Our hotel was in the sleepy little town of Alcala, on the south west coast of Tenerife. There is not much to the town - it is just a little bolthole. It has a very relaxed air and you instantly forget and disregard…Read More

Our hotel was in the sleepy little town of Alcala, on the south west coast of Tenerife. There is not much to the town - it is just a little bolthole. It has a very relaxed air and you instantly forget and disregard time and pay no attention to the clock. One day, and we had slipped quickly and easily into this slow pace of life. It is all about lazy days in the sun here and chilling out.

The main street has a few shops, a supermarket and a pharmacy. There are a couple of cheap and cheerful sell-everything type souvenir shops. We bought some water toys for our son to use in the pool, they were very cheap here. There are a couple of shoe shops, some sports shops and a small supermarket where you can stock up on all the necessities. It does close at 1.00pm on Sundays though. All of the shops close at lunchtime for a couple of hours, then re-open later in the afternoon - about 5.00pm.

Just off the coastal path there is a Cash and Carry type shop, not far from the harbour. They sell wine, water, soft drinks, snacks etc. and everything is extremely cheap. We stocked up here on water and soft drinks - bring your own bags though, they don't provide any.

The main street in Alcala is not particularly scenic or pretty, but parallel to it is the coastal path which is beautiful. It is a lovely place to stroll, you have spectacular views over the glistening Atlantic Ocean across to the island of La Gomera. All this, framed by the mountains, makes for a very scenic walk at any time of the day or evening.

Alcala has a tiny harbour area, apparently sometimes you see sea-turtles swimming very close to the harbour. We did try and spot some, but unfortunately were never successful.

The market square is just off the harbour, every Monday morning until 1.00pm, there is a local market here. We went, expecting some cheap/touristy stalls, but were actually quite impressed. There were quite a lot of stalls, most of which were very interesting selling craft type products. We spent a pleasant half an hour browsing here.

Just off the market square is a bar called El Rincon. It looks very unassuming from the outside, but they sell the best mojitos I have ever tasted. At 3 Euros each, they are also a real bargain. We sat outside here on a Friday evening, sipping these delicious drinks and enjoying the night-air. There are several restaurants in Alcala - all of them looked very nice, but we ate each evening in the hotel and didn't get to try any of them.

Another good find for us in Alcala was the little travel agent on the main street. They can organise car hire - and did so very efficiently for us. It cost us 38 Euros per day - including all taxes and insurance. They dropped off and picked up from the hotel. I would definitely recommend using them for car hire.

Alcala is lovely, very unspoilt with a really slow pace of life. Although our hotel was a large resort type place, the town itself still felt very untouched and missed off the tourist trail. If you want lively night-life and fast paced attractions, this is definitely not the place for you. If though, you want a relaxed, low-key place with authentic charm, it is perfect.   Close

* Some parts of Tenerife are very developed and cater for the mass market. We visited Playa de las Americas and a couple of the other main resorts out of curiousity. They are heavily developed, not particularly tatty, but still comercialised with slot…Read More

* Some parts of Tenerife are very developed and cater for the mass market. We visited Playa de las Americas and a couple of the other main resorts out of curiousity. They are heavily developed, not particularly tatty, but still comercialised with slot machines and such like. You do only though, have to go about 3 or 4 miles from these really touristy places to find a different world - palm trees and pine trees and beautiful scenery. We stayed on the south west coast in the Guia de Isora region. This, I thought, was perfect. the coast is unspoilt but it has the best of both worlds - good amenities and facilities, but not so built up and full of concrete.

* Tenerife is very child friendly and a great place to bring children of all ages. Everyone has lots of time for children. The restaurants and bars may not have children's menus, but they will put together, very happily, a child's meal on request. The resorts are extremely well kitted out for children with wonderful play areas. Even some of the big shopping centres have fantastic play areas.

* There are local buses, which go to even the most remote areas of the island. Apparently they are not that reliable time-wise, but there is public transport available. I would definitely recommend hiring a car though. The roads are often high and winding, but are very well maintained. The main motorway is quite busy, but the other roads tended not to be busy at all. We had booked with a tour operator and our holiday included transfers to and from our hotel, but I felt we definitely needed a car to explore this beautiful island. Distances are very manageable too - we found we were never more than about 2.5 hours away from anywhere.

* Car hire is very good value for money on Tenerife. We booked a hire car through a little travel agent in the village where we were staying. The car was almost brand new and cost 38 euros per day. They dropped it off at our hotel and collected it from the hotel, so it all worked really well for us. Petrol is also so much cheaper than in the UK. The motorways are a fast and efficient way to get around the island and it is fun to travel on the more minor roads too. Everywhere is well signposted and off the motorways, relatively trafffic free. We thought it was a joy to drive here - be warned though, you will have to keep stopping to enjoy the scenery!

* Buy or bring water shoes if you want to go on the beaches. They are very rocky and there are lots of rocks in the water, so you need to protect your feet.

* Tenerife is very safe and they say violent crime against tourists is almost non-existent. We read non-violent crime is relatively rare, but I did have my handbag stolen. It happened at a remote beauty spot, up Mount Teide. I stepped out of the car for minutes to take a photo. We were at the front of the car and didn't move away from it, but when I got back in my bag was gone. Never leave anything unattended, even halfway up the mountain in a remote area. In the time it took to take a photo, my stuff was gone. I was shocked and stunned, but learned my lesson. Lock anything in the boot out of sight and don't leave anything for a second unattended. In the police station, there were about 20 other people waiting to report thefts, so it is not that unusual.

* Everything on Tenerife seemed to us to be remarkably cheap. It is a VAT free island, so there are bargains to be had on alcohol and perfume. We found a bottle of wine, which we buy in the UK and which costs £10 in the supermarkets, on sale for 3 euros. Also if you eat out in the little villages, food and drink is very cheap. Lunch - 3 sandwiches and drinks for example costs around 8 euros. The goats cheese here is excellent too - it is award winning and apparently Arico and Benijos are the best.   Close

* Flying time from the UK to Tenerife is around 4.5 hours. On the way back for us, the flight took just 3.5 hours. There is a lot of choice of airlines and flights from the UK to the Canary Islands. There…Read More

* Flying time from the UK to Tenerife is around 4.5 hours. On the way back for us, the flight took just 3.5 hours. There is a lot of choice of airlines and flights from the UK to the Canary Islands. There are charter flights, lots of low cost airlines fly here and in addition the regular airlines like BA also offer a wide selection of flights. There are 2 airports on Tenerife - one in the North and one in the South. Flights from the UK generally tend to land at the South airport - Tenerife Sur Renia Sofia.

* The local cuisine on the island includes lots of seafood and paella. Bananas grow everywhere here, so not surprisingly they use these a lot. Canarian bananas are much smaller than we are used to in the UK. Also look out for puchero - a saffron infused stew with chorizo, beans, chickpeas and potatoes. They serve mojo with a lot of things. This is very good and is a spicy, garlicky sauce. They also serve potatoes Canarian style - they look a bit wrinkly and wizened, but are cooked in salt and taste delicious. I would not say Canarian cuisine is amongst the most adventurous or great cuisines of the world, but it is hearty and tasty. The fish is excellent. Pork and beef are available, but there are no cows no Tenerife, so all the beef is imported. Watch out too for kid and goat. Bananas and tomatoes are grown locally, also avocadoes, passion fruit and prickly pears are local produce.

* Even if your children are extremely fussy eaters, there will be something to suit their tastes and keep them happy. All the main supermarkets in the towns and resorts have all the main international staples.

* The Canary Islands are excellent for family holidays. There are endless numbers of family friendly hotels and resorts offering full or half board deals. If you search on the internet, you can also find lots of lovely child friendly villas or self-catering apartments. There are apart-hotels too if you want to have the best of both worlds. You need to book well ahead for the best flights and the best prices, but there are some great value deals to be had.

* The islands are best visited outside the main summer months. They get extremely busy, but the weather can also be unbearably hot. We found going during the October half-term was a perfect time. The temperature was more comfortable, but it was still warm enough to use the beaches and go swimming. The weather (especially in the south of Tenerife) is great all year round. The temperatures in the summer rarely rise above 30 degrees centigrade. In winter the temperatures seldom fall less than 20 degrees centigrade. Even though Tenerife is only about 60 miles from the Moroccan coast, the cool and moist trade winds make the island more comfortable than you would expect at that latitude. In summer you will get an average of 11 hours of sun and in winter 6 hours of sun on average per day. There can be stormy periods in winter - this is not common, but we did experience a storm on one day of our holiday.   Close

Tenerife is the biggest island in the Canary Islands and is also probably the most well-known. 10 million people visit this island every year - in October we were some of those.In the past, we thought of Tenerife as a sun, sand and sea…Read More

Tenerife is the biggest island in the Canary Islands and is also probably the most well-known. 10 million people visit this island every year - in October we were some of those.

In the past, we thought of Tenerife as a sun, sand and sea destination and package holiday heaven. We knew that lots of British and German tourists especially, travelled here particularly during the winter months, to get some sunshine. We thought that was all Tenerife had to offer, but 2 weeks there completely changed our opinions. There is so much more to this beautiful island.

The weather is wonderful on Tenerife. At the end of October, we left shivering Britain and emerged from our plane, just 4.5 hours later to find sunshine, balmy temperatures and that it was time to get into shorts and t-shirts. This is the case in Tenerife even during its coolest months, sunshine is the norm.

We stayed in the south west part of the island. The north of Tenerife is mountainous and does get more rainfall than the south. It is also cooler (still warmer, drier and much sunnier than an average British summer though!). We did have one day of rain where we were staying. We were told this is highly unusual. They hadn't had even a light shower since the beginning of April before this!

Tenerife was conquered by the Spanish 500 years ago and is now an autonomous region of Spain. Everyone speaks Spanish, but its location, just 320 km off the coast of Africa makes it feel very exotic and different.

A lot of tourists only see the grounds of their hotel or the beaches. We found there is so much more to Tenerife - everything from buzzing cities to historic old towns to quaint rural villages, untouched by tourism and steeped in the past. If you are looking for culture - there is plenty of it here.

There are also many striking natural features. Most striking of all is Spain's highest mountain - Mount Teide (3,718 metres). It is a volcano, you can take a cable car to the top, or just explore the national park surround it. The landscape is out of this world - weird rock formations, vivid and intense colours and a lunar-like profile. It feels like you are on the moon, I have never seen anything like it, we were fascinated.

The north of the island has some lovely towns and cities. We enjoyed the capital Santa Cruz, a charming and bustling big city. Also the World Heritage site of La Laguna is wonderful and the beautiful old part of La Oratova is fascinating.

There are plenty of beaches - most we saw had black, volcanic sand, but this was fun and unusual for our son to play on. Any golden beaches in Tenerife (there are some) have had sand imported from the Sahara or elsewhere. There are also some great family attractions - Loro Parque and Siam Park amongst those we enjoyed.

The coastline (350km of it) is stunning. Craggy cliffs, rough and dramatic with the huge waves of the Atlantic crashing onto the shore. Go inland and higher up and you can picnic and play in beautiful pine and eucalyptus forests. Back in the towns there are lots of designer shops and good restaurants.

We were totally amazed by what we found in Tenerife. The island is not that big, but we found every day a different adventure with something new and completely different to explore. We loved this island, would definitely recommend coming here and would love to return sometime.   Close

We had always dismissed the Canary Islands as a holiday destination - not for us, we thought, believing the islands to be only for package holidaymakers in search of sun, sea and sand. Nothing cultural or interesting, and a destination that, until now, we…Read More

We had always dismissed the Canary Islands as a holiday destination - not for us, we thought, believing the islands to be only for package holidaymakers in search of sun, sea and sand. Nothing cultural or interesting, and a destination that, until now, we had left off our "travel list." How wrong we were!

Our son had a 2 week school holiday at the end of October, and our requirements for this trip were sunshine and pleasant weather, a relaxing location and a flight time of less than 5 hours. We searched and thought, and reluctantly came to the realisation that the Canary Islands were just about the only location that matched our needs. So we booked a holiday there.

During this 2 week holiday, all our previous misconceptions about the wonderful Canary Islands were turned upside down. We had the most fantastic holiday here, would definitely recommend it to people who are in search of more than just a beach holiday, and would be keen to return.

There are 7 islands in the Canaries to choose from - Tenerife (the biggest), Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. All are volcanic in origin, all seem to offer something different - from desert and sand dunes in Gran Canaria to volcanic and lunar like landscapes in Tenerife. There is absolutely lots to see and do.

The Canary Islands also felt very exotic to us. This is probably because they are. The islands are part of Spain, the language spoken is Spanish and the street signs etc. are all in Spanish, but this does not feel like Spain at all. The location is probably the reason for this. The islands are actually closer to Africa than Spain. They are just off the west coast of Africa and are thus also closer to the Equator than Spain, so this location lends them a uniqueness.

The sub-tropical climate is the second big draw. Year round the weather in the Canaries is lovely - the islands are sometimes called the "land of eternal spring." Even in winter, the skies here are blue and the sun shines almost every day. For Europeans, it is a perfect winter or autumn escape.

The flight time too is excellent. From the UK it takes around 4.5 hours. There are lots of flights to choose from - budget airlines, premium airlines and lots of charter flights take off every day from lots of airports throughout the UK. You can also find plenty of good deals and bargains.

There is no time difference between the UK and the Canaries - no jet-lag and no adjustment whatsoever. We also found a distinct lack of mosquitoes and biting insects. It really seemed like it couldn't get better - short flight times, guaranteed sunshine, exotic location and no bugs!

More than half a million British people come on holidays here every year - it is known as a package holiday destination where people come for the guaranteed sunshine. The islands are all developed and in some towns and resorts, there is the evidence of mass market tourism. This has its advantages too though - tourism standards are very high - plenty of clean toilets, clean beaches, lots of attractions and good infrastructure.

For the independently minded traveller though, you can escape the other tourists and find culture, history and incredible natural sights - the volcano on Tenerife is the third largest in the world and feels as if you have been transported out of the world to a lunar landscape.

I have truly been converted. The Canary Islands are now high on my "travel list." We loved our 2 weeks here, found compelling landscapes to explore, volcanoes aplenty, rolling sand dunes, beautiful forests and rugged, dramatic cliffs. This, plus just about everything else at your disposal to make sure you have a good time, what more could you want?   Close

I recently spent a holiday in Lanzarote, in Spain’s Canary Islands. I hadn’t found much availability with flights and accommodation, as this was the schools half term week in Britain, and the week of the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebration. It was last minute and…Read More

I recently spent a holiday in Lanzarote, in Spain’s Canary Islands. I hadn’t found much availability with flights and accommodation, as this was the schools half term week in Britain, and the week of the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebration. It was last minute and I wasn’t expecting much from this holiday. I booked a week at the ex-sol owned, Morromar apartments in Puerto del Carmen. Really these apartments are in Matagorda and some distance from the heart of Puerto del Carmen.

This holiday was for four adults, I was making a slow recovery from dislocating my knee, and wasn’t expecting to be able to travel far from the complex. However, on arrival at our resort, I was pleased to discover that I would be able to get out and about as the Apartamentos Morromar are situated in an excellent position, close to the small but well equipped tourist area of Playa de los Pocillos.

WHERE IS IT?

Playa de los Pocillos is on the south side of the island in an area that has been purposely built as a tourist resort. It’s in a good location, only five miles from the airport of Arrecife. It leads, if travelling away from the airport, to the larger and busier resort of Puerto del Carmen.

I thought it especially ideal for families and older couples as it’s modern, well thought out, well maintained and walking around here pushing prams or wheelchairs would be easier than in many places owing to mostly level ground, ramps and car free zones.

GETTING THERE

The resort can be reached by car, taxi or bus and also, cycling here from nearby areas seemed easy.
Although we’d gone for a relaxing holiday we enjoy a stroll to bars and shops and, as the food wasn’t up to standard in our complex (we went on an A/I basis) it was good that we could visit this small resort easily.
Throughout the holiday we walked to Playa de los Pocillos, if visiting during the day, but got a taxi, if going in the evening, from the taxi rank outside our complex. It was easy to get a taxi for our return journey; there seems to be ranks in most places around the island. Taxi drivers work on a queuing system and fares are on a meter and are cheap. Taxis from our hotel to the centre of Playa de los Pocillos, cost about €3.50 which, for four people, I think is good value.

To walk here is easy. On leaving The Morromar one has to cross the quiet road and walk down some steps and pathways, towards the coast. After about a ten minute stroll this easy route brings one to the sea-front. Turning right soon leads to Playa de los Pocillos.
Along this pedestrianized avenue there are benches every few meters or so. I found the facility of public benches made the walk pleasant and easier, although for anyone without mobility problems the walk is easy.
Even in early June the temperature was between 27 to 30 degrees but always with a breeze, and especially so this near to the ocean. On one side of the avenue is the sea and the other faces inland.

A BICYCLE MADE FOR TWO…OR THREE, OR FOUR… OR EVEN FIVE!

A large area is a car free zone (taxis take a back road away from the beach and have a drop off point near to the restaurants) and the central part is a cycle route. This is a well-kept area for bicycles. It’s popular and well used for cycles of various descriptions; two wheelers, tandems, family buggies, buggies for four, etc. My son and his fiancée paid €10 for an hour with a further €10 as a deposit. They went from the airport at Arrecife (close to our apartments) along Playa de los Pocillos to Puerto del Carmen. This was pleasant with the hired buggy having a sun canopy.

BEACH AREAS

The coast stretches along this area and on the beaches the sand is dark and smooth. There are areas of black volcanic rock but plenty of places where it’s easy to get into the sea. I only paddled, as the Atlantic cold at this time of year.

As I’ve been many times now to Cyprus I tended to make comparisons. I thought for well-maintained areas Lanzarote is better but in respect of facilities on the beach Cyprus offers more (or at least in the areas of Lanzarote that we saw) in this respect, as there didn’t seem to be much in the way of toilets, changing rooms and public foot showers. Also there are vast areas of beach yet not many of them seemed to have sunbeds or parasols but this could well be due to it still being early in the season. But we did notice one area which had windshields around sun loungers. For refreshments, it looked as if one would have to leave the beach to go to the bars along the avenue.

There are a few hotels in this area which blend in well with the area.

SHOPS

We saw a uni-sex hairdresser’s, pharmacy, supermarkets, as well as a Spar supermarket (super Mercado I should say, as - ¡Hablo Española un poco!) and usual tourist shops selling goods ranging from alcoholic beverages, sweets, postcards, souvenirs, clothes and as much as could be crammed into them. Some have a good selection of purses, wallets, bags.

I enjoy wandering around gift shops but my husband gets bored. I can see his point as we shop prior to a holiday. However, we both liked the handmade goods to be seen such as paintings, tiles and brightly knitted cardigans.

Shopkeepers vie for trade and can be pushy but times are hard and I really can’t blame them. Many shops reduce prices; some when asked and others offer discounts or reduced prices for multi-buys.

As one who has mainly holidayed on the island of Cyprus in the last few years I thought souvenirs, clothing and spirits were cheaper in this island’s shops than in those of Cyprus.

RESTAURANTS

This area isn’t as big as Puerto del Carmen but it’s an ideal spot to visit. We appreciated that we could walk here, spend an hour or so in the shops, have a drink then return to our accommodation OR stay for longer and enjoy lunch. We came here in the evening to eat.

The bars were generally reasonably priced, although varying (from €1.40 to €2.50 for a large beer) with drinks and food prices. I noticed that vegetarian choices are few and far between.

At the start of the avenue is The Aussie Bar, offering cheap all-day breakfasts, fish and chips, and steak meals. I noticed a ramp was being built next to the steps. The toilets were tiny and anyone with mobility problems, even without needing a wheelchair would find these difficult.

Further along are more bars and restaurants such as The Anchor, which is English, owned.

The restaurant workers try to entice you into their establishments. This can be tiresome, although they’re polite.

We ate at El Molino which was a little on the expensive side but nice.

I would recommend El Sirocco.

Food in the restaurants along here offer mainly Spanish and English dishes.

DISABLED

I would say that Playa de los Pocillos is generally accessible for those with mobility difficulties and wheelchair users. The ground is well paved and much of it traffic free. And it’s well lit of an evening. Also where there are steps there are nearly always ramps, albeit steep ones.
But my concern is that most restaurants’ toilets were small and wouldn’t fit a wheelchair in or close by. Most restaurants seem to have a ladies toilet cubicle with the gents next to it and the doors separated by a shared washbasin in the middle. There are some exceptions with larger facilities but I could see problems arising if not forewarned.

I do think this island makes an effort to be accessible and people are generally helpful. Taxis also come in all shapes and sizes; some can easily take a wheelchair.

Playa de los Pocillos is equipped with several ATMs.

CHILD FRIENDLY?

Most definitely child friendly. The Spanish adore children and have plenty of patience with them. Restaurants supply high chairs and most offer child sized and child suitable meals.
There were quite a few children on holiday here in June (half term) and we were told that in July and August the area is "hot and full of children!’’ For families with young children I would think this an ideal place to holiday.

OVERALL

I liked Playa de los Pocillos. Although I wouldn’t go back to the same apart hotel, I would like to visit Lanzarote again. Probably I’d go to another area of the island next time, just out of curiosity, but then again, I wouldn’t be at all averse to staying either in or close to the resort of Playa de los Pocillos.


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Santa CruzSanta Cruz is located on the east coast of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands. The city has about 18,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a large port, with regular big cruise ships docks. There is also…Read More

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz is located on the east coast of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands. The city has about 18,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a large port, with regular big cruise ships docks. There is also a beach, along the edge of town.

Parking
Parking can be quite a problem, once you arrive later in the day. When you approach the city from the south, there is a parking lot right along the coast. When we arrived there was a proper mess. Arriving on the parking lot wasn’t a problem but getting off was horrible. There were a lot of cars looking for a space and lots were driving the wrong we. Eventually we managed to leave the parking lot and we finally came to the north of the city where we can just find a parking spot along the road.

What can you see here?
From the shore you walk into a narrow street to where the main street of Santa Cruz is, Calle O''Daly. Here you will find a street with many shops still in traditional style. There are many colonial houses and beautiful buildings. Santa Cruz is known for colorful houses with beautiful antique wooden balconies. The main street is pretty busy before or after the siesta. During the siesta all the shops are closed, often with high wooden shutters and suddenly everything looks dead and deserted. At that point, however, it again off to theterraces of restaurants. Furthermore, there are pleasant squares to find churches that are centuries old, there is a covered market and there are a number of museums. But aside from the main street, are also often very steep and narrow streets up the hill, nice to walk through. You'll see terribly small houses from where we stood.

Museums
• The Maritime Museum is housed in a concrete replica of Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria. It allows you to view charts and small scale counterfeit boats.
•'''Natural''museum island ". It is housed in a Franciscan monastery and is located at the Plaza San Francisco Museo Insular. You can see stuffed animals, pottery, fragments, corals, minerals, etc. The monastery itself is an attraction.

El Salvador Church
The church is open to visitors during the day. There are great religious works of art. If you are just before or after Mass, the church is illuminated so you can see the good work.

The town of La Palma
Here is the meeting of the island government on the first floor. You can use the stairs and goes through beautiful murals.

My opinion
Santa Cruz is a beautiful city with lots to see. The town is pleasant about it. You have to worry about not just to arrive during siesta, because then the whole town is quite extinct. The main shopping street is very attractive and beautiful. Everywhere there are beautiful wooden balconies colored houses. There are also steep, narrow streets, where it is easy to see how the locals in the often very low houses. There is much beauty to see, even the manhole covers in the road are worth. We have one hour or four enjoyed walking around and look at everything.
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LANZAROTE is the most northerly of the Canary Islands and is also one of the smaller islands. The first impression you get as you drive out of the airport is how black it is and as the most recent volcanic activity was only in the…Read More

LANZAROTE is the most northerly of the Canary Islands and is also one of the smaller islands. The first impression you get as you drive out of the airport is how black it is and as the most recent volcanic activity was only in the 1860s the evidence is actually very fresh geologically. When doing research prior to our holiday there did not seem a lot of things that you MUST see on the island. This holiday was one taken with our daughter, son in law and four month old granddaughter so we wanted somewhere warm, not too far to fly and where medical attention could be easily obtained if needed and Lanzarote fitted the bill nicely in March.

What do you do on a small island with a tiny baby? Well as our little granddaughter is a very amenable baby we did quite a lot.

TIMANFAYA NATIONAL PARK:
One day we went to the famous Timanfaya National Park. This is almost like visiting the dark side of the moon. The landscape is black there is very little vegetation just miles of black rock and sand in various shapes. It cannot really be compared with anywhere else I have seen and is a must see if you are visiting Lanzarote.

THE GREEN LAKE:

El Golfo is a tiny village and it is where you will find one of Lanzarote’s natural wonders, El Lago Verde, or the green lagoon. This little lake of emerald green water is the center of a volcano that has been partly eroded by the Atlantic sea. The green colour has been created by the accumulation of algae which makes it slightly less appealing but it was interesting to look at.

JAMEOS DEL AGUA:

The collapsed volcanic tube has been converted by Cesar Manrique into a stunning place of natural and artistic beauty. The pool in the base has tiny little blind, albino crabs in it which I had never seen before. The café is so lovely and cool compared to outside and you can enjoy the hanging gardens and the pool/lake in the cave. At times this is covered to make a stage and the whole area converted to a concert hall.

This part natural and part artistically created man made cave is a true delight. The white and blue pool (you cannot go in it) is a visual treat with plants hanging down and the blue sky peeping through the open cave top. A combination of tropical gardens, bars and a restaurant surround this underground lagoon and creates an atmosphere which is hushed and cathedral like.

There is a further art exhibition area and a gift shop but we didn’t bother with these as we were enjoying the cave experience and the fantastic hanging gardens which cascaded down from the rocks around the cave opening .


CESAR MANRIQUE FOUNDATION:

Having been so impressed with Manrique’s creations in Tamanfaya National Park and Jameos Del Agua we decided we would continue our sightseeing with a visit to Manrique’s personal home which has now left to the Cesar Manrique foundation.

This ‘house’ was designed by Manrique to use the natural volcanic rock formations and he created a fantastic house built in and around the rocks. It was fantastic; some of the walls were smoothed out and painted in a thick shiny white paint which lightened up the underground areas. The seats were shiny brightly coloured plastic – a bit like those in Elvis’ Graceland.

PLAYA BLANCA:
Playa Blanca has a very long sea front walk way which we enjoyed on a number of days. You walk past restaurants and shops at the town end but gradually you pass fewer buildings and looking out sea wards you can see Fuerteventura in the near distance. It is a pleasant quiet area in March but I suspect it gets busy in summer.

There is a small market on Wednesday at the Rubicon Marina which was a pleasant place to wander around in the sunshine beside the harbour area. There were a number of cafés and places where you could sit with a drink and people watch or look slightly further and watch the activity in the harbour.

TEGUISE

Teguise was once the Capital of Lanzarote but today' and is a really lovely little old town with over 500 years of History. On Sunday there is a busy Market with hundreds of stalls and entertainers around the area. The local bars and stalls serve a selection of food and drink to keep you happy while wandering round in the sunshine.

In the market square there was a group of older people dressed in traditional costume singing and playing instruments. It was a most sedate affair but quite interesting and picturesque with the church behind but not greatly catchy musically.

The entire town was one huge market and there were so many different stall selling everything from fresh cheeses ( we bought several) to aloe vera creams to T shirts and toys and many other clothes some more attractive than others. It was a lovely sunny day and we had a great time wandering round with the push chair stopping to enjoy different local snacks and a coffee or two.

On the way from the car park to the market there was a house with the most extraordinary garden. It was full of what most people would regard as rubbish, computer screens, chairs, prams and dolls and some were quite disturbingly contorted. It was most bizarre and I can’t imagine what he was trying to create as it was obviously intentional but truly ugly and quite disturbing too. Everyone was stopping to look.

Although Lanzarote is not a huge island it is extremely different scenically. Everywhere is black, the soil, the rocks and the sand. The houses are often painted white to contrast with the blackness. The area around Playa Blanca is blacker than the other end of the island but it is marginal. The landscape is strangely lunar and bleak and there is little natural vegetation. The vineyards have small stunted vines hidden in half moon hollows to protect them from the wind. It was interesting but I’m not sure that I would like to live there as it could get very monotonous.



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If you’re holidaying in Puerto de la Cruz on the north coast of Tenerife and feel like a day out, the town of Icod de los Vinos is an option. It’s 20 km to the west but doesn’t have direct access to the sea like…Read More

If you’re holidaying in Puerto de la Cruz on the north coast of Tenerife and feel like a day out, the town of Icod de los Vinos is an option. It’s 20 km to the west but doesn’t have direct access to the sea like Puerto de la Cruz. It’s located at an altitude of 235 metres on a long smooth slope of the volcano Teide (the highest mountain of Spain) and stretches from the fringe of the forests down to the sea. The Playa (beach) de San Marco the locals frequent has the black sand characteristic of northern Tenerife, it’s about 3km away from the town centre.

It’s easy to get there, the bus service TITSA is well organised. The buses are clean, on time and as fast as the traffic and the many curves permit. (Buses are called guaguas pronounced 'wah wahs' by the locals) I took Linea 363 from the Central Bus Station in Puerto de la Cruz, the ride lasted one hour and ten minutes and cost 2,75 Euro. When I wanted to get back, I found Linea 354 at the Bus Station in Icod, also going to Puerto de la Cruz, so I got in. The ride lasted 55 minutes and cost 2,65 Euro. I recommend it not because it’s shorter and 10 cent cheaper, but because the ride is much nicer going nearly all the way along the coast with views of the sea and banana plantations whereas Linea 363 stays inland.

From the bus station in Icod (which has clean bathrooms, a fact I find worth mentioning) a walk of 200m up a steep street takes you to the town centre. Icod is definitely not a place for the handicapped, nearly all streets are steep, very steep. I can’t imagine even a wheelchair with an engine going up and down there. Big letters on the wall on the left side of the street advertise the Mariposario del Drago, the Butterfly Zoo, which one passes when going up to the Church Iglesia de San Marcos. I decided to visit it at the end of my tour through the town. The square surrounding the church is a small park with gigantic rubber trees, a small pavilion with a snack bar and tables and chairs outside, and some stalls with pretty handcrafted souvenirs.

Most tourists go up to the square only to look down at the world-famous Dragon Tree standing in a garden nearby with endemic plants which can’t be entered, though. The Dragon Tree is 20 m high, has a diameter of 4 m and a perimeter of 6 m, it has a dense umbrella-shaped canopy of thick leaves. The specimen in Icod is called Drago Milenario in Spanish because it’s thought to be thousands of years old. I’ve checked several sites and found different data ranging from 300 to 3000 years! Whatever, it’s considered the oldest of its kind. Many tourists get off the bus, take a photo with the Dragon Tree in the background and then get on the bus again.

The streets in the vicinity of the square and the Plaza de la Constitucion are full of shops selling the sweet wine typical for Icod (the full name of the town is Icod *de los Vinos*!). It grows on the terraces made into the slope of the volcano, enough water comes down from it and the soil is very fertile there. Cheese is also sold, young ladies lure the tourists inside to taste the specialities. The quality is superb, but it’s difficult to get out of the shops again if you don’t want to buy anything. If you want to take wine with you, the bottles are carefully packed so that you can take them home with you by plane. A recommendable souvenir!

Icod is also famous for the many beautiful, seigniorial houses, ancient palaces, churches and convents, so it’s advisable to just walk up and down the (steep) streets around the church and look. By chance I looked into a house and saw a wonderful art nouveaux door leading into the patio, worth taking a photo of.

Like so many churches in Europe the Iglesia de San Marcos is a mixture of different styles. It was built in the second half of the 16th century, it has a Renaissance door, a French-Gothic steeple and a largely Baroque interior. When I visited at the beginning of January, a nativity scene was still to be admired inside the church, the largest I’ve ever seen, I guess that it covered more than 50 m². It shows a whole village with craftsmen and women in action, baker, woodcutter and washer-woman are moving figures as is a child sitting on a swing. Not only children were enjoying themselves discovering all the many figures of people and animals.

The great attraction of the church is, however, the biggest filigree silver cross of the world. It was made in Cuba from 1663 to 1668 by a silversmith and then shipped over. It was donated by a priest born in Icod. I wonder where he had got so much money from to pay for such a treasure? A simple priest! This cross has occupied my mind a lot. On the box in which it is exhibited I read the information that it weighs 48’300 kg in Spanish, English, German and French. I checked all the signs, the figure was always the same. In case you’re not fluent in metric measurements, let me tell you that 1000 kg are 1 ton. How much is 1 ton? My point of reference is always a bull a farmer once showed us in Sardinia, he told us that the animal weighed one ton. So this cross weighs as much as 48 bulls? That would be crass indeed. I couldn’t get to the heart of the matter while I was in Icod, when I researched on the net I found that the weight is a not surprising 48 kg and 300 g and I noticed something I had overlooked before, namely, that the Spaniards use an apostrophe instead of a comma or a dot when writing numbers. 48’300 kg. Aha!

I had lunch in a small, simple restaurant in the pedestrian precinct opposite the Post Office which I can recommend. I said to the waitress that I had expected to see more restaurants in such a touristy place. She replied that Icod wasn’t so touristy as I thought, only for about three hours a day. The reason for this must be that the beach is too far off, tourists don’t want to travel several kilometres every day to and fro if they can stay in places directly at the seafront. They pass the town on round-the-island tours and mostly only look at the Dragon Tree.

My last destination was the Mariposario del Drago, the Butterfly Zoo. The entrance is 8 Euro/concession7 Euro. It houses hundreds of different species of butterflies and moths, another superlative here, they’ve also got the Atlas Moth which is said to be the largest moth in the world. Together with tiny birds, the butterflies and moths flit and flutter freely around amongst the bushes and flowers planted in the indoor garden. Koi carps and terrapins swim in a small pool and an enormous primeval animal lies motionless as if it were stuffed on a branch with half-closed eyes. I asked it what it was but it didn’t answer. There’s a section where caterpillars and chrysalises are looked after, visitors can watch how they emerge at the end of the metamorphosis and flutter their wings to dry them. Friendly assistants explain the process in several languages.

When I was walking along a path a little girl suddenly pointed excitedly to my Panama hat, we didn’t have a common language but she made me understand that a butterfly was sitting on it. I took my hat off, indeed, there it was and it liked it there. When I wanted to leave, I had to shake it off.

It’s recommended to visit the basement, too, where a fascinating film on insects is shown, most of it in close-up and slow motion. It lasts more than an hour, I don’t think that many visitors watch the whole film, one can always pop in and out as there is no story.

After some enjoyable hours I went back to Puerto de la Cruz, should I go back to Tenerife, I may visit Icod again.




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Of all the seven Canary Islands Tenerife is the most varied in landscape and vegetation, the reason being the Teide, Spain’s highest mountain, 3.717 m (12.198 feet). It divides the island into the yellow-grey, arid south and the green, lush north of permanent spring. The…Read More

Of all the seven Canary Islands Tenerife is the most varied in landscape and vegetation, the reason being the Teide, Spain’s highest mountain, 3.717 m (12.198 feet). It divides the island into the yellow-grey, arid south and the green, lush north of permanent spring. The trade winds are responsible for that, when they touch the northern side of the Teide, clouds form, the needles of the fir trees growing there ‘milk’ them so-to-speak, the humidity enters the ground, disappears through the porous rocks and gathers in huge caverns. The islanders search for them, open them, at the moment 1000 are in use, build canals with tubes up to 6 km long, and irrigate the fields. 70% of the water supply comes from the Teide, 30% from rain and snow and a few desalination plants.

After recovering from the shock of the climate change - we had left Germany in December covered with snow and 32° F and came to 80°F - we set out to visit the town of Puerto de la Cruz. Notwithstanding the enormous amount of tourists, you can still see enough natives going about their business or not, to get a feeling for the Canarian way of life.

During the Christmas holidays many families did the same as the tourists, i.e., walk around, enjoy the sun, go with their children to playgrounds; old men played cards in the small harbour - we had enough opportunities of watching them. Some are blond, descendents of the indigenous population, the majority are of Spanish origin, small, a bit stocky, lightly dark-skinned, a few faces prove that the North African coast isn’t so far away.

We found them friendly, a bit reserved, calm, quiet. They don’t gesticulate or shout, respect traffic signs, don’t blow the horn unnecessarily. They seem to love order and cleanliness, the public bathrooms are a pleasure to go to, if you want to find dog poop or cigarette butts you must look for them, you don’t step into them accidentally. All this is true not only for Puerto, but also for other inland towns in the north which don’t have tourism. The Canarians must have a hidden fire, though, the carnival in Santa Cruz, the capital of the island, is the second biggest worldwide, after the one in Rio de Janeiro!

Our first little excursion led us to La Bananera, a private nursery with a very small botanical garden, very nicely made and sort of cosy. You can order strelizia there, also called flamingo flowers, to be packed and sent to your hotel on the eve of your departure. If you cut the stems regularly and put one aspirin and a teaspoon of sugar into the water, they last for a month - or so they say. I haven’t tried it. Everywhere the red of the Christmas flowers glows, pointisettia, bushes which grow also wild everywhere along the roads, up to a height of 2m, a bit like elderberry in our part of the world.

Then there’s an info centre where you can learn everything about bananas, a video informs you about the growing of same, you watch it sipping banana liqueur (not bad if you ask me), a shop sells banana bread, chips, cakes, jam - you name it, they’ve got it! Bananas are Tenerife’s main agricultural export, but they’re exported only to mainland Spain. They’re sweet and very tasty, but too small for the EU. We don’t have bananas in Europe, but a norm as to their proper size and weight, crazy!

They also have 1400 different cacti among which is a species attracting a certain louse called cochenille. It’s gathered, dried, roasted, squashed for the red liquid it contains which is used to colour plastic, sweets and lipsticks!, hmm, yummy.

We had gone to Tenerife mainly to ‘let the dear God be a good man’ which is a German saying meaning: to rest and relax enjoying the warm climate in the middle of our winter. We passed the time strolling along the promenade and the beaches, sitting in the sun, people watching - a holiday occupation if there ever is one.

The beaches in the south (Los Christianos, Playa de las Americas) are yellow, covered with sand transported there from the Sahara. The beaches in the north, however, are dark and look dirty, but are not. The sand is lava really, in its final stage, ground by time into the finest grains.

The tourists swim in the Atlantic Ocean in winter, too, which has about 70°F then and lie on the grey beaches and sunbathe like mad, as if there were a competition for the largest melanoma or the earliest date for skin cancer. They seem to forget that they’re not in Southern Europe, the sun is much stronger on the Canary Islands which are 1100 km away from mainland Spain and 100 km west of Southern Morocco.

There are some more attractions in Puerto de la Cruz, the Botanical Garden and the Orchid Garden, for example, the latter in the possession of an English family for over 200 years, but we’ll leave the town now and go on a real excursion. We haven’t rented a car, because the driver has to watch the road and can’t look at the landscape and the coaches are frequent, cheap and take us directly to our destination. We’ve decided to see the Pyramids at Güìmar, a small town on the east coast.

(I’m using info from the net here) Archaeologists and authorities scoffed when a local newspaper published an article claiming to have discovered mysterious step-pyramids in Tenerife. Just more agricultural stone terraces, they said, such as are common throughout the Canaries, But Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian anthropologist, (who lived on Tenerife, btw) thought differently. He considered them to be extremely similar to the ones in Mesopotamia, Peru and Mexico. He believed them to be remains from pre-European voyagers who sailed the Atlantic in ancient times, and who may have possibly forged a link with the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.

The museum park contains six step pyramids, a museum in which visitors are explicitly invited to make up their own minds after looking at the exhibits - no theory is forced upon them - and an open tent under which lies a life-size replica of the reed ship RA II with which Heyerdahl tried to prove his theory, namely that prehistoric people were capable of crossing the ocean in simple boats. In a video show the pyramids of the different continents are shown, explained and compared.

We hadn’t been to the pyramids before and were very impressed. We’re no scientists, but to us Heyerdahl’s theory sounds convincing, we’re ready to believe him.

A very worthwhile excursion is the one to the crater of the Teide. The Canary Islands are volcanoes which have risen up from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean; geologists assume that the one forming Tenerife once rose to a height of 6.000 meters. One day the top half exploded and slid into the sea, out of the crater a new, smaller peak arose, the one we see today. At the rim of the crater there’s the most fantastic landscape I’ve ever seen: the ‘chimneys’ out of which the lava erupted have shaped into bizarre rocks, rare plants grow there, the whole atmosphere is other-worldly. It’s very cold up there, but if you don’t protect your skin, you’ll get a sunburn at once.

We didn’t have to bother, though, on the day we went the Teide didn’t want to be visited. When we started, it was raining (that was the only day, of course!), and thick clouds covered the mountain. Yet the guide was optimistic as it often happens that the sun shines above the clouds. Not so on our day out, a strong gale blew the rain horizontally and in the end we had to turn back because it started to snow. We got our money back and were not unhappy, all in all it was an interesting outing, lots of info as expected and an angry mountain, and all for nothing!


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