Tenerife: Living on a Volcano

With the English weather showing little signs of improvement and snow in the forecast, Allie and I decided to book a last-minute long weekend away to the Spanish island of Tenerife. We had a long list of things we wanted to do- which resulted in quite the headache fitting everything into a plan, especially with certain activities requiring specific time slots and permits. Initially we had planned to go to the summit of El Teide – The third highest volcano in the world – on the Friday as there appeared to be permits available (required to go to the absolute summit). This would be followed by a day of visiting natural swimming pools and venturing into lava tubes on a guided tour on the Saturday, and then a morning of sea kayaking before returning to the airport on Sunday. Needless to say, things did not go according to plan! Even before we set off, we were told that there actually weren’t permits for the summit available on Friday, but we could go up the cable car on Saturday. So, we booked to do that and switched our lava tubes booking to Friday (having already switched the booking to go up the volcano in the first place!).

And so, before sunrise, on Thursday 24th March, we set off on our bikes to get the train to Gatwick Airport. It’s only 60miles as the crow flies to the airport from Southampton but the train takes about two hours as it winds its way through the English countryside. We were sure to arrive in plenty of time so we could enjoy some of the sandwiches we’d made with bread that Allie had baked before getting on the four-hour flight to the North of Africa. The flight was made all the more stressful by the complete disregard of most of the passengers for mask wearing. We made sure to be the last ones onto the plane and were one of the first off- luckily managing to avoid catching anything. We passed the time reading and watching a film, until we got our first views of the arid Canary Islands. Beautiful from above, and a very pleasant temperature when we stepped out onto the tarmac. Amazingly all the non-mask-wearing passengers suddenly found their masks when they were told they needed one to be allowed onto the bus to the terminal- It made us feel good about the mask wearing in Spain and this was a feeling that would be reinforced throughout the trip.

With Allie’s passport stamped, we collected the keys to the car and once I had familiarised myself with the gear stick being on the wrong side, we set off for Garachico. The first 30km or so were along the motorway, working mainly up hill. The Hyundai i10 I was driving couldn’t manage to stay in 5th on some of the motorway hills- this didn’t bode well for the back roads which we were pre-warned were not suitable for nervous drivers. The roads were winding, very narrow, and extremely steep- but absolutely beautiful. We spent the remainder of our hour and 20min drive mostly in 2nd gear but eventually arrived at our Airbnb and were welcomed by Marcos. I had a brief lie down (apparently it was not very brief), before we went for a little walk through the town. The sun was beginning to set, and it lit up the trees in the town centre beautifully. We did a quick shop and grabbed some warmer clothes before going for dinner. We had a delightful meal at Restaurant Silogia. I had cod with sweet potato puree and Allie had pear ravioli in a smoked cheese sauce. Our server told us he was planning to go to Drogheda to improve his English- though he pronounced it Drog-he-da with a Spanish accent, so I had a little trouble understanding- Allie had no such issue.

Leaving Garachico the next morning was an uphill battle, literally. Some of the hills I had to change down into first gear to just get up them. We were going to have a quiet morning before going to the Lava Tubes but due to forecasted high winds the kayak company emailed to say we’d have to do Friday morning. Setting off at 07:30, we thought 90min would be plenty of time to get there and park, but we had to stop along the way to top up the tyre pressure and finding a parking spot proved very challenging, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get our things out of the car and down to the kayak shop. Feeling a little flustered, we walked the kayak down to the beach, got onto the water, and set off for the gap in the buoys. Once out on the open ocean we could enjoy the gentle rocking of the waves, the sun in the sky, the sheer cliffs to our left, and having no where to be for the next couple of hours. We paddled out near to a big fish farm and then in towards the cliffs and what we thought was a big cave. Spotting a congregation of diving boats, and having been given snorkels and goggles, we headed that direction and I got in for a little swim. It was quite a nice temperature, and I did get a glimpse of a turtle, but it was mostly too deep to see anything. And so, we headed back to shore, content with our morning of ocean exploration. The plan was to eat the lunch we’d packed on the beach and then drive back towards Garachico to visit the lava tubes. Unfortunately, we managed to forget our bag of food and due to the rush getting to the kayaks needed to change some of our clothes. With just about enough time to get home and leave again we did just that, negotiating ever more challenging roads, to reach the information centre for the lava tubes.

Cueva Del Viento is the fifth largest volcanic tube in the world and the largest in Europe. Its name comes from the constant draught that circulates through the cave from two openings – and also keeps it safe for tourists, venting out any harmful gases. The tubes form when the top layer of lava solidifies and thermally insulates the lower lava. As more lava flows it forms ducts beneath the surface and then as the lava runs out it leaves these tubes which form in layers, one above the other. Our polyglot Serbian guide, Alejandro, took the group of about 12 of us in minibuses to the start of a 30min walk to the cave entrance. Along the way he explained the different kinds of viscous and non-viscous lava and how the viscous lava forms pointy rocks known as A’a (the sound you make if you step on it in bare feet) whereas the non-viscous fast-moving forms a ropey surface called Pahoehoe. If you look at the landscape today, the type of lava also dictates the type of vegetation that grows as the local Pine trees have developed to only grow on the A’a lava.

We were brought on a path winding past ancient settlement, along one of the first roads on the island which went up over the volcano rather than round. We learnt that Tenerife uses the same flag as Scotland as a reminder that when the Scots came to take over Tenerife, they were unable. The ladies in the group were also given a small piece of obsidian (volcanic glass), which they could keep and then Alejandro had a piece to leave in the cave as an offering to the goddess to let us come, and leave, and come back again. We donned attractive sanitary head coverings, helmets and torches and descended into the 200m long section which tourists are allowed in. It is completely unlit and 95% how it was originally found, with just a few sections where the roof has been secured and some steps and signs. I think the most fascinating thing was how they were able to tell the timeline of the formation of the different sections depending on the features, for example if stuff had fallen from the ceiling and there were no remains on the floor, they knew that the lava had still be flowing in that section at the time.

There were a couple of strange older Estonian men who seemed to just want to do their own thing but otherwise it was a fabulous experience. The uneven floor meant you had to keep your wits about you (Alejandro said he gets through 7 pairs of boots a year), and the darkness when we turned out all the lights was beautiful. We descended to the end of the public section, where we could see up and out to where we had been earlier learning about the early settlers, before turning around and heading back to the entrance. On the way Alejandro convinced us that we could try to get out with no lights, and only our sense of touch to guide us but, much to my dismay, that proved to only be a ruse! On our way back to the vans we saw the areas that had been used for thrashing wheat and corn and we learnt about the local specialty of Gofio (which is just like flour, but it’s been roasted already so fine to eat raw). I gave some Germans some tips about hiking in Ireland on our way back and then we set off back to Garachico.

We took another walk in the sun and were a little disappointed that the local natural swimming pools were closed due to damage from a recent storm. We would just have to go looking for some on the Sunday- or so we thought! We went to a pizzeria for dinner (opening times were quite lax it appeared). I had a pizza called ‘Garachico’ which had chicken, shrimp, banana, and pineapple on it- quite the interesting combination. Allie had a more traditional margarita and some ravioli. We reminisced about what we had learnt that day and discussed how Sam and I sound the same and that Mum is really an interim step on the way to how Holly sounds. It was a beautiful evening. We were so full we couldn’t even manage to have ice cream after and brought our leftovers home.

Unfortunately, in the morning, we got an email to say that the cable car to the volcano wouldn’t be running due to bad weather, but we could book a different day. We moved the booking to Sunday and while we had breakfast looking out on the ocean, we planned to head the other way along the coast to Costa de El Sauzal for a walk and a swim. The road down to the sea was definitely the narrowest and most challenging yet but undeniably had the best views. Winding our way down, we found a carpark at the end (luckily not meeting too many cars along the way). There were gorgeous stone walkways and views all the way to the volcano (which looked to have just fine weather). We walked down to one end of the walk, passing caves which we learnt had been carved in as homes and then removed to reclaim the land. There were loads of crabs and several fishermen casting their lines into the brilliant blue sea. Walking all the way to the other end of the walk we decided to have our swim. There were two other couples there and one of the ladies was swimming with nothing on so I decided it would be fine for me to do the same. Again, the water was a lovely temperature and we splashed around for quite some time before rinsing in the nearby shower and re-dressing ourselves. As we were leaving a woman arrived with her two dogs for a swim – they were so adorable we had to stay and watch for a few moments.

By the time we reached the carpark, after stopping to enjoy our sandwiches, it was full, and it meant we met at least 5 other vehicles on the way out- a challenging prospect on such a narrow road. We decided to stop by a natural pool on our way home, Charco De La Laja. We pulled into town, luckily found a close parking spot and ducked under the tape to climb down to the pool. We decided it was fine given the number of people there though we did spot a couple of people in matching polos at one stage and thought they were going to fine us. We found a spot on the rocks to change (avoiding the topless sunbathers) and jumped into the idyllic sea-fed pool. Allie brought her goggles, so we were able to dive under the water and watch the plethora of fish beneath the surface. After drying off on the rocks we drove back to our Airbnb to shower and change.

There was some kind of night-time running event going on that evening and when we got to the town centre on our way to get ice cream, there were little kids warm up races going on, which were adorable. Allie got two scoops of cherry and I got a scoop each of fig and dulce de leche. We sat by the sea, enjoying our ice cream. For dinner, we had ben recommended a street food place that specialised in fish. I had a tuna-filled hot dog with all the trimmings, and it was actually not bad! Allie wisely decided to pass. On our way back we passed through the town centre again in time for the marching band before heading to bed.

On Sunday morning, we received another email to say the cable car was closed again due to bad weather, but at least it did seem bad. As an alternative, we decided to go to Siam Water Park which is the number one water park on Trip Advisor globally. We arrived for opening, I hired an ill-fitting wetsuit to try keep warm and we were let loose on an almost empty water park. It was a little difficult to find our way at first, with so few people, but we warmed up on some of the smaller slides before negotiating what the park really had to offer. We had to wait at a Kinnaree because it required four people to ride but it was worth it, and we ran it about four times. Our next stop was the Tower of Power. Allie said it was a good thing she didn’t see it before she went up or she might not have. It was basically a straight drop lying on your back before flying under an aquarium and being fired out into the pool. It was all over in about 5s and the website says you can hit 80km/hr on it. We had to strategise when was the best time to open your eyes to see the most! We tried out the volcano too, which was like a disco inside, before stopping for our packed lunch.

With more sun cream applied, we had a go on the lazy river to let our food digest. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was a little too lazy and we were keen to get going again. A different set of slides opened in the afternoon, so we got to try out some new ones. We decided that our favourite was the Dragon, with a giant dragon peering over you as you went down. We also enjoyed the Jungle Snake rides- Boa, in particular, brought you speedily down a dark tunnel! We finished down the Tower of Power once more before it was time to return the car to the airport.

At this stage we were both exhausted. We rang my friend Liam to wish him a happy birthday and then went through security and waited the four hours until our delayed flight eventually left. We landed in Gatwick after 01:00 and Allie booked us a taxi to our Travelodge for the night. Though we weren’t there long, as I had to get back to Southampton to give a presentation at midday.

Not everything went to plan on this trip, but, nevertheless, it was absolutely wonderful. I was so very happy.