Article El Pijaral

The symbol of Tenerife and the highest mountain in Spain accompanies us every day of our stay. In the morning before the trip to Anaga, the rising sun turns the stratovolcano red.

From Puerto de la Cruz we head along the motorway in the direction of La Laguna, at the second turn 8B we go down to Anaga and Las Mercedes. After a few sharp turns, we stop at the lookout point Mirador de Jardina. La Laguna is in front of us and Teide is hiding in the haze. We continue along the TF12 road, at a place called Cruce El Bailadero we turn onto the very narrow road TF123, leading to the village of Chamorga.

We stop in a small parking lot at the bus stop La Ensillada. Here is the entrance to the circuit through the misty forest of El Pijaral. Also, we have a permit! A park ranger throws himself at us and demands the piece of paper in question (there is a fine of 600 EUR on a road sign). He leaves in disappointment, we leave enthusiastically into the lush vegetation.

Maybe someone would like a nice sunny weather for this walk. In that case, there are several views of the rugged coastline and steep walls of Anaga along the way. But our alternative, fog, humid, is much more interesting. The misty laurel forest is mysterious in that soft light, full of beautiful vegetation.

Before the middle of the round trip we descend sharply to the lookout point Cabezo del Tejo. We're lucky, we're getting below the level of the clouds. Below us appear the villages of Benijo and Almaciga.

Visibility is even better, the view opens to the southwest.

My favorite eonium is also in the rainforest. This endemic occurs in the Canary Islands in 25 species.

The way back leads to a very comfortable contour Pista Cabezo del Tejo. But even here it is very nice.

The day began with a look at the red-tinted Teide and ended with a look at the local beauties: Miss City of our city was elected.