La Punta de Teno

[Mac]

After a brief venture into and rapid retreat from the resort of Las
Gigantes (admittedly spectacularly situated against the huge fluted
volcanic cliffs), it's over the hill to Masca, a village clinging to
the mountainside above surrounding gorges and only blessed(?) with a
road in 1991, upon which it immediately became a tourist trap, with
many of the villagers taking the opportunity to leave, and who can
blame them? I couldn't but admire the road engineering, though, which
was so ingenious that Mrs Mac had to stagger from the car at a halfway
stop to fortify herself from a wine bottle (while I watched the
kestrels spiralling in the wind) before agreeing to continue.

I'd half expected, from remarks on TravelSpain, not to be able to
reach Punto de Teno, Tenerife's most westerly point, and indeed there
were several large notices saying the road was closed, with dire
warnings of 'extremo peligro de desprendiamentos de rocas en
condiciones de vientas y lluvias' (where had I read this before?). But
no barriers, so deciding that this was by way of discouragement rather
than prohibition, we pressed on.

It was a pussycat. Spectacular, yes, with rather unstable looking
overhangs and an enjoyably spooky tunnel, but nothing like the Masca
road. The Punta was nothing like expected - not a high rocky headland
but a low-lying volcanic wasteland dotted with cacti and prickly
scrub, a small windfarm and two areas of plasticos, so presumably
truckloads of produce regularly run the gamut of falling rocks. A few
other cars ignored the notices, and a small row of fishermen perched
on the cindery shore, but the lighthouse area was locked, so the only
attraction is the view back down the coast past Los Gigantes the
cliffs, to Los Gigantes the town, looking much closer than the whole
afternoon's drive it has taken to get here. The crow may move in a
straight line in Tenerife, but not much else does.

I've always thought of crows as rather sinister birds, surviving on
roadkill and young chicks, but a rather poetic noticeboard above Masca
proclaims El Cuervo to be a protected species indicative of a healthy
ecosystem. Mmmm.

Teide is still hidden in the clouds, but if they clear, off we go.

¡Hasta luego!

Mac

[sue james]

So glad you made it to Teno - having been deterred by the notices we
explored an area just to the south and your post reminds me of it. I
remember the drive to Masca well but Mike seems to have razed it from
his memory - I wonder why!! Don't be deterred by the clouds that mean
you can't see Teide. They are almost certainly only part way up it.
We were based near Taimiamo (inland from Los Gigantes) and the drive
from there into wonderful scenery was easy - on relatively straight
roads and getting through the cloud was well worth it. It wasn't just
the top that enjoyed complete sunshine but the entire and spectacular
volcanic caldera. Las Rocas (the rocks) close to the Parador has a
lovely round walk (about an hour) and all the bus loads of tourists
swarm around the bit 2 mins from the cars so if you go for 15 mins you
get tranquillity and wonderful rock shapes. The pillow lavas there are
so photogenic - I must go look for the photos. At the other end the
Centro de Visitantes is at the start of another wonderful walk (again
with a short walk through a laid out garden and a longer one).
If it's cloudy don't go too early in the day - we had to wait for the
snow plough to finish one day and the road was closed until it completed
its work; mind you we found a nice forested bit with spectacular view of
La Gomera to while away the hour and we were in (crisp) sunshine. But
don't wait for the clouds to go - the chances are they won't but you can
easily get above them.

Thanks for posting
Sue

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