Published: January 22nd 2006January 7th 2006
With the snow and cold of Germany in winter and no chance of going back to San Diego for Christmas, Kate and I decided to find a warm place to go during Christmas. Our local travel agent suggested either Egypt or the Canary Islands. Since we prefer islands to sand we choose to go to the island of Tenerife, a Spanish possession for over 500 years. We were going to arrange our trip to be gone over Christmas but the travel agent informed us that 1) there was a 200 Euro ($240) per person surcharge for staying over Christmas and 2) he found a special deal for a week at a very nice resort, including airfare, transfer to and from the resort, breakfast and dinner each day, and located two blocks from the beach, plus a car rental for three days for a little over $1000. The only drawback to the special deal was that we would arrive back in Germany around midnight Christmas Eve. We decided to go for it.
Tenerife, is an island in the Canary Islands chain, which consists of a group of seven major islands of which Tenerife is the largest and six smaller ones in the Atlantic Ocean, lying between 60 - 190 miles off the northwestern coast of Africa, a few degrees North of the Tropic of Cancer. Mount Teide, Tenerife’s largest mountain, a little over 12,000 feet, effectively splits the island in two. The cooler northern part is a lush tropical paradise with banana plantations and palm trees. In contrast the south of the island is hot and dry with almost a desert like landscape. Tenerife claims that it has four different climate zones: hot desert-like zones, rainforests, lush, verdant valleys and striking lunar panoramas.
Now that we have all the history and general information out of the way, we can tell you what our trip was like. We found Tenerife to be a combination of Waikiki, intermixed with some Tijuana, and a little Arizona throw in for good measure. Tenerife appears to have four different climate zones as stated above. Although we did not see much lush rain forests (although it did rain one day - all day long), there are lots of beautiful sunny beaches with the most modern and luxurious resorts and “expensive” name brand shops like Arami and Rolex along the boardwalk, lots of banana and tomato
Our Resort - Riu Adeje
A very nice resort about two blocks from the beach.
Driving around Tenerife was a very different
Resort Pool
The resort had a nice pool. The buildings surrounding the pool are the various accommodations at the resort. It made the resort look like its own village.
Our resort, Riu Adeje Hotel & Resort, was quite nice and convenient to both beach and shops. The breakfast and dinner buffets, including in our travel package, were excellent. Almost every morning they would make us fresh juice in blenders, and we had a choice from an international breakfast selection. The evening meal was always a different theme, Mexican, European, etc. The desert buffet was phenomenal. I gained 5 pounds that week just from the deserts alone.
Although it was enjoyable being back in the warm weather again, neither Kate nor I would go back. Except for lying around the beach or pool, shopping, or visiting Loro Parque, there wasn’t much to see or do. Kate and I love to learn and see the history of the place and although there is definitely history in Tenerife it is quickly being swallowed up by huge resorts and even larger apartment and condo complexes going up. Tourists from all over Europe fly into Tenerife and are immediately put on special buses that take them directly to their resorts or hotels. There they lay around the pool or beach like beached whales, do some shopping and at the end of their week stay the sunburned tourists are bussed back to the airport dumped off and the buses await the next inbound flight from Europe. Maybe all vacation tours are that way but this was extremely streamlined and efficient.
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Our voyage through life has taken a rather pleasant and unexpected turn. After spending three years in Bavaria in the beautiful town of Ansbach and two more in Landstuhl, near the French and Luxembourg borders, Kate was accepted for a two year extension at the Landstuhl Military Hopsital. So, our journeys will continue for us here in Europe, at least for the next two years. I hope you will enjoy our adventures and stories of our trips. So, please join us. As I have shared with you before what St. Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page”. I hope... full info
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Sunset View
With the exception of one day of rain, this was our view of sunset every day.
Buffet Fruit Table
At both breakfast and dinner the resort had this buffet table piled high with fresh fruit of every kind. At breakfast they would provide fresh fruit juices made right there in front of you. It was delicious!
Along the Promanade
Just off the beach near Playa de Fanabe is this section of shops that would rival Beverly Hills or Paris. From Armani to Rolex, the shops are something to see.
Part of the Very Long Tenerife Boardwalk
Along the popular beaches on the southwest side of the island is a boardwalk that easily stretched for a couple of miles. All along the boardwalk are hotels, shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, and everything you would find along a beach resort town.
Playa de Fanabe
Just one of the six beaches that stretch from Casa Adeje to Los Cristanos in southwest Tenerife.
Looks Like Hawaii
Although the sand is a different color, it reminded me a lot of Hawaii.
Beach Playtoys
Along one of the many beaches we came across a section with interesting floats that included everything from a floating see-saw, a floating trampoline and even a wall climbing float
Boardwalk Bungee
We saw these at a couple of the beaches we visited. It is a combination bungee and trampoline. You bounce off the trampoline and while you are up in the air you can do both forward and reverse somersaults. The kids there were having a ball.
An Island of Switchbacks
Tenerife, being a volcanic island, is extremely mountainous and except for a fairly decent road that goes around the island, crossing the island we spent all our time switchbacking up one side of the island and switchbacking down the other. We both had headaches after that trip.
Village Built on a Lava Flow.
In 1909, during the last volcanic eruption on Tenerife, a small fishing village was destroyed. The survivors built a new village on the lava flow that covered their old village.
Dragon Tree
One of the main points of interest on Tenerife is this Dragon Tree in the village of Icod de los Vinos. That's the tree (right center) that looks like a large piece of broccoli. It is said to be over 1000 years old. When a piece of bark or a branch are broken, the tree "bleed" a dark-red sap called "dragon-tree blood", which can be used with medical purposes.
Loro Parque Dolphins
This show easily surpassed the Sea World Dolphin show in our opinion.
Dolphins & Trainer Hoop Trick
Although he was a little late, the trainer was propelled through the hoop by a dolphin. We have never seen such a great dolphin show.
Mount Teide
At 3718 meters (a little 12,000 ft) Mt. Teide is snow covered for most of the year. Not only is it the highest mountain in the Canary Islands, since the islands are controlled by Spain, Mt. Teide is the highest mountain in Spain.
Northern Coastline of Tenerife
We took a tour of the island which included a boat ride along the more picturesque northern coastline.
Buses Awaiting the Hordes
There must have been easily 30 buses at the airport picking up the tourists. Talk about a streamline operation, probably less than an hour before they were dropping off the tourist who finished their week on Tenerife.
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