From our camping in the south (Camping Nauta), we went on excursions with a rented car. Our tickets for the Teide cable car were canceled due to the snow. We therefore decided to drive up the volcano as far as we could, before the road was blocked. Our drive took us through the clouds with a lot of rain, until we reached the first snow.
On the way up the mountains we came to the area, were the Canary Island pines still grow. This tree is well adapted to the climate and can sprout again after a fire.
Where the road was finally closed, we couldn’t resist a photo shooting in the snow like many others. As we couldn’t cross the Teide back to the south, we decided to visit Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz at the northern coast of Tenerife.
The square in front of the town hall had not only a Christmas crib but scenes of a market of that time on display including many trades and even a Roman soldier.
During Corpus Christi, Orotavas town hall square gets covered with an enormous sand carpet, which is a centuries-old custom. We could admire an example, created by a thin layer of local sand in different colours.
The Casa de los Balocones – a traditional house built in 1632 with wooden balconies and a lovely patio with many plants, was open for visitors. The rooms at the first floor are still furnished and decorated as they were left by the last owners.
We came past the botanical garden and also walked through the garden of the Quita Roja, the estate of a rich family, which had their mousoleum surrounded by a terraced park next to the big villa.
We left lovely Orotava and drove down to Puerto de la Cruz, the town around the old fishing harbour.
Flower of the Day
From Porto de la Cruz we took the highway around the island and back to the south, where we will watch the Teide again, hoping that we will manage to go to the top before we are leaving Tenerife.