view of Mt. Teide from our unit:
view from the upstairs porch:
The first morning after a lovely breakfast on the patio, we headed out for a walk along the coast over to the town of Los Abrigos and the black sand beach there.
town of Los Abrigos:
black sand beach:
We then spent a lazy afternoon by the pool, followed by a delicious Spanish dinner of paella and squid in Los Abrigos.
drinks on the patio:
Sunday morning, Dan and I got up early and went diving with Dive and Sea Tenerife. The dives were interesting but not quite as exciting as the dives we did in Belize. Here there was no coral and less variety of animals, but more rock formations and fish. The water was a little chilly too and despite full wet suits Dan and I were both pretty cold on the second dive. We had fun though and it was good to refresh our diving skills after over two years. That afternoon we headed over to El Medano beach, popular with locals with lots of bars, a boardwalk and tons of water sports available. We spent the afternoon watching the kite boarders and windsurfers.
The next morning we played golf right next to our resort at Golf del Sur. It was an interesting course with great views of the mountain and the ocean; Dan played great, shooting a 78 with 4 birdies ;)
That night we had dinner right on the beach in the popular resort town of Los Christianos, just a few miles west of us on the south side of the island.
On Tuesday, we got in our rented Fiat Panda and headed off to explore the island. First we climbed up Mt. Teide, the volcano which formed the island. It is the third largest volcano in the world and 3,718m (12,198ft) high. Unfortunately, the cable car to the very top was closed due to wind but we still got some great views.
our Fiat Panda:
still some snow on the very top:
We then continued over to the north coast of the island, to the historic Spanish towns of La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz.
lunch in La Orotava:
La Orotava:
Puerto de la Cruz:
After strolling around both towns, we continued a loop down the west side of the island. We drove through the towns of Garachico and Buenavista del Norte, through some beautiful farming villages, and then along one of the craziest, windy roads I've ever been on. It was great to see some other parts of the island and explore where some of the locals live.
Garachico rock:
Buenavista del Norte:
La Gomera, another of the Canary islands west of Tenerife:
Thursday, after Dan had headed back to London for work, the three of us played golf at Amarilla golf course. Although it was not quite as nice as Golf del Sur, it had great views of the water and two par threes right along the ocean.
Thank you to Mom and Dad for another great trip! The sunshine was just what we needed after a freezing cold winter in London.
