Views etc.

  Some views just need to be shared :

                                        Live and let live

The newly opened coast path from Golf del Sur towards the Red Mountain is superb. Good seating areas have been provided as well as plenty of access to the small coves and view points. 

The view of the Amarilla Mountain still dominates that direction,

and the Red Mountain still dominates the other.

The  reservoir in the San Blas Reserve Ambiental is much greener this year

This was my view when trying an off-road route from Golf del Sur up to the reservoir at Las Chafiras. It looks barren but pockets of vegetation are everywhere especially a few days after any rain, luckily it rained the day before I arrived so shoots are already showing.

Looking back at El Medano, a real seaside resort full of surfer dudes but also some nice fish restaurants.

Kite surfing at one of the beaches at El Medano - sorry about the colour but I took this quick snap with my mobile through the bus window.

The view inland to the mountains from the Amarilla golf course. 

Xmas decorations Tenerife style

OOPS ! Not the ideal way to enter the marina                                                                                              

These 2 photos show the impact of the weird haze that has been hanging over Tenerife for 3 days now. The first picture is from the El Nautico cafe and would normally show a beautifully clear view of the Red Mt and of course also a clear blue sky. The second looks nice as it's over the Oleander hedge onto the posh golf course but again normally you would clearly see the mountain behind. 

The view from the new coast path back to the Marina with the Red Mt. in the distance   

 A typical view of the volcanic rocks, shrubby groundcover and cacti in the area around the Amarilla Mt.                                                                                                                            

 

A breezy day on the coast - not a day for a dip.

An inland view in the Amarilla Mountain area and if you look very carefully the tiny black dot on the horizon is A who was just returning from a spot of volcano climbing. I declined the offer to join him. 

On Boxing Day we were finally able to officially enter the San Blas Reserve Ambiental (they fenced off my unofficial entrance so we had to write to the 1 person at the hotel there who seems to manage the access and ask permission to enter to study and record the birds and butterflies). This picture shows the "spaghetti western" type scenery but really doesn't give an indication of the massive scale. Typically the butterflies were scarce that day but we did find a Kestrel nest, several other passerine birds and many dragonflies/damselflies.  

The Dragon                                                                                                                             

  Some enterprising person with a lot of patience had carved this impressive dragon out of the natural        rock by the footpath and was collecting a few coins for his efforts.    

 

Amarilla volcano looking down into the caldera                                                                  

Barraquito coffee 

Well you have to try the local speciality don't you. It's a liqueur coffee containing Licor 43 which sounds more like a chemistry experiment to me. Apparently it tastes good.  

Puertito de Guimar - Next year's probable destination.

Today (29th Dec) we took a long bus ride along the coast to the East to check out a fishing village that I had been researching. We were most impressed, a long beach and coast path and plenty to explore as well as good restaurants etc. This is the view inland from the coast.

It's amazing what you can hire to take to the water in at Las Galettas

Spectacular New Year midnight firework display viewed from our living room

The Red Mt. framed by these 3 Aloe flowers

Palmetum, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
The Palmetum is an amazing botanical garden built on top of an old landfill site. It was created from 1996 onwards but only opened to the public in 2014. It has 600 species of palm trees from all over the world as well as 3000 species of other plants. The top picture is looking back from the top across Sant Cruz water park and coastline. The second just gives an example of the variety of palms and other trees. 

Rainbow - OK just a tiny part of one but here on the south of Tenerife it's an extremely rare sight. And I was rained on during my morning walk today, for all of 20 seconds.  

Early morning light 19th Jan - yes I missed the actual dawn and sunrise but I will try again

Dawn light and sunrise 20th Jan - A glorious way to start the day and I just had to show      some palm trees in the final shot just to add the tropical feel.                                    

           

23rd Jan Exploring further inland I caught 2 buses to arrive at a town called Aldea Blanca  and walked back towards Las Chafiras and the coast on a footpath which seemed (on           Google Earth) to go past 4 reservoirs. Unfortunately 3 of those were covered and the 4th       had artificially steep and deep sides and so no animal life at all which was disappointing.      The town looked a much more traditional Spanish farming town than those on the coast       however and was once again dwarfed by a volcano and it was a nice walk down.                 

                 

Inland wading bird pool drying up rapidly                                                                             

We had found up to 8 species of wading birds using this pool just inland of one of the El Medano         beaches at the beginning of December but it is drying up rapidy and no birds at all today, 25th Jan.     

The Red Mt. and beaches from El Medano                                                                                

It would have been a nice view if it wasn't for the surf rescue truck sneaking into the place, that is a seat  for the lifeguard on top of the truck which is now dominating the foreground, sorry!