Tenerife

Yes, we did have a much better day on our second day on the island. For most of it we had clear blue skies. We started by exploring La Orotava, the town on the north coast where we stayed. There were some beautiful gardens in town…

… and I was mesmerized by these church towers -

There was a Dragon tree in a nearby garden…

… and I just loved its gnarly trunk and roots -

These are native to the Canary Islands, and when the bark or leaves are cut, they secrete a reddish resin - “dragon’s blood”.

I liked the bright colors on the houses in the old town -

We then drove along the north coast -

That picture may look a little odd, but I wanted to share it, to show the different types of palm trees here, as well as the stalk and bloom of the “century” plant (agave) that we saw all over the island. I took that picture above as we turned a corner along the road heading west.

It was very interesting to see how dry and volcanic most of the island was -

Our goal for our drive that day was Los Gigantes - rock cliffs that are 1600-2600 ft high -

The boat gives scale -

On the opposite end of the island (in the NE), Anaga laurel forest stands as a unique area. After climbing out of a very dry area, we rounded a corner and found this…

(please forgive the windshield sticker in the corner - cropping it out would have ruined the composition)

… and as we climbed, the air became cooler and noticeably moister. After the cacti disappeared…

… the laurels took over -

As you probably know by now, we love to visit wineries wherever we travel. The siting of this one was quite stunning…

… and I loved the cacti at the edge of the vineyard!

That’s Mount Teide, and we plan to hike around it when we return to Tenerife at the end of this adventure.

See you on the next island!