First of all I visited the Mt. Teide, the highest mountain in Spain. You can ride a cable-car to the summit. And I had an unrivalled view on the lunar-like landscape. You can see all the colours of different types of rock, orange, green, rust, black and beige.

For good photographers a must, to eternalise this fascinating view in pictures. I’m not a good photographer, so I tried to put these colours in my mind for ever.
And, believe it or not, on this bald peak I found vegetation. It was a kind of daisy flower, growing in bushy clumps, very cute.

I drove around, visited all the traditional rural towns and hillside villages, but for fun you should go out in Puerto de la Cruz. It’s said to be better for the older people, like I am, and it exceeded all my expectations. It was a quiet, cool space, that’s what people told me. And there were right! I had a relaxing evening there.

The northern coast was bordered by steep cliffs, but the southern part was for the tourists. It was not because this part was hotter, but rather the infrastructures were more developed. The beaches, made of black volcanic sand, were gorgeous and the ocean was wild and refreshing.

I walked along the ocean and sometimes I was completely alone. Wonderful! If you ever plan an unforgettable vacation, you should go there.

The most impressive in the time on Tenerife was beside the really good and wonderful conditions for swimming that the nature all around this place is so asthonishing and perfect that we were every day on a few places just to watch them. That Tenerife can present this wonderful landscape depends on their origin out of volcano activities.

The good thing about it is that the poeple on the canary islands know this and save it for tourists and themselves. Between my stay on tenerife I decided to visit some protected natural areas because nearly half of the island ist such an territory.

The best beside the „Parque Nacional del Teide“ was Anaga and Teno which are two rural parks where you can get lots of good photograph images. Also I must give the advice to watch out for the Tenerife bugloss or the Canary Islands Dragon Tree which are plants you can’t see at any other place.

Me and my family enjoy staying at Puerto de la Cruz. The town has a long tradition as a tourist center, well known for its relaxing atmosphere. During the daytime the sand beach and the lush, tropical gardens of the city invite for some hours of sunbathing and swimming. In the evenings the restaurants in the area around Plaza del Charco offer good food and family entertainment.



One of my familie´s favourite passtimes is hiking and we find Tenerife to be an ideal place for this acitvity. The Anaga mountains in the northeast offer many romatic hiking paths that we enjoy because of the breathtaking scenary and the untouched nature. Hiking is popular on the island and guided tours can easily be arranged. We have always felt safer on the guided tours and of course there is the benefit of getting explanation about local vegetation and wildlife.

The Pico Teide is with about 3,700 meters the highest mountain in Spain. Hiking here is for experts but there is a cable car that takes visitors up to a station near the mountain top. The view from here is fanastic. You can see all of Tenerife but have a view also over the Atlantic ocean and the neighboring Canry Island.



While on vacation on Tenerife, a trip to the island´s capital of Santa Cruz is a must. There are many historical sights that remind us of the island´s ancient history and it´s native inhabitants, the Guanches. Many parks offer the opportunity to relax and downtown we find the best shopping on the island.

This photo I made in Playa Jardin, the beautiful beach in Puerto de la Cruz in the North of Tenerife.

Unfortunately I don’t know how the name of this flower is, so if you know it, please make a comment!

Hotel Tigaiga and the garden exist since 1959. The surface area of the subtropic garden amounts more than 4.000 m². In this little paradise you can find blooming flowers in nearly all the colours, plenty of palm trees, aquatic plants and much more. The different plants have their origin as well in the Canary Islands as in nearly all other continents and countries of the world.

A guided tour through the subtropic garden is organized once a week on clients request. Don Cristobal, a graduate biologist, guides the guests through the garden and informs about origin and special characteristics of the different plants.

The hotels employees are caring about this big variety of plants and palms with a lot of love. Mrs. Ursula Talg, one of the owners of the hotel, is specially responsible for the subtropic garden. The surface with all this subtropic plants has grown over the years and nowadays it is impressioning uns with tall palm trees and blooming flowers. The Hotel Tigaiga owns more palmtrees than hotel-beds.

A visit in the subtropic garden of hotel Tigaiga is not only possible for hotelguests and everybody interested in plants can visit this garden. If you wish to visit the subtropic garden you can contact with the reception staff of Hotel Tigaiga and will shurely be attendy kindly and guided through the subtropic garden.

Book directly online: Hotel Tigaiga ****

Dive and Sea Tenerife chose a variety of different locations which best match your experience level so that you can enjoy your diving experience. You can visit dive sites in the north as well as in the south of Tenerife. The diving school provides quality equipment for you to use on your dive.

Dive and Sea Tenerife offer Scuba Diving Courses for beginners and advanced divers.
One of the most popular courses is the open water course. With this level you can dive anywhere in the world up to 18 m of depth.

The courses offered range from Discover Scuba, open water, advanced, rescue diver leading through to your dive master, specialities and ERF. Dive and Sea Tenerife also offer Dive packs at very competitive prices you can find a huge amount of courses and activities in the Dive and Sea Tenerife diving school. You can start your diving course from only 10 years old.

Dive and Sea Tenerife also offers Snorkelling trips, Boat excursions, and Boat Taxis to interesting locations along the coast of Tenerife.

If you are interested in booking a diving experience in Tenerife, you can find more information and details about prices and courses on the homepage of Dive and Sea Tenerife:

www.diveandseatenerife.com

This Park is like a botanic garden and a zoo. Herre you can find many attractions beside a huge variety of animals. Early Loro Parque has been a zoo for lots of species of birds an parrots, some of them in danger of extinction. Nowadays it is one of the most famous and visited tourist attractions on the isle of Tenerife.

If you visit Loro Parque you can get immersed in the fascinating world of animals and also some exotic flowers and plants. One of the highlights in this zoo are different animal shows, which you can enjoy in Loro Parque. The latest attraction is a show with Orcas, who have been braught to the zoo in 2006. As well you can enjoy a great show with dolphins, sea lions and parrots with their trainers. Another thing you should not miss in Loro Parque is Planet Penguin. Here you can see different species of pengiuns. A special part has been formed into a perfect habitat for some of them. The climate of the Antartic has been formed with tons of ice and snow. You really feel like in the Antartic if you see how its continuately snowing.

one of the orcas in Loro Parque

Dolphin show

Sea lion

Penguins in Planet Penguin

In Loro Parque you can observe lots of animals, a very special habitant of this zoo ist a white tiger.

White tiger

The whole surface of this park is more than 135.000 m². In Thai Village, an originally thai village has been built inside Loro parque, you can buy some souvenirs and other things. It’s easy to get there, from the center of Puerto de la Cruz you can take a train for free, which is bringing you to the entrance of Loro Parque.

Here you will find more information: www.loroparque.com

But it does not seem so exotic any more. Volcanoes of Tenerife make this place look so special!
Have you ever heard about Mount Teide?
This place has hardly been touched by the modern civilization. There are 600 volcanoes on the island of Tenerife and Mount Teide is the highest and most impressive one.
It is like a mysterious unknown world. The volcano is sleeping (last eruption in 1909), and the access to danger is what attracts most.

The Teide Parque Nacional is a small paradise for those who love nature, hiking or trekking. Nothing can stop you from enjoying the beauty of the virgin place.
Even the air smells different.

If you want, you can spend the night walking above, being right there on the top of Pico del Teide, when the sun rises..

This would be an experience, you’ll never will forget.

Stunning landscape, light clouds …

You realize that is one of the challenging places you have ever been to.

Now, you have a chance to discover a mystic place, which is situated closer to you than you could ever think.

“The Forgotten Village” of Masca on the Isle of Tenerife is set in the north western part of Tenerife, just in the heart of the Teno Mountains. Its extraordinary character is stressed by the fact that until 1991 there were absolutely no roads to get there. Masca is an idyllic place, where the time has simply stopped.

It is a must especially for walkers and hikers or those who seek for traditional atmosphere of little tapas bars, tiny churches and cosy huts.

You may choose from the wide range boat tours from Masca to Los Gigantes (Cliffs of the Giants). This natural phenomenon is a very popular tourist attraction due to its beauty and scenic situation.

The coast offers excellent diving and fishing conditions.

In the Los Gigantes Town you will find some great pubs, restaurants, cafes and resorts. There is also a wide choice of diving excursions and watersports.

It is worth pointing out that you may take sailing lessons in a sailing club which is based there.

Around 3000 people live in this lovely village that is situated in a wonderful landscape with a lot of wonderful flowers.

The climate up in the mountains is very clean and fresh. Thats why the village is very suitable for a sanatorium.

Vilaflor is the starting point for several very interesting walking tours to the Paisaje Lunar or the Cañadas.

Above the village one can see some very big stone pines. Some of them have a hight of up to 45 meteres. Its really worth a visit.

One can also see very interesting stoneformations of vulcanic origin.

Even though there is low rainfall in Vilaflor and the surrounding regions, people practice very intensive agriculture. One can see very picturesque terrace fields on both sides along the road towards San Miguel.

Worth a visit is also the church Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol, build in the 16th century on an older chapel. What is very interesting is the cross with Jesus sitting next to it. Its very recommendable to visit this church while being in Vilaflor.

A really nice sight near Vilaflore is the Parque Natural del Teide.

With approx. 3 Mil. visitors per year the national park of mount Teide is the most-most visited national park of Spain.

“Pico del Teide ” is with 3.718 metres the highest mountain of Spain.
Furthermore mount Teide is third-highest island volcano of the world.

He forms the northern border of the national park. In the south, the west and the east the mount Teide national park is limited by the cañadas, or lava flows which enclose a diameter of approx. 16 kilometres.

The park and the lava flows are called “caldera”, what means kettle and describes a broken in place in the volcano which is formed like a kettle. This landscape has been created when the empty vaults of magma under the earth, which are near the surface, collapsed.

In the late spring or early summer, in the months of May and June is the time of flowers in Tenerife.
In the rest of the year Tenerife, and the national park Teide resemble a moonscape. But in may it’s the time of the anthesis of the flower tajinaste.
The tajinaste, (tajinaste rojo, Echium wildpretii, Tower of Jewel) is a columnar flower with a beautiful and lush red colour.

It is among the category of the tropicals and tender Perennials.

It is 4 to 6 feet high (or 1,2 to 1,8 metres). Birds, bees and butterflies love the tajinaste flower.
It sows it’s seed for itself. The leaves are herbaceous.

Small country hotels, holiday cottages, chalets and fincas offer the adequate accommodation. One can book his holiday through various tour operators or without any problems directly by the Internet.

Tenerife is not one of the cheapest holiday destinations, but with a bit of luck you can find a good bargain.

Journeys to the isle of Tenerife are particularly popular at Easter, Whitsun, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

However, unfortunately, this boom has a very strong influence on the prices.

The island of Tenerife offers extensive possibilities to everyone who wants to practice physical activities and does not only want to lie on the beach in the sun.

Hiking, climbing, trekking, diving, windsurfing, surfing, mountainbiking and not at least golf are examples for a variety of holiday activities.

Flora and fauna have to offer a huge diversity to the visitor. The whales can be watched during a boat trip between the two islands Tenerife and La Gomera. Dolphins attract many animal enthusiasts, and can be watched as well on special organized boat trips in their natural surroundings.

The vegetation over all in the north of the island is very interessting and influences on the charming abmience.

In San Lorenzo, Adeje and Arona you can find a lot of lookout points ofer a rugged area with canyons and isolated mountain paths with a magnificent panorama view over the south of the island, which is a famous sunbathing area with beaches.

The regions we mentioned for you are a paradise for nature lovers. But also climbers and mountaineers.
Under mountaineers and hikers Tenerife is a very popular destination. Guided groups and individual hikers find accommodation in mountain cottages, small mountain hotels, youth hostels.

Guided holidays for hikers can be booked in advance in internet.

The colour palette of the isle is dominated by the black lava sand, some ocher coloured sand beaches and a deep green of the varied vegetation.

The colour green of the vegetation is dominating on the three smaller Canary Islands of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.
Instead on Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote the landscape is formed by drough rocks and desert regions similar to the Sahara.
A lot of creativity from the native canarys has been necessary to make agriculture and cultivation possible.

The attraction of Tenerife is its versatility. There are lively colonial towns and romantic mountains which are crowned by a volcano, the Pico del Teide. The volcano is 3718 meters high and is Spains highest mountain.

You can get to know Tenerife on extensive walks through hidden mountain pathes. In the range of Anaga and on an exciting discoverer tours in the Teide national park or in the mountains of Teno you can discover the soul of the vulcanic island.
Where can you see such a bizarre volcanic landscape full of craters, solidified magma rivers like on Tenerife?

Tenerife has a surface of 2.068 km² and a population of approximately 800.000 inhabitants. In the language of the aborigines called “Guanches” Tenerife means “snow-covered mountain”.

The “Pico del Teide“, the highest mountain of Spain, situated on the isle of Tenerife, divides it into two climatical different parts:

The north is very fertile and abundantly covered by vegetation, while the south of the island is very dry and similar to a desert. Therefore, sometimes Tenerife is called the “island with the two faces“.

The volcanic landscape in the middle of the island covers two thirds of the whole island. The peak of the vulcano Teide reaches a height of 3.178 metres. He is the highest mountain of Spain and the third highest volcano of the world after two in Hawaii.

Almost all inhabitants of Tenerife live distanced from the sea in the valleys, near the area of agriculture like in La Orotava
.

The visitor finds the most varying landscapes on this island that you can immagine.Tenerife is called as well “island of the eternal spring” due to the mild climate during the whole year, that’s why it is a famous destination as well in the winter.

The countryside on Tenerife is very charming. In the area round the vulcano mount Teide you find far-ranging woods of canary pines.
Between the drought and ocher coloured south and the deep green north full of vegetation is a very interesting contrast, you will discover making some excursions.

The island with its mild and pleasant climate is a popular holiday destination, because in winter we never go under less than 18 °C and in summer the temperature is more than 27 °C.

The altitude and the pure, fresh air form the Atlantic Ocean are very good conditions for persons suffering from rheumatism or respiratory diseases.

One can watch dolphins and whales on the Ocean between the two islands Tenerife and La Gomera, neighbouring island.

The Loro Parque, a wonderful zoo in Puerto de La Cruz, sustains over 1.000 different kinds of parrots is a visit worth.

For active holiday makers who like hiking and exploring the isle of Tenerife has a lot of wonderful mointain pathes to discover.

One of the most popular destinations in Europe is Tenerife, primarily for it’s pleasant climate and spectaclular landscape.

If you visit the isle of Tenerife, at least you should taste something from the traditional cuisine.The small idyllic restaurants offer a varied and palatable kitchen with ingredients like fish, seafood, meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other kinds of vegetables combined with exquisite spices and fresh herbs.

Primarily fish, the paella, the different Tapas, the goat’s cheese, potatoes with a salt crust are very popular. As well as tortilla, the Alioli dip, Empanadas and the Canary fish-soup.

So take the opportunity to taste some tipical canary dishes when you make a stop during an exciting excursion on Tenerife.

In the most sunny month of the year is July with an average of 10.6 hours of sunshine a day. There highest temperature with 25 °C are reached in the month of August. The water temperature reaches the highest temperature of 23°C in September and October. The islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma and also Gran Canaria form also part of the Canary Islands and are known to have the warmest climate of the whole seven islands. The islands arose by volcanic activities approximately 5 – 7 millions years ago.

The mountains of Anaga and the range of Teno are geological the oldest area of the island of Tenerife. The Pico del Teide is with 3.718 meters of altitude the highest mountain of Spain.

In the variety of vegetation you find numerous species of plants, which are found only in the Canary Islands. The best known plant is surely also the Canary dracaena called Dragon tree. The oldest example of a Dragon tree can be found in Icod de los Vinos.

Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz has a list of species that includes Orca killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, tigers, jaguars, sharks, alligators, chimpanzees and flamingos.

Virtually every important member of the animal kingdom is represented here. You’ll need a whole day to do it justice and still you will want to go back again the next day!

Many of Loro Parque’s inmates have been rescued from private owners. Others have been donated by other zoos who thought Loro Parque could offer them a better environment.

Many of the animal enclosures – there are few cages here – mimic natural habitats. For example, a virtual jungle has been created for the gorilla enclosure, housing six male gorillas and occupying 3,500 square metres

The Penguin House is a wondrous place, reproducing the climate of the Antarctic in the finest detail, even producing 12 tons of ice and snow a day for the enjoyment of the 250 penguins accommodated there.

Loro Parque shows are as spectacular as anything you’ll see in Florida, separately featuring the killer whales, dolphins, sea lions and parrots.

Loro Parque came into being over 30 years ago, initially specialising in the breeding of rare parrot species to prevent their extinction. They have since gone on to rescue and protect scores of other animals.

The new online ticketing system aims to speed up the admission process by cutting down on queues at the ticket kiosks.

Tickets can be purchased through the park’s website, www.loroparque.com.

The system operates in three languages, English, Spanish and German, and the online transaction is carried out through a safe server.

Loro Parque already operates an extensive ticket sales network with many tourists able to purchase tickets in advance through their tour operator or hotel.

A new farmers market created in the heart of the traditional agricultural area on the island of Tenerife is proving to be a shrewd development.

In the heart of the Orotava Valley in the town of La Orotava, the unofficial agricultural capital of the island for centuries, the new purpose-built market opened last month and has already established a popular following with locals and visitors alike.

Nearly €300,000 was invested in a 1,500 square metre site to provide a covered market area big enough to house 40 stalls, together with a children’s playground, cafe/bar and parking for over 100 cars.

The market, which runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 8.30am to 3pm, sells a good range of local produce and crafts, including fruit and vegetables, cheeses, honey, bread, cakes, eggs, wine, plants and flowers.

Late spring and early summer is Tajinaste time up on Mount Teide, a time when the wild and rugged mountain landscape is briefly tamed by the blooms of a number of brightly coloured plants, most of which are endemic to the island of Tenerife.

Tajinaste rojo, or Echium wildpretii to give it its correct name, is the most spectacular, a species of bugloss which can grow to over 10ft tall.

Echium is a genus of around 60 species of flowering plant which flourish across Africa, Europe, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Some species are also found in east Asia and Australia.

The sub-alpine zones of the ravines around Mount Teide are the native habitat of the Tajinaste variant, which thrives under the hot sun and the arid and dry conditions there. It can also tolerate temperatures as low as -5C.

A herbaceous biennial, the Tajinaste’s two-year cycle sees it form a dense cluster of leaves in its first growing season, followed by tall and thick stems of bright red flowers in its second year.

Round about now is the perfect time of year to see the Tajinaste in its full glory, along with a host of other colourful and exotic plants endemic to Las Cañadas del Teide, the huge caldera that surrounds the volcanic peak.

If the Teide bid is successful then tiny Tenerife will have two World Heritage Sites after its former colonial capital La Laguna was favoured by the UN as “the first non-fortified Spanish colonial town”. San Cristobal de La Laguna, to give it its full name, became the model for many colonial towns in the Americas.

Teide’s bid has been significantly bolstered by an endorsement from the World Conservation Union (IUCN), an official advisory body to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

UNESCO will choose the locations it wishes to grant favoured heritage status to during its annual meeting currently taking place in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A decision is expected on July 2.

The IUCN recommendation declares Teide National Park to be a “mature, slow-moving and geologically complex volcanic system”.

Teide, at 12,195ft, is the third highest volcano in the world. It is one of 16 decade volcanoes worldwide considered by volcanologists to be worthy of in-depth study because of their history of large and destructive eruptions and their proximity to heavily populated areas.

Considered dormant at the moment, Teide last erupted less than a hundred years ago.

At just 75 square miles, the national park is relatively small. Nonetheless, it is the most visited in Europe and is home to 220 species of plants of which 73 are endemic to the Canarian archipelago and 16 unique to the park.

It’s a testimony to nature’s ability to adapt that anything survives at such an altitude and in the face of extremes of temperature and weather, ranging from hot and dry to gale-force winds, snow and ice – sometimes all on the same day!

A full range of events is planned for the week-long festival, starting on Sunday April 29 and continuing through to Sunday May 6.

They take place across the city, but mainly in Plaza del Príncipe, Parque García Sanabria and Calle La Noria.

The colourful series of events include an International Marionette Festival, several other puppet shows, an exhibition of flowers, a concert of Canarian music, and a flower crosses workshop and competition.

The whole city will be decked out with traditional floral crosses and the highlight of the programme will be on the evening of May 2, a Great Canarian Fiesta with traditional Canarian dress a prominent feature.

In 1999, the party, known as the Dance of Magicians, went into the Guinness Book of Records when 8,000 people ate, drank and danced in the streets in traditional costume.

The fiesta week is centred around May 3, the date on which the city was founded way back in 1494.

The tapas competition is another popular feature and is now in its sixth year. Restaurants and bars specialising in tapas will compete in three classes – traditional, creative and Canarian.

Participating establishments will not be revealed until nearer the date, though generally they are concentrated around Calle La Noria and surrounding streets, which make up the old part of the city.

The winners will become part of a ‘Ruta de la Tapa’ (Tapas Route) through the city, a great way of exploring the ancient capital while at the same time tasting some of its best gastronomic offerings.

May is a great month of celebration in Santa Cruz and the rest of the island, reflecting the traditional culture, history and religion of the island, and is marked by processions, pilgrimages and sporting contests.

The seven-times Formula One champion was accompanied on the trip by his wife Corinna and two children.

After he retired from motor racing at the end of last season, the 38-year-old German had mentioned during one of many interviews that one of his life’s ambitions was to swim with whales.

Schumi called time on his 16-year F1 career after a record seven world titles and 91 Grand Prix victories.

Spanish Olympic swimmer David Meca read the report and rang the former Ferrari driver to offer to make his dream come true.

Meca knows the waters off Tenerife well, having once swum from Tenerife to the neighbouring island of La Gomera during a promotional and training exercise.

The area is home to an estimated 300 pilot whales, which can be up to 20ft in length.

The Dragon Tree, or Drago, is one of the iconic symbols of Tenerife.

It is very slow growing, but when it attains maturity it usually has a thick trunk which is crowned by a thick umbrella-shaped canopy of dagger-like leaves.

It gets its popular name from the secretion of a reddish resin, know as dragon’s blood, which appears when either the bark or leaves are cut.

It is thought that the original inhabitants of the island, the Guanches, used the blood-red sap from the tree in medicines and as an embalming fluid.

Because it grows so slowly, generally taking ten years to reach a height of one metre, many of the taller specimens are believed to be hundreds of years old.

The oldest, in the town of Icod de los Vinos (pictured above) in the north of the island, is reputed to be a thousand years old, though it is generally accepted in the scientific community that in reality it is somewhere between 600-800 years old. It is, nevertheless, a popular tourist attraction.

The difficulty with accurately determining the age of a drago is that it does not display annual growing rings, but instead can only be dated from the number of times it has flowered.

Mindful, however, that there aren’t nearly as many trees on the island as there used to be, the island authorities have announced a programme of reforestation that will see over a million trees planted in the coming months to cover an area of over 60 hectares, roughly the area that 150 football pitches would occupy.

The trees will be of two ancient species common throughout the Canarian archipelago, the Canarian pine and laurisilva.

The forests are important to the ecosystem of Tenerife, helping to prevent soil erosion and drawing moisture from the clouds to replenishing the island’s network of water underground water reserves.

They would like to see the protected area cover all of the Macaronesia islands – the collective name for the five volcanic archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira and Salvages (Portuguese), the Canaries (Spanish) and Cape Verde (independent).

The proposal will be discussed at an International Conference for the Protection of Dolphins in Tenerife in November.

The conference is one of a series of worldwide events being held to mark the International Year of Dolphins, with representatives attending from Spain, Portugal and African countries.

The dolphin campaign is an initiative of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

It has the enthusiastic backing of the Loro Parque Foundation in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, which has launched a range of events aimed at raising the interest of school children in whale-watching trips and scientific research into marine mammals, and to motivate students to support conservation and protection.

The President of the Loro Parque Foundation, Wolfgang Kiessling, is backing the Canarian government call, emphasising the need for a large protected area in the Atlantic Ocean to ensure the survival of dolphins and small marine mammals.

Ahead of the November conference, the Canarian government is consulting various interest groups such as boat owners, tourist operators, protection groups and environmental organisations on this and other conservation activities.

It’s a common misconception that cats hate swimming in particular and water in general.

My experience of the domestic moggy is strictly limited, but I’ve watched Prince, one of the star attractions at Loro Parque, Tenerife‘s biggest tourist attraction, enjoying a dip in his private pool on several occasions. He loves it.

Indeed, tigers love water, and white tigers particularly adore it. White tigers have the reputation of being good swimmers but poor climbers.

Which is strange really because the white tiger is not a sub-species as such, but rather a genetic misfit.

White tigers are rarely found in the wild. In about 100 years only 12 white tigers have been seen in the wild in India.

They are almost extinct and most of the ones living are in captivity, mostly in zoos, though rarely are they as well catered for as at Loro Parque.

The white tiger is neither an albino nor a separate sub-species of the tiger, but simply has the rogue gene needed for white colouring.

None of which concerns Prince as he takes his daily dip before stretching out regally in the sun as his many admirers pay homage.

‘There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.’

An estimated 500 million people worldwide heard Sir David Attenborough whisper those words as he lay next to a 100kg female gorilla in Rwanda nearly 30 years ago.

His encounter with the gorillas in the BBC natural history series Life on Earth is one of television’s most memorable.

At Loro Parque in Tenerife, you can’t get quite as close to the gorillas as David Attenborough did all those years ago.

But, as the pictures above and below show, you do get a pretty good view of the park’s gorilla enclosure, which covers 3,500 square metres and houses six gorillas in conditions very like their native habitat.

The six gorillas are part of an experimental group on loan from various European zoos and form part of a breeding programme for endangered species.

Situated in Puerto de la Cruz in the north of the island, Loro Parque is rightly recognised as one of the finest animal parks anywhere in the world.

The gorillas are fed only the best fruit and vegetables and their living quarters have constant ventilation and under-floor heating to provide perfect conditions for them.

Incidentally, the BBC4 will be broadcasting on Easter Sunday a programme entitled ‘Gorillas Revisited with David Attenborough’, in which he tells the story of how he and his film crew managed to obtain such excellent pictures of the Rwanda gorillas.