March the 28th to April the 26th. We were on an Island 1/3rd (just 2036 sq km) of the size of Devonshire (6,707 km) how would I last for a month!
We arrived at this island in the sun at around 7:30pm with an hours journey to our lodgings in the north of the island, never having been here before with no idea of the road, The map we had was too big to open in the car and worse in the dark; not a good start. by 9:30 at night we neared Santa Cruz, more by accident as we had taken a wrong turn and were headed for what appeared to be the town centre, catastrophe what to do we didn’t have a town map to hand. I decided to find a parking space, if we could. With no idea about parking on Tenerife, what the cost was, where do you pay and with cars parked everywhere it was time to take a chance. We walked around to get some idea of our bearings and decided it was time to look for a hotel, so back to the car and cruz (excuse the pun) the streets to look for a reasonable hotel. Of course when we did see one it was on the wrong side of a street with a central reservation up the middle! The Hotel Silken Atlántida Santa Cruz we walked into the hotel lobby very swish, and clearly very expensive looking! The reservation clerk spoke English and gave us a price we felt was very acceptable and the rooms was large and very swish, whats not to like. By the time we got settled in we felt hungry and relieved but what to do about food at this late hour! Well thanks to the Canarians, they go out to eat when most normal Northern Hemisphereians are in bed and an excellent meal was available from the restaurant in the hotel.
The following morning we awake feeling refreshed after our travels the previous day. Breakfasted and now we had Wifi get our bearings we are off to the apartment booked in La Orotava.
This is quite simply the loveliest small town you could wish to come across sitting in the shadow of Mount Teide one of the oldest towns on the island. being in the north of the island it is really a lush green vegetation quite small overall. The local population on the island is just under 1 million and taking into account the volcano in the middle, means the people live on the edge. To the South the sun and the tourist. The north has visitors but not in the same number as the south. La Orotava is one of the must visit towns but staying here we felt it was a friendly place small coffee shops with lovely cakes and pastries. A small hardware store opposite the town hall which appears to sell almost everything. Early morning here see a slow start to the day with 11am before the sun rises over the Great Teide mountain basking the area in a lovely welcoming warmth of the day.
Towards the coast is Porto de la Cruz, about 6 or 7 kilometers away (3-4 miles) with a hustle and bustle of an active port. Unfortunately the day of our visit was not as sunny but quite warm and the hustle and bustle was a quite hum, it was Good Friday many on the people in the local area had gone to La Orotava for the church festival. We Choose
to go in the opposite direction. That said Porto de la Cruz is quite a large conurbation and the car park was heaving with cars. It’s fascinating to see the parking on Tenerife, random to say the least and when you are a financially motivated in your selection of places to park, you’re not use to this free parking and no double yellow line approach that we have in the UK or other European countries. Nothing is out of bounds, pavements street corners, all day, all night and by the dust on some cars all week! After Coffee and Lunch in a very Canarian Restaurant we headed back to the apartment to settle down for the night with Spanish Scrabble, interesting!
The following day, Saturday, was started with a stroll around La Orotava. The weather was much less overcast. We stumbled on a small cafe El Moli Pan y Café Av. Emilio Luque Moreno, 15, 38300 La Orotava great coffee and the pastries Mm mm yummy. A stroll around Playa de Constitution and surveyed the views towards the coast
After lunch a drive along the coast took us down a track surrounded by a Banana plantation and houses at the bottom, all of which must have had fabulous views of the Atlantic Coast, finally arriving at a beach Playa de Sarocco with people enjoying the afternoon sunshine with an ice cream. Finally back to the apartment for Roast Potatoes & Garlic Mushrooms with Fresh local Tomatoes, wonderful.
We followed that with a trip to Garachico. Lovely town with bathing pools in the rocks along the sea front, which on they we went were out of bounds because of rough weather. But the town is very sweet with a gorgeous plaza in the centre complete with a band stand. Driving past Garachico along the coast and beyond turning up through the winding pass to bring us back along the main road to La Orotava. Places to visit, The museum, Lunch at the Hotel Victoria and a little cafe opposite the town hall which serves brilliant coffee and pastries.
The the day came when we had head south for the sun as they say. The south of the Island is generally hotter than the north. It’s only about an hours drive going the long way round rather than cutting across the centre and so we arrived well before lunchtime. There is a marked difference between the areas and of course each will be liked for various reason.
Malcolm & Delia 