How to discover Mars in Tenerife

If in the last post I told you how I traveled the island by car and how I arrived in Masca, The Pirate Village, today I will tell you how I climbed one of the greatest volcanoes.

 After two days of  wandering the island from west to east, it was time for a beach day. The most popular and visited is Playa de las Americas, where you can admire surfers dancing on ocean waves. It is an interesting view, ladies!

Playa de las Americas is known for its bustling nightlife, but also for all types of restaurants. Unfortunately, I can not recommend any club because I didn’t attend any. Like I said in the first post, I slept very much on this vacation. I needed to rest. But Hard Rock Café looks interesting on the outside .

Photos by Rares Pulbere

 The next day we decided to climb Mount Teide, the most visited place in Tenerife. Basically, Mount Teide is responsible for the islands after it’s eruption that occurred 150,000 years ago, according to Wikipedia.

The landscape around the volcano looks like an experiment base and even gives you the feeling that you are on Mars. Who was there understands exactly what I’m saying, because  from the pictures is hard to transmit that state.

But we were “lucky” to do these trips around the volcano in the afternoon, evening came quickly and I thought that we will have  to use our phone lanterns to go back. But the landscape at sunset, is sensational!

 A cable car will take near the top of the volcano. There is a piece of trail to get their, but you can only access it with a special permit, which you must book at least a month before.

Unfortunately, I did not know this and didn’t get to see the crater. But there are a few roads from where we could admire the whole island. It is, however, the highest point in Spain (the islands, although situated in the Atlantic Ocean, belong to Spain). If you go there, don’t forget to take some warm clothes with you . It tends to be quite chilly on top of the volcano, as you can probably see in my pictures.

Take  a day to explore the whole area, not just the volcano, because you will discover quite a lot of fascinating places. If you are fond of tracking, this is your day! Next time I’ll get get here I’ll reserve more time to explore this fascinating area.

The next day, based on your recommendation, I went to visit Casa de los Balcones and Milenario Drago tree. Casa de los Balcones is the most visited place in the north of the island. It is a house built in 1715 with impressive balconies, a courtyard with lots of vegetation, but also a center where traditions are preserved. But Orotova isn’t just  Casa de los Balcones. It is a very nice town in which we got on the streets and found many other interesting buildings. This town reminded me a little of Taormina (Sicily).

In Icod de los Vinos , 20 minutes from Orotava, Parque del Drago is found, a small park with plenty of vegetation in the middle of which stands Milenario Drago, a tree declared a national monument in 1917. It seems to be an anomaly, because the species to which it belongs doesn’t grow so much. It is 18 m tall and the trunk at the base has 20 m. The Canarian symbol of vegetaion seems to be over 3000 years old  and is protected, authorities diverted a street, so not it’s not in danger. You must not miss it if you visit the area!

The last 2 days of my recovery week, as I call it, weren’t for recovery. In the last post I’ll tell you about the parks in the area, and what sports I’ve tried.

 Until then do not forget to tell me what do you think about this destination or tips if you were in Tenerife. This will  definitely not be the last time I visit this interesting island.

Kisses!