In February I took a walk in the region of Santiago del Teide to enjoy the beautiful almond blossom, although it was getting to the end of the season for the best blossom there were still some brilliant blooms around.
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| Almond blossom |
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| Guanche statue |
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| Almond trees |
In late February there was a heavy snowfall which dusted the peaks of central Tenerife and lasted for well over a month up on Teide. It also provided some great views from the water of sunbathers enjoying the beach with a snow covered mountain in the background.
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| Not a bad view from the kitchen |
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| Beach vs snow |
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| Beautiful snowy Teide |
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| Snow amongst the pines |
For my birthday in March I hiked down the stunning gorge from the little village of Masca up in the hills to the beach, and caught a water taxi back to the port of Los Gigantes.
I decided to challenge myself to complete a longer walk, and chose the Gran Ruta 131 which runs across most of the island from La Esperanza in the north to Arona, 84km away in the south, and undertook the walk in five stages.
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| Magnificent Teide views |
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| Walking through cloudy pine forests |
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| Sea of clouds |
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| Lava flows in the national park |
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| Interesting rock formations |
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| Beautiful day in the park |
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| Teide bugloss |
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| Descending towards Vilaflor |
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| Lunar landscape |
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| Terraces near Vilaflor |
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| View down to the south coast |
I felt I couldn't leave the island without climbing El Teide. So I decided to hike up and spend a night in the refuge before climbing to the summit for sunrise. It was a fantastic experience, and provided some truly spectacular views of the shadow of the peak at sunset and sunrise.
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| The goal... |
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| Teide violets |
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| The view from the refuge |
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| Sunset shadow |
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| Sunrise over the clouds |
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| Teide |
So, alongside gaining professional project and volunteer management experience, I got the chance to explore some of this lovely island.
