Anyone who saw my previous post will
understand what a shock it was to return from this setting to that of ours
three weeks ago.
This is Puerto de Santiago also known as Los Gigantes in the municipality of Santiago del Teide, in western Tenerife.
The coastal area lends its name from the majestic cliffs, the Giants, on the
north-western corner of the island. The rugged volcanic landscape, the subtropical
vegetation, the rich blossoming and the ocean charmed us from the start with
their stunning beauty.
The Canary Islands off western Africa in
the Atlantic Ocean have been the main winter holiday destination for Europeans
for decades but I had never been to any of the seven islands before. Even hubby
had only stopped over when he was sailing on merchant vessels for a couple of
years in his teens – some fifty years ago! As we generally travel in our early spring and late autumn, we just never thought about anything else than
cultural holidays, most often in a Mediterranean country.
Although mass tourism is today at most locations much more ‘civilised’
than what its reputation used to be, I must admit we had been a bit prejudiced against
such a destination. The friends who won us over to join them for this holiday are
seasoned Canary Island visitors and knew better. They had picked out the resort
carefully: an apartment hotel quite close to the ocean in an inviting neighbourhood
with practically only human-sized man-made structures. They proved us there are
ways to avoid the blatant tourist traps and greatest masses if you choose
wisely.
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| The Fishermen's Museum at Puerto de Santiago. |
We were more than lucky also weatherwise.
It was somewhat warmer than usual, the temperature rising to an ideal +25–+28°C
(+77–+82°F) every day through our stay. We attended a couple of great guided excursion but didn’t make it to the northern parts of the island where the greenery is
even more abundant. And then there’s La Laguna with the UNESCO-listed old town
not to mention the many other towns, villages, nature sites and microclimates
to explore. Needless to say, we’ve already started to talk about the next visit as we absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for inviting us, dear friends!
