The last stop of the overview excursion around the island was viewing point to Garachico. It was the principal port of Tenerife till 1706 when a long eruption poured lava into the bay and effectively destroyed it.
I already mentioned it was always raining since we started to descend from volcano Teide. And so all we could see was:
A small patch of grass and thick gray clouds.
We were supposed to see a more beautiful view:
Continue reading
Butterfly Garden, Mariposario del Drago, is located close to Parque del Drago. When you enter the garden, you get to a tropical forest where colorful butterflies from all the world fly around your head. You can also see how butterflies grow and turn from caterpillars into beautiful butterflies.
1
Butterflies eat juice of sweet fruits.
Icod de los Vinos is a town in the northwest part of Tenerife. The most famous thing about this town is the Thousand-Year-Old Dragon Tree, El Drago Milenario.
Sign to Parque del Drago:
1
Here it is—Thousand-Year-Old Dragon Tree:
2
From the National Park of Teide we headed to La Orotava, a city on the North of Tenerife, to miniature park Pueblo Chico.
1
«Pueblo Chico» translates from Spanish as «small town». Sure, after entering the park, you become a giant.
All the major places of interest in Canary Islands are presented in miniature in this park.
Unfortunately, the weather was bad, it rained all the time. There are rain drops on the camera lens at some photos.
So let’s walk along the park.
On the second day after we got to Tenerife, we were at an overview excursion around the island and ascended to Teide.
At first landscapes were quite usual: earth is burned by the sun, on rare occasions succulents are seen. The higher we ascended, the more landscape changed. At clouds height there’s coniferous forest of Canary Island pine at Tenerife. Its needles are up to 30 cm long. The tree traps large amounts of water from cloudy moist air. Additionally this pine is the most fire-resistant conifers in the world: it adapted to life at volcano.
1
This photo was taken above dense forest. Pines grow right at black lava.
Teide National Park is situated in caldera of the volcano. The size of the caldera is 16 × 9 km. This is what we saw at the first viewpoint:
2
Lava is everywhere, a few plants grow here. In the distance one can see tops of pines.
At night Las Américas resort starts to twinkle with lights:
When you walk out to the balcony, you will see roads with lights where cars are moving. Paths to the gate outside the hotel are beautifully illuminated. Beaches are lightened with bright lamps.
