The Teide National Park consumes an impressive percentage of central Tenerife. This is an unforgiving territory, with rough volcanic landscapes, and few towns or services, so we were surprised to find it bisected with such fine roads. Our first car tour of the park would be along the TF-24, which approaches through the forest of Las Lagunetas.
At the top of the Orotava valley lies a volcanic crater named La Caldera. Today, it's a popular recreative zone, with camping lots, grills and showers, and is the nucleus of an expansive network of hiking trails. We chose to embark on a moderate four-hour walk through the surrounding forests, to the village of Aguamansa and back.
Our fourth day on La Gomera was supposed to be for recovery, when we would pause all physical activity and simply relax on a beach. But for whatever reason, when the day rolled around, we felt more like hiking in an ancient forest than chilling on the black sand. I'm starting to think that something might be wrong with us… But even though our hearts were willing, our bones were still sore, so we picked out an…
