Looking for a picnic spot
Tenerife
Day 7: July 18
Icod de los Vinos–Playa de Las Arenas–Los Gigantes
Tenerife
Itinerary
The last day of our trip…
First we drove along the coast to Playa de Las Arenas beach. Like all the beaches in Tenerife, it had black sand, coarse pebbles, and lots of people. But we still enjoyed swimming there (I forgot to take a photo). After that, we wanted to go to Punta de Teno, but it turned out that cars are not allowed there. You can only get to the cape by bus.
We decided to keep going. Driving through the small town of Buenavista, I noticed a little country shop. I went in to buy us something to eat for a snack. I came back with my loot - 6 apricots, 2 pieces of cake resembling nut sponge cake, and a pack of oatmeal cookies.
We are driving up the steep serpentine road to the Masca Gorge, a popular mountain ravine in Tenerife. It really is beautiful here. We stop at another parking area, climb a little way up the trail into the mountains, and have a picnic with the food we bought in the village. All around us are many kinds of cacti. We eat while enjoying beautiful views of the mountains, the mountain village, and the winding black road.
A snack with a view of the mountains
On the way I ask Volchy - and how do you like the Masca Gorge? Volchy says - “Not bad. But I liked the hike to Teide and walking through the pine forest much more.” And I completely agree with him.
After descending from the gorge, we decide to drive to Los Gigantes beach. As it turned out later, this is a very popular place in Tenerife. Life in the village of Los Gigantes is in full swing. There are restaurants on every corner, a real resort town. I had already gotten out of the habit of such civilization - we always live away from the resort hustle and bustle.
For the first time, the parking lot near the beach turned out to be paid, so we turned around and drove back to town in hopes of finding a spot on one of the side streets. There were cars everywhere here. All the streets were packed with parked cars, but we were lucky and did find a spot 10 minutes' walk from the beach.
Los Gigantes beach turned out to be surprisingly beautiful and not very crowded (which was really strange considering its location in such a resort town). We settled at the very edge, farther away from people. It really is beautiful here - a view of huge sheer cliffs. The sea here is calm, almost without waves, and swimming was very pleasant.
Los Gigantes Beach
The same beach, just in the other direction :) The view isn’t quite as magical here
We’re heading home. We’re drinking beer with burritos. Today the fish filling is tuna, avocado, lettuce, tomato, mozzarella. We do leave a few cans of beer in the fridge. We couldn’t drink it all :)
We’re sitting on the balcony. The last evening in Tenerife. Saying goodbye to the ocean.
Tomorrow we get up at 6 a.m.
******
Morning. It’s still dark. In the kitchen I saw a huge cockroach. The cockroach ran into the cabinet, where Volchy covered it with a plate. Poor cleaner...
We’re flying away.