Anyone walking in the hills above the south west coast, especially in the Santiago del Teide area, over the last few weeks will have not only experienced the pleasure of walking through one of Tenerife’s prettiest landscapes, but will have done so at a time when it has been at its magical best.

The almond trees’ blossom adds delicate splashes of colour to the countryside and seeing the valley full of pale pink and soft white petals is a vision that makes the heart soar. It’s one those little Tenerife pleasures that you can only experience if you get out and about in the hills.

Because of the fire of 2007 which devastated part of the valley, the displays haven’t been as impressive in recent years as they once were. But each year nature regains her ground and the sight of the abundance of almond trees filling the Santiago del Teide Valley with their pastel shades this year helped confine the burnt earth and blackened trees to the recesses of the memory at last.

It’s too late to join any of the guided routes that are organised especially to view this annual show, but there are still quite a few trees in bloom, so any latecomers to the show can still enjoy a taste of this delightful spectacle and then literally really enjoy a taste of the trees by having a post-walk almond biscuit at Bar Fleytas.

However, if there’s anyone who arrives between March and May and finds that they’re too late for the almond blossom, I’ve got some good news. Almost as soon as the almond blossom disappears, parts of the valley erupt in a blaze of colour as displays of wild flowers herald the arrival of spring.

Truth is, there’s never a time of year when the Santiago del Teide Valley won’t enchant those who seek out its natural wonders.

The Santiago del Teide Valley is included in our Into the Valley routes.

You’ve got your heart set on stepping out into the sunshine and making tracks for the great Tenerife countryside to explore virgin forests and breathe in sweeping vistas that will make your heart soar and your head spin with their beauty. Then you walk out the front door of your hotel/apartment/house to find heavy, grey clouds dissecting the hillside.

As far as walking on Tenerife is concerned the day is ruined…except it isn’t. This is Tenerife and on Tenerife most of the time the sun is shining somewhere. A cloud filled sky may just present an opportunity for walkers to experience a vista that still sends a shiver down my spine and makes be almost believe that I’m standing with the gods – and that is the mar de nubes; the sea of clouds.

When thick clouds hang just below the thousand metre mark, the chances are that any walking above that height will be under blue skies of such intensity that when you show friends photographs they’ll swear you’ve ‘tweaked’ the colours with Photoshop. The clouds can act like a portal between one world and another such is the extremes of the land that lies above and below them.

The Montaña Guajara walk (part of our Hiking Highs routes), where the photograph below was taken, is an invigorating walk in many ways. Not only do you get to see epic views of Mount Teide and Teide National Park, you may be rewarded with special views such as this that provoke a sense of standing on top of the world.

My favourite route for experiencing the mar de nubes from above is the Los Órganos route in the La Orotava Valley (Northern Exposure routes). Sometimes the clouds sit just below the La Caldera car park and it feels that you could reach down and grab a handful of the cotton wool stuff the spreads outwards to infinity and beyond just below your feet. But more often than not the chances are that, on cloudy days, La Caldera is in the middle of it and you’re accompanied at the beginning of the walk by wispy, misty fingers tracking you through the forest like curious spirits. Walking through cool damp clouds might not sound particularly inviting but I love the diversity it offers, and the cloud weaving its way through the pines is hypnotic. But the real pay off is to emerge triumphantly from this Hades-esque landscape into a bright new world.

Stepping out of the clouds to stand above them is an experience that will etch itself for ever on your cerebral memory stick. Try it and I guarantee that the letters W-O-W will make an unstoppable escape bid from your mouth. It is simply one of those unique Tenerife walking experiences.

How To Identify When Conditions are Right
This can be quite tricky if you don’t know Tenerife’s weather patterns too well. One thing is easy to gauge. Look towards Mount Teide; if the cloud is above the summit, forget it. Nowhere on Tenerife is likely to be sunny when that happens and the only way to get above the clouds is on a plane.

The best way to judge it is to look for the 1000 metre mark on the hillside. If you’re in Puerto de la Cruz in the north, that’s about where the small village of Aguamansa lies. If it’s obscured by cloud the chances are you might be in luck.
If you can see any hints of blue at all through the cloud you’re definitely in luck; that means it isn’t too thick and the 600 metre ascent on the Los Órganos walk should take you well clear of its misty grasp and into the magical kingdom that exists above the clouds.

And yet for nigh on seven years we ignored the call, usually because every time we passed we were en route to somewhere else. Just before Christmas we decided to rectify the situation.

The new tunnel has taken what traffic there was away from the little community at El Guincho near Garachico. The upside of this, for us anyway, was we were able to park wherever we wanted and we found a space right beside a purpose built cycle track that looked like a perfect starting point for exploration.

Cyclists might be disappointed by their path – it’s not very long – but as a walking highway it was perfect with views over one of Tenerife’s most eye-catching stretches of coastline. The terrain just below us stretching to the rugged coast included crumbling cottages with tiled roofs and beautifully restored mansions nestling amidst the bananas; it’s a very colonial scene and one that provides a glimpse into past times when agriculture and not tourism was king.

The cycle path is good for getting your bearings, but after it ends good natural navigational skills are essential because paths head off here, there and everywhere. Some lead to dead ends, some lead to ‘prohibido’ signs and some double back on themselves.
Initially we followed the road at the end of the cycle path but whilst it took us past an attractive old estate entrance (made less attractive by warnings that the dogs inside would kill) and a Blazing Saddles doorway to nowhere, it petered out and we retraced our steps to head along a less obvious path through the bananas.

Now we were immersed in the countryside we’d viewed from the road on so many occasions. Even though it was winter, oversized lizards scuttled to hide in the crevices in the low plantation walls lining the uneven path. Huge, sprawling bougainvillea bushes added splashes of vibrant colour to the mainly banana leaf green flora as the path meandered through a small ‘quiet as the grave’ hamlet before descending to a delightful little church and plaza dating from the 16th century where we paused to absorb the views.
From there the path continued to the El Patio rural hotel; a blinding white oasis built in 1565 which we’d only ever viewed with awe from afar. But up close, despite its immaculate appearance, we were disappointed. It had an air of secret exclusivity that we weren’t particularly sure we liked. Strange though it sounds, it just didn’t feel welcoming. Maybe if you were a guest it might seem different.
We quickly moved on and took a path that descended in the general direction of the coast, eventually emerging at the small secret cove of Playa de la Consolación – a sparkling gem whose azure waters demand a refreshing dip in summer months, but which seemed far less appealing after the cloud rolled in on a December day.

From the cove the only way is up via a near vertical ascent through the little hamlet of El Guincho, before emerging on the old main road right beside a bar that surely has the most intriguing name on Tenerife. Stopping there for lunch and a beer was an experience in itself which seemed a fittingly off the wall conclusion to a walk we’d wanted to try out for a long time.

The route through El Guincho’s plantations didn’t disappoint; there were lots of fascinating things to see and a couple of surprises – the ideal ingredients for our preferred walks, so we’ll be returning in the near future to map out in detail a new Tenerife Island Walks Route.

The Tenerife government hs just advised that walking in the upper La Orotava Valley is being prohibited from today, 3rd December until the 8th December.

This is purely for safety reasons. The network of paths in the area have been seriously affected by the storm of last weekend with fallen trees blocking a number of paths.

The medio ambiente are working hard to clear routes and they should be open again after the 8th. The Cabildo also advises against walking in the hills in Santa Ursula, Tacoronte, El Sauzal, La Victoria and La Matanza for the same reason.

So where would you take walkers if you were showing then the best of Tenerife’s walking?

Personally I’d head straight into the Anaga Mountains which is what they did when the British Guild of Travel Writers visited earlier in the year. However, the GR 131 route isn’t developed in that area yet, so the 40 ramblers were shown the route that heads from Vilaflor toward the aptly named Paisajes Lunar (basically lunar landscape).

It’s a nice, rather than a classic route in my opinion, but you do get a unique pay-off at the surreal rock formations that lend the area its name.

Incredibly, according to tourist minister José Manuel Bermúdez, 12% of visitors to Tenerife go on a hike of some sort. It’s the second most popular activity after visiting theme parks. I’m not sure where the figures came from or whether the survey included lying on the beach or sitting in a bar as an activity, but it’s an impressive statistic nonetheless and shows how Tenerife is gaining a growing reputation as an excellent choice for walking holidays.

This has been a warmer than average November so far on Tenerife; there has also been far less rainfall on the north coast than usual. In fact since June there have only been a handful of days when we’ve seen rain and even then it has mainly been during the night.

Whether this weather pattern has had an affect on the sunsets I don’t know, but during the last week there were some spectacular displays.

With writing projects and tight deadlines restricting our hoofing it around the countryside, all our walking has still been around the banana plantations near to where we live with our temporary canine companions.

As mentioned in a previous post, it’s been a bit of an eye-opener. This week we discovered a short cut through the bananas which will cut loads of time off the trek home from carnaval and other fiestas. Not only that we’ve spotted quail and been able to enjoy wonderful views of La Palma on the horizon nearly every day this week. You don’t often see La Palma from Puerto de la Cruz during summer months, but the clarity of the air at the moment has kept the island firmly on the horizon.

Plus there have been these most exhilarating of sunsets with flaming streaks making the sky appear as if it were on fire. Typically the most magical occurred on probably the one and only time in the year I didn’t have my camera with me, but the following night’s display wasn’t bad either.

Whenever we’re asked for advice from hikers about what to take with them when they set off exploring Tenerife’s fantastic trails, top of the list is always 1½ to 2 litres of water per person. Not only will hiking in Tenerife’s hot temperatures raise an unquenchable thirst, but hiking at altitude parches the throat before you’ve even set off!

Of course, that amount of water is heavy to carry (I should know – it’s always me who has to carry it as Jack’s camera equipment is even heavier!) and so it’s good to know if a particular route has fresh water springs on it so that you can safely carry less and re-fill en route. That’s why we always point out water fountains on our Island Walks.
A couple of weeks ago we were hiking in and around the Santiago del Teide Valley (above) and we know that there’s a very popular fresh water spring hidden in the tiny hamlet of Valle de Arriba. So  instead of carrying 3 litres, I took one full and one empty 1½ litre bottle and we headed to Valle de Arriba.
As we were staying in the Rural Hotel Señorio del Valle we were able to get a nice early start and arrived at the village just before 10am.
There was already a queue. We took our place behind a family of Mum, Dad and son who had 3 empty 8 gallon plastic bottles between them and we waited.

Parked right in front of the spring was a Berlingo van with the back doors open and a man was systematically filling 8 gallon plastic bottles and loading them into the back of his van. He must have had 40 or more bottles and it took quite some time for him to finish.
When he did, another van appeared out of nowhere and started to do exactly the same thing. So we waited. Meanwhile, more people arrived, almost all of them in 4×4s or Berlingos and armed to the teeth with empty 8 gallon bottles. Jack and I stood meekly with our 1½ litre bottle and waited.

Finally, the mother and son in front of us moved to the tap to begin filling their bottles but  the father disappeared, only to re-appear moments later with the ubiquitous Berlingo and the dreaded avalanche of plastic bottles!

Jack and I were gobsmacked and by this time we had really had enough; our early start was disappearing into the growing heat of the day. We wondered over to the fountain and showed the family our humble bottle, explaining that we only had this to fill. They all fell about laughing and instantly moved aside for us to fill our bottle. If only we’d had the gumption to do that as soon as we arrived…

I guess this fountain is so popular because it’s one of the few that are actually in a village and therefore easy to access by car. Most are in zonas recreativas (picnic areas) up in the hills and rarely have anyone else there. But just in case you’re planning on doing the South West Island Walks, you can fill bottles at the fountain in Valle de Arriba – just don’t be shy about asking to get in first

Many walks in Tenerife involve quite steep ascents, which isn’t a problem for the nails. But what goes up must come down and negotiating Tenerife’s volcanic slopes can have the toes pressed up against your boots like a Victorian orphan’s face at a restaurant window. If toenails are too long, descents can not only be uncomfortable, but there’s the possibility of longer term damage to nails.

So always remember to clip & snip before every trip.

This week, after staying at the Hotel Señorío del Valle next to the visitor centre of the same name in Santiago del Teide and having a good old explore of the area,  I could have chosen any number of images as ‘Tenerife Scene of the Week’. It was a scenery, picturesque buildings, cute animals and traditional  Tenerife overdose.

In the end I opted for another view – because this one was a real breath thief.  As we emerged from a narrow path onto a ridge, a gap in the pines revealed a sweeping view of the Santiago del Teide Valley, nestling in a plateau surrounded by the hills. The town of Santiago del Teide sits to the right of the picture and below that a bank of clouds spreads southwards.

The route that took us to that point has just blasted its way into our list of favourite walks on Tenerife. We combined some old paths with some new ones (we weren’t so keen on the direction a new official route was taking us) and the result turned out to be a stunner.

We’ll be writing it up soon and adding it to our walking routes – so watch this space

This is connected to our recent post about trusting directions whilst walking on Tenerife. Our friend who commented about our blogs where we followed paths that took us on the road to nowhere said something else interesting that made me think.

She commented that we mentioned things that if you’ve spent a lot of time walking around Tenerife’s countryside, you hardly register. She’s absolutely spot on. Spend a lot of time hiking on Tenerife and you become very familiar with the island’s little ‘quirks’.

When we first started walking on Tenerife, we took a very British approach. We’d follow sign-posted routes religiously – when there was the luxury of a signpost. If a notice warned of a path being closed because of ‘works’ we’d turn back and when there was a yellow and white cross on a path we wouldn’t set a foot past the marker.

We stuck to the letter of the Tenerife Medio Ambiente law (more guidance than law as it turns out) and on many occasions ended up nowhere where we really wanted to be. Sometimes we had to back track for a couple of hours because a path was closed way into the route without prior notices. Other times we followed official paths that went all around the houses instead of taking the most logical route.

Walking in Tenerife is an absolute joy. As long as you keep away from privately owned land, you can walk almost anywhere without being shouted at (no red faced Welsh farmers here to shake sticks at you here). But you have to be wise to some of the ‘guidance’ that you can encounter on routes.

The Medio Ambiente (the dept responsible for looking after the countryside) are constantly improving routes by making paths clearer and putting more signposts in place. This is meant to be helpful…and often it is, but not always.

They tend to work on routes in stages, so that means that you can stride out from a shiny new walking route notice board and bright signs pointing in the right direction and find yourself on your own an hour later as they haven’t yet gotten round to putting up signs throughout the actual route.

They also have a tendency when creating ‘new’ routes to completely disregard traditional walking routes and try to point you in the direction they want you to go. So you get those crosses that scream out ‘not this way’ on paths that were, and in reality still might be, the right direction.

As for the signs blocking paths because there is ‘work’ taking place, that’s a real judgement call. On three recent occasions where we encountered, and ignored these signs, one had no workmen on the path at all and we encountered hikers coming in the opposite direction where the path wasn’t blocked; one wasn’t closed at all, but a recreational area en route was and on the third there wasn’t a workman to be seen, but there was a lot of local farmers collecting pine bedding for their animals from the forest floor. Make of that one what you will.

We know Tenerife’ countryside well enough to identify where things just don’t add up and ignore ‘official’ guidance, but if you’re a visitor who isn’t familiar with the island’s little quirks it isn’t quite as easy.

But there’s one thing that is important to know and should give you confidence to go with your instincts or even better, up-to-date walking directions. It’s highly unlikely that anyone will ever shout at you for taking a wrong path; they’re just not like that here.