Through the disaster Garrachico lost its once importance as a harbour town on Tenerife and has now become an especially attractive and wonderfully quiet place where one is far away from the tourist hustle and bustle and able to indulge in viewing the wide Atlantic.
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© LasCasasCanarias 2003 - 2007, All rights reserved.
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