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.

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.

The Teno-range in the west of Tenerife and the Anaga-mountains are a famous destination for active holiday makers and those who like hiking and exploring.

The visitor finds many small original villages, which escaped from the mass tourism because of their location far away from the popular beaches and the big cities. One learns about the roots of civilization of Tenerife and can enjoy the intact landscape and meet the autochthonous people living there.

We explored the moste interesting and charming places of the island to give you some usefull tips.
One of the most beautiful beaches, called Playa de las Teresitas, is situated in the north-east of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the island. Playa de las Teresitas has been created artificially with sand from the Sahara desert, you can enjoy a safe bathing pleasure as well adequate for children.

In the south of the island of Tenerife you can find different natural sandy beaches at El Medano and artificially created ones in the tourist resorts like Las Americas and Los Cristianos.

La Tarta:

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.

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
.

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.

All of the Canary Islands have one thing in common:
A balanced climate with for us springlike winters and temperatures below zero only in high mountain regions.

The visitor can enjoy a bath in the Atlantic Ocean and a sunbath during the whole year.

The winter month are very adequate for active tourists who like hiking, mountaineering or other activities in the nature.

A highlight for nature lovers is a visit at the national park of mount Teide, it is an adventure to explore the vulcanic landscape, which is similar to a lunar landscape. Mount Teide with an altitude of 3.718 m is the highest mountain of Spain and the third highest vulcano worldwide.

As you see, you have many possibilities to practice sports and explore the island of Tenerife.

The news came on Thursday June 28, several days earlier than expected, bringing a swift end to an anxious period of waiting for the island authorities.

World Heritage status for Mount Teide means that the tiny island now has two favoured sites recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

San Cristobal de La Laguna was admitted to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites in 1999 as ‘the first non-fortified Spanish colonial town; its layout provided the model for many colonial towns in the Americas.’

In all, 37 sites around the world were under consideration at the 31st UNESCO world heritage convention in Christchurch, New Zealand. But Teide’s case was given the substantial boost of a recommendation by the World Conservation Union (World Conservation Union boosts Teide bid).

Two other sites were also granted the favoured accolade – the Karst region in southern China and the volcano and lava tubes in Jeju, South Korea.

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!

After signing a multi-million dollar deal to become the face of German cosmetics company Cacharel’s new Liberte fragrance, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, completed her first advertising shoot for them on Tenerife.

Gisele, a former girl friend of movie star Leonardo DiCaprio, will appear worldwide in television commercials, magazine spreads and billboard posters for Cacharel, all showing her posing on Mount Teide.

Cacharel chose Gisele because of her popularity in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and China.

She reportedly quit as the face of Victoria’s Secret lingerie because they would not increase her $5 million annual salary.

Thousands saw it, mostly in the east and north of the island, describing a brilliant fireball that flashed across the night sky shortly after 10pm.

It happened on Sunday May 7 and hundreds of people called the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) seeking an explanation of the phenomenon.

Because it happened at a weekend there were many witnesses to the unusual event. Sunday had been a fine day on Tenerife and many people were returning to their homes from a day at the beach, in the mountains or with friends and family.

From the many hundreds of eye witness accounts, scientists were able to paint what they believe to be a fairly accurate picture of what happened.

It was around 10.30pm that radio stations on the island broke into their normal programmes to broadcast calls from witnesses who told of having seen a huge light in the sky.

Some said it had the appearance of a meteor but was much brighter, others feared it might have an aircraft crashing in flames.

That latter theory was quickly discounted by aviation authorities, confirming that no aircraft were unaccounted for. The object had not registered on air traffic control, military radar or on any of the many reconnaissance satellites that girdle the earth.

Many witnesses said it had been visible for around five seconds and looked like a comet with a long tail, others that a bright flash of light was seen as it disappeared.

A family in Tegueste reported that the final flash of light was so bright it lit up the inside of their home. An amateur astronomer in Santa Cruz reported hearing a noise, while others spoke of hearing a dull rumble in the distance.

In Puerto de la Cruz, two observers described the light as disappearing to the north. Some spoke of seeing Mount Teide lit up briefly, while in La Laguna reports described watching it disappear over the Anaga Mountains.

After studying the many reports from Tenerife and adding those from eye witnesses in the neighbouring islands of Gran Canaria and La Palma, IAC scientists concluded that it had indeed been a meteor and furthermore they had been able to plot quite accurately its progress across the night sky.

So sure were they of their findings that they were able to say with firm conviction that the meteorite had weighed around half a kilogram, that it had passed over the Atlantic Ocean, had started to burn up between the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuertaventura and travelled north west before exploding and falling into the ocean some 75 miles north of Tenerife.

Any surviving fragments might have yielded further information but they were well out of reach on the ocean floor at a depth of 3,000 metres.

The 90,000 tons luxury liner, being built near Venice at a cost of over £250 million, is due to be launched in December of this year before embarking from Southampton on a ‘Maiden Canary Islands Festive Celebration, on December 21.

The 16-night cruise will take in Vigo and Malaga in Spain, Lisbon, Madeira, the Canary islands of Las Palmas, Lanzarote and Tenerife, Casablanca and Gibraltar.

The liner is due to dock at Santa Cruz at 8am on December 31, and a full day’s programme of excursions will be available for passengers, taking in the usual Tenerife attractions, such as Mount Teide, La Orotava , Puerto de la Cruz, Loro Parque, the Mercedes forest and the Pyramids at Guimar.

At the end of a hectic programme, the Queen Victoria is due to set sail from Santa Cruz at 11pm to see in the New Year at sea.

Queen Victoria, which can accommodate up to 2,014 passengers in her 1,007 staterooms, has on board an 800-seater theatre, a two-storey library, three-storey grand lobby, a winter garden, 4,000 sq ft of shopping arcades, a lounge with a 270-degree view, a night club, 1,000 sq ft dance floor and a traditional London pub.

Fares on the festive voyage start at just over £2,000, though Cunard are reporting that her maiden voyages are already sold out.

On her return from the Canaries, Queen Victoria is due to set off on a 106-nights world cruise.