Faro de Punta Teno, Garachico y Drago

My intensive Spanish lessons begin on Monday, so we took our last full weekday (Friday) and went on an excursion before school starts.

Jaime decided that we should visit the Punta de Teno, the most westerly point of the island since it would take almost two hours to get there and we would need a good part of the day. He didn't tell me anything else about it.

To get to there, you have to follow the narrow winding coast road under rough cliffs which are high above the sea It was a beautiful drive. The road ends at a lighthouse on the dark volcanic promontory of Punta de Teno. For people here in Tenerife, this is the end of the world.

This is part of the road we took, can you see the tunnel?

The area here in Punta Teno is one of the richest botanical areas in the Canaries and has beautiful panoramic views of the Atlantic, the landscape, and the Gigantes Cliffs, which drop straight down to the ocean from a height of almost 600m (about 2000ft). We took the boys and walked to the lighthouse and explored what we could of the area. It was very windy and the boys had fun battling the incline and the wind to walk part of the way up on their own. It was really beautiful and untamed.

Those clouds on the left side of the photo are "stuck" in the mountains of another island, La Gomera. If you look closely, you might be able to make out the shape of the island.

Next, we went for lunch in Garachico, a cute town that used to be the capital of Tenerife. At a local restaurant, we enjoyed the menu del dia which was soup, fresh locally caught fish, and dessert. Then, we headed out to walk around for a bit stopping in a couple tourist shops, plazas, and a park for the boys.

Alex stretched as far as he could to feel the grass with his foot

Connor wanted to jump in the fountain, but settled for touching it

On our way back to Santa Cruz, Jaime stopped in Icod de los vinos so we could see the dracaena draco, or Drago, the Canary Islands Dragon Tree. This species only grows in 5 places in the world and this is the oldest known example. It is estimated that this tree is at least 800 years old. It's another "must see" here in Tenerife if you have the time.

After we got back home Jaime and I had a chance to go out for an "exotic" evening... More on that in the next post...

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." ~Author Unknown