Day 22 - Distance 3,771 km - ...and what is it like as a part-time dropout in Tenerife?

First of all, fortunately, much, much warmer than in northern Germany, where we have one of the longest, snowiest and coldest winters in a long time! Tenerife welcomes us with sun and temperatures around 22-25°C. In the first few days we have a Calima weather situation. During a Calima, the wind from the Sahara with a southeasterly flow brings dry, warm air and fine, yellow sand dust. We don't feel any of the health restrictions that the Calima is supposed to bring with it.

Since the wind direction also changes with the Calima, the surfers (including us) move from El Medano (the main spot for trade winds) to La Caleta on the west coast. Contrary to our (or Suzi's) good intentions of not doing anything at all for the first week on Tenerife, the sporting balance so far looks pretty good: 3 x windsurfing, 1 x boogie boarding, 2 x mountain bike tours, 1 x Hiking. Plus jogging and beach gymnastics, apparently we can't do without exercise (actually not surprising)!

An important question that arises every day and every evening is: where are we sleeping tonight? As a rule, we are free, i.e. not on a campsite (of which there are hardly any in Tenerife anyway). Free means, for example, in a public parking lot or an undeveloped area on the beach, in a parking lot at a cemetery (yes, nice and quiet!) or a sports field or even on the edge of a road by the sea (hopefully little traffic at night, but beautiful). The “Park4Night” app helps us find a place to sleep. In this app, a global community posts free places to stay overnight in a camper van and rates them from ***** stars (excellent) to *star (underground). In principle, free standing is tolerated almost everywhere on Tenerife, which is particularly used by many Spaniards with their motorhomes. Basically, it's a good idea to look for a place to spend the night well in advance during the day and head for this place in daylight!

What have we done so far in Tenerife?

El Medano: Mostly windy! THE surfing stronghold on Tenerife for kiters, wingfoilers and windsurfers (in order of number on the water). A relaxed surfer vibe mixes with down-to-earth tourism. At the weekly market, dropouts sell homemade jewelry or act as voodoo shamans to drive away evil spirits among tourists and locals. Unfortunately, one or two dropouts live in a miserable tent or a cave in a barranco (ravine) on the outskirts of town.

La Caleta / Costa Adeje: Dry, sunny and mostly away from the wind. Here, hotels and apartment complexes cover the coast and the adjacent hills for miles. Somehow creepy and yet quite nicely laid out. Pilot whales live off the coast all year round in large colonies that (apparently) enjoy being looked at. Amazing: With "Betty" we can actually spend the night in the middle of town, quietly and undisturbed in a parking lot on the beach, unimaginable in Scharbeutz for example!

Chio / Parque Natural De Corona Forestal: Our first mountain bike tour into the Teide volcanic area. It's unbelievable how the landscape changes from kilometer to kilometer, from bare ash surfaces, rugged lava fields to picturesque pine forests. A real wonder of the world! It doesn't matter that the planned 900 meters in altitude turns into 1,250 meters in altitude... Our friend and I still ride "biobikes", Suzi has electric support. Is there a “right” or “wrong” here? At night we sleep blissfully and in dead silence next to the cemetery on the outskirts of Chio at an altitude of 700 m. An older community employee sweeps the parking lot very carefully and points out to us that we can use the toilets in the cemetery and also fill up with fresh water. How nice! Basically, we find the Canarios to be very polite, nice people!

Erjos / Cruz de Gala: Quite by chance, a former college friend of Suzi's is currently on a hiking holiday in Tenerife with her husband. We arrange to go on a hike starting from the small town of Erjos around the summit of Cruz de Gala. Here we experience first-hand that you have to be prepared for any weather on a mountain hike, from T-shirt weather to wind forces of 7-8 on the ridge with a windbreaker and hat, everything is included. At the same time, the news from the last 10 years that we haven't seen each other is intensively exchanged.

Buenavista del Norte / Punta de Teno: Here on the "Northshore" huge breakers ("Swell") roll onto the coast, having started several thousand kilometers in the Atlantic. We can't get enough of the waves. With a little caution you can even swim. On a closed road you go from Buenavista towards Punta de Teno on an adventurous mountain bike up 500 m, with only a few concrete blocks separating you from the abyss. There is also a long, unlit tunnel to cross. Then a 5 km long descent (yes!) to the westernmost point of Tenerife. A picturesque lighthouse towers on a narrow headland. Huge waves on the right, a picturesque bathing bay on the left, infrastructure = zero (luckily). From there you can admire the "Los Gigantes", a 500 m high cliff, very similar to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

Speaking of departure: We were now able to book a ferry for the 5th of May towards mainland Spain. So there are still almost 3 months of Tenerife ahead of us. We're sure we won't get bored here until then! Maybe we can extend it??

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