Day 85 - Distance 5,860 km - Diamonds on Tenerife

Before we get to the diamonds; there is sometimes bad weather on Tenerife! The foothills of a huge Atlantic low are brushing the Canaries and bringing unpleasant weather and rain with them. We hike with rain gear on the west coast to Los Gigantes, the 500 m high cliffs that drop vertically into the sea. On the way back, luckily, it is T-shirt weather again. The next morning, the summit of Teide is painted white; a lot of snow has fallen at an altitude of 3,000 m. Unfortunately, the snowboard and skis are at home; there is not enough space in the bus for all the sports equipment... (apart from that, you are not allowed to do any winter sports in Teide National Park). But Teide is a great photo opportunity, with banana plantations on the lower mountain slope and the snow-covered summit of Teide towering above!

After the weather has calmed down again, we fulfill a long-held wish: spend the night in our motorhome in the middle of Teide National Park at an altitude of 1,700 m. This is permitted at an official bivouac site and is free of charge; you just have to register online with the national park authority beforehand. After a great hike with friends in the national park and an incredible sunset, we sleep soundly in absolute silence (and it is cold up there at night!). The next morning the weather has changed again, with light rain and wind. We plan to drive north across the caldera (the huge plain in the volcanic crater) to the star observatory and hike there. Unfortunately, the weather is getting worse and we decide to leave the Teide region towards La Laguna on a road we have never seen before.

Here we get a lesson in mountain weather: the road leads unexpectedly out of the caldera and ever higher up a ridge. A full-blown storm rages over the ridge with horizontal rain and minimal visibility. It was already cold and the outside thermometer keeps dropping. At under 2° C we start to get scared that the rain will turn into snow or black ice, and that on steep, narrow and winding roads. Of course Betty doesn't have winter tires either, we drove in the summer after all. The storm has also led to small rock falls, and unexpectedly smaller and larger boulders lie on the road. Luckily everything goes well and after what feels like an eternity we reach the tree line again, the storm subsides, visibility improves and it slowly gets warmer. Last but not least we "rescue" a hiker, Julika from Vienna, who is standing on the road, completely soaked and half frozen, with her hiking buddy and waving (the buddy wants to continue into the storm, however). As a good deed of the day, we take Julika with us to La Laguna. She is soooo grateful to us for it!

A few days later, the weather has improved significantly again, and the next "adventure" is about to take place: Every year in spring we go on a family holiday (usually in the snow), with more or fewer family members taking part. Naturally, this family holiday would not have been possible this year, but in the autumn Suzi suggested that the family could meet in Tenerife this year! There is also suitable accommodation. A good friend of ours, who is from Tenerife, has a large house in Abades that we could rent. And, oh wonder, after a few rounds of scheduling, the entire(!) family and their entourage have agreed. In total, 13 people including us, from Germany, Poland and England. Even my parents are getting on the plane for this trip after a long time. Our boys will be the first to arrive on March 29th, and the last will leave the island on April 12th. Of course, we have decided to somehow show everything that we have seen or experienced on the island so far that is great and beautiful!

Quite a challenge, because 13 people aged between 23 and 82 naturally have very different ideas of an ideal holiday. In the end, however, everyone is happy with the mix of sunbathing, swimming in the sea, eating in a restaurant or cooking for themselves, excursions, family time together and time for themselves or their partner. The highlights: a visit to the Palmetum (botanical garden) in Santa Cruz, the great beach in Las Teresitas, whale watching (unfortunately no whales, but with dolphins!), the Teide National Park and the Anaga Mountains. And now (finally) the diamonds come into play: on April 4th, my/our parents are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary here in Tenerife with the whole family! 60 years of happy marriage, an admirable achievement (purely by chance, I'm turning 60 this year too)! We all have a very nice day together and end the day with a great fish dinner in the fishing village of Tajao in "Aqua y Sal", a typical Canarian fish restaurant. There is no menu there, you just go to the refrigerated display case and point to the fish you want to eat. Delicious, delicious, delicious! The weather is mostly good the whole time, the typical strong trade winds are absent except for two days, but then they come with a bang. I take one day off from the family and go out on the water in Cabezo Bay with waves almost as high as masts. Everything goes well until almost the end, I can ride clean waves with lots of turns. The last wave of the day then pulls me over the sharp reef. The result is injuries to the board, sail and boom and a bit of blood on my body, but this day was worth it!

And suddenly the family time is over again, various planes are heading for the European mainland and we are alone again. The fact that so many family members from different countries managed to meet on Tenerife at the same time must probably be described as a "once in a lifetime event". In any case, we are happy that we were able to show "our" island and a bit of our nomadic life! By the way, we could have slept in the house, but we now feel so at home in Betty that we prefer to sleep in the motorhome. Two days later, Isabel, the owner of the house in Abades on Tenerife, arrives and we are happy to be able to hand the house back to her unharmed. Thank you very much Isabel for your willingness to make your beautiful house available to all of us!

According to the forecast, a windless week is ahead. We decide to take another look at the North Shore of Tenerife, saddle up Betty and head towards Puerto de la Cruz. More about that in the next blog.

SEQUEL FOLLOWS