HIKING IN TENERIFE, SPAIN

DAY TRIP TO THE ANAGA RANGER, TAGANANA AND TERESITA BEACH, TENERIFE, SPAIN.
Saturday 15TH December, 07

Day trip to the Mountains of Anaga, through ‘Las Vueltas’ Road; from ‘la Casa Forestal’ down to the town of Taganana; This road was an ancient royal trade road, so we were steping in the colonial past as we descent the mountain, this trip was Sali’s idea! Which I gladly seconded, we decided to take a basic hiking trail before going to hike up the ‘Teide’ Volcano.
So We took ‘la Guagua’ #247, that goes from 'La Orotava' to the 'Anaga' ranger; we were awe by the landscape, the views from the cliffs and the narrow highway thought the mountains, where we thought our lives will meet an end.
‘La casa forestal’ is a small house at the side of the highway and is the starting point for ‘las vueltas’ hiking trail, from the begging to the end we saw the Aurisilva which is the endemic vegetation that grows under the shadow of the tall trees that cover this ranger mountains.
As we walked we found steep blacken dirt roads, some times with stepping rocks, another just the black dirt soil from volcanic origin, whichever way the road was cover by impressive and turn trees that seemed to tell you a warning secret. The natural environments changed as we descended toward town, from rich soils to those rocky eroded down by rain and wind.
This hike, from a 1 to 5 scales, is a 2 which does not demands a lot of experience and it takes about 2 hours to be done. It’s all the way down so being prepared to work out your legs, have comfortable and breathable hiking shoes/boots and at lease a bottle of water (1.500 ml) and of course bring your camera.
As we arrived to ‘Taganana’ at the base of the rocky mountain we discover a white town enclave on the exotic green of the banana trees, and the black terraces of the farms, orange trees and others fill the town with aromas and make this pleasant town the perfect stop for lunch.
Sali, as usual is rushing her way out to have lunch before is time to go back to the bus stop; we decide to visit the neighboring town of ‘Almáciga’. We walk on the highway for another 20 minutes and ask an elder who knows very well the area, then he pointed a restaurant that serves the freshest sea food in the place, with an excellent side plate of ‘papas arrugadas’ and salad for 12 Euros. So we pondered our options and decided to take our chances and go for a locally flavored lunch with fresh cheese, green and red tomatoes salad, with white fish, and snapper. Be advice to bring your swimming trunk as there’s a black sand beach with wonderful waves, and a lot of surfers.

At the restaurant we found an old couple that had given us directions in the morning and we spend a couple of minutes with them meanwhile we wait for the ‘guagua’ # 246 that is taking us to San Andrés where we will have the opportunity to visit the Beach ‘Las Teresitas’.

Las Teresitas is a white sand beach marked by black volcanic cliffs, the deal is that the ‘ayuntamiento’, city hall, in order to activate the commerce of the area decided to import Sahara Sand to fill this beach which offers all the services for the locals and foreigners, holding hotels, restaurants, public showers, wc and an excellent ‘guagua’service from Santa Cruz. A service of autobuses almost every 15 minutes arriving to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and other towns make this accessible spot, one of the most visited of the area. So we ended our day travelling back to Santa cruz, then taking guagua #1 to La Orotava.