A Canary Wonder

On a whim the week before the new years, we decided to see if we could fly anywhere on the cheap. We like to use the google flight hack for this. It is so simple, and often, we are able to find some incredible flight options. We have so many secret flight hacks that we will share throughout this blog, so pay attention!! Here is how Google Flights works:

• Type in Google flights

• Pick round trip or one way, and the number of people.

• Type in the city you are flying out of, but DO NOT put in the destination

• Then you can either type in your exact dates or leave it blank

• Then click explore and go to the MAP.

• From there, you can zoom in and out to different flight options worldwide!

• ***Be careful*** Some of the cheapest flights require you to travel for over 24 hours!! So we often filter out some of the results that we want, like the number of stops, total travel time, price, etc.

We are originally from the Midwest, so cold, long winters—I totally got it. However, as much as we love living in Germany, the winters. Oh my god. DARK. RAIN. LONG. COLD. A potent cocktail of minimal to no sun, the post-Christmas market withdrawals, and no snow make for a much-needed remedy consisting of vitamin D, sunshine, and warm weather. Which, for us, amounted to a $250 round trip ticket per person to Tenerife, Spain (for those that need a refresher on geography, it is part of the Canary Islands – don’t worry, I needed one, too, lol).

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Getting Around

It’s a hike to get here—a five-hour flight. And because we chose a cheap airline (Condor), there were no free drinks or snacks (good to know for next time). Word to the wise: bring snacks. If anyone’s husband is like mine – the minute he is hungry, he could audition for the Snickers bar commercials in a heartbeat and be accepted IMMEDIATELY. 

Arriving in Tenerife was magical. Luckily, we had great weather and could see the multiple islands and the ever-looming Mt. Tiede, Spain’s tallest peak and still active volcano. Tenerife has excellent public transportation, but knowing that we wanted to get up into the mountains to do some hiking, we opted to rent a car from RecordGo, just a 15-minute drive from the airport. It's cheap, affordable, reliable, and the gas is SO cheap!! Our adventure to find the shuttle to pick us up and bring us to their headquarters was another story (Joe.)

As soon as we signed away our life on the dotted line, we packed the car, popped the clutch, and stalled only once, and we were on our way (thank the gods Joe can drive a stick shift way better than I ever could –a goal to learn someday). After a few quick bickering panic moments, dodging tourists jaywalking, passing our hotel twice, and finally parking somewhere semi-legal – we made it to our hotel.

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Lodging

Guys. This place. So adorable. It reminded me of a mini-Santorini (keep an eye out for the

blog on my solo trip to this Greek island-- coming soon!), perched right above the hubbub and bustling streets of Playa de las Amèricas on the south side of the island. Yes, this was the most touristy part of the island, but remember, on the cheap! The staff was super warm and welcoming, and we received a complimentary bottle of wine to welcome us. They have little bungalows or studio apartments you can reserve, a beautiful pool, breakfast, and a bar. We felt safe staying here, and it had perfect access to everything we needed. They do not have parking, but the front desk recommended free parking for us, just a five-minute walk away. We were also a five-minute walk to the beach, within walking distance of TONS of places to eat, drink, and get groceries. #LiveCardones @loscardones.boutiquevillage

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Activities

North Island

Tenerife is an incredibly diverse island filled with multiple different microclimates. Mainly, you have the lush greenery of the mountains in the north and the mars-scape arid desert of the south. With only two full days and two half days to explore, we got to work.

On our first day, we woke up early, made breakfast, and hurried ourselves out to our put-put car and headed toward the rich green Montañas de Anaga. Sidebar: we advise if you drive around the island, you might want to get a little something with some power behind it. The highways are super hilly, and that doesn’t even touch the mountain climbing we had to do; at one point, we had to throw our hazards on IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY (lmao) because our car couldn’t get up the hill. Growing up, we used to have a large hill to drive up to get out of our town to either go to school or do the weekly grocery shopping. My mom would throw the minivan in gear and ask all four of us kids to ‘pedal hard!’ as we tortuously waited for the van to inch its way up the hill. Never fear; it always worked (at least in my memory). But I digress!

The island's north is filled with beautiful parks, nature preserves, hiking trails, cycling routes, glorious beaches, diverse plants, and quaint hamlets scattered along the mountainsides. We opted for a four-hour hike recommended by the kindest attendant at the park desk and took off into the mountain jungle. The trail was beautiful, well-marked, well maintained, and nearly empty! We did an out-and-back trip, just over eight miles, and we got a small glimpse into life in the north. We passed the sweetest abuela and abuelo on their way home from what seemed to be the market (please note they looked to be at least 90 years old, carrying bags of groceries, UPHILL, and looked like they were out for a stroll –it’s humbling).

Sprinkled along the trail were vibrantly colored homes, white crips linens drying on the line, and freshly toiled earth and gardens squeezed into what available space and luxury the demanding mountainside would allow. Larger villages, or hamlets, were spotted along the hillsides, and we were lucky enough to walk through one where we witnessed the locals carrying trays of food from their kitchen into what appeared to be the community hall for a ‘fiesta privada.’ An elderly chap waved to us as we passed and wished us happy hiking. Sigh. It was a lovely glimpse into the seemingly humble and idyllic life of the people on north Tenerife.

Things to note hiking in the North:

• Bring sunscreen!!

• Bring water!!

• Bring snacks

• Wear good hiking shoes

• Have a map or some navigation

Things we thought were worth seeing:

• The coastline of the north

• The deep jungles of the mountains

• The quaint colorful hamlets and the people’s way of life

• The quiet beaches scattered along the coast

• Mt. Tiede –always looming in the background of almost all of our photos

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South Island

If anyone knows my husband, you will know he does not care to wake up early, and if you do not know him, you at least know this. After we walked through the jungles of the north and did some exploring and gift shopping in San Cristobal de La Laguna, grabbed some delicious food and services, my husband had the BRILLANT idea to hike Mt. Tiede at sunrise on New Year's Eve. YESSSS. ABSOLUTELY. COOLEST IDEA EVERRRR.

Mt. Tiede National Park takes up a large amount of the southern part of the island, and Mt. Tiede sits at a daunting 12,198 ft (you can almost view the peak from any part of the island). The national park itself looks like a mix of Utah, Colorado, Mars, and the moon (because we know what those last two look at, but it’s at least what we think). It is stunning!! Even if you do not have the time or energy to summit the peak, there are tons of hiking trails, loads of cyclists, and epic landscapes and rockscapes.

Warning: summiting Mt. Tiede is not for the faint of heart or untrained individual. Reading reviews of the trails, there are many episodes of altitude sickness and people having to be rescued off the mountain. We have done a lot of high alpine hiking and felt very comfortable doing this climb. You also must have secured a permit way in advance to summit the peak of the mountain (about the last 500ft of the trail) for conservation and control purposes. The next available permit was months away. At first, I was annoyed at this, but when we finished our hike, we realized there were countless people who rode the cable car up to where we ended, and it made sense. If everyone and their mother, father, kid, and grandparent were allowed to summit the peak, the delicate nature and natural environment of the mountain peak would suffer.

3 am: wake up. Ugh.

4 am: Departure.

4:15 a.m.: We were stopped by police for a mandatory sobriety test. Cue us trying to speak Spanish, slowly accelerating to the next checkpoint,, trying not to stall the car,, and getting yelled at to move faster. Facepalm. The officer who required Joe to blow was very lovely and was shocked when we said we had nothing to drink! All was well; it blew negative, and on we went.

5 am ish: arrival at the parking lot for our trailhead.

5:30 am: hiking commenced!

YOU GUYS. We hiked for the first couple of miles with our headlamps off because, with the moon and starlight above us, we could see just fine. It was one of the most beautiful memories of my life. Glittering lights from the stars surrounded us and the moon, from people DESCENDING the mountain, and from the faraway towns along the coast. The air was so still and silent that we could hear our ears ringing apart from the crunch of the trail beneath our feet. Sublime.

Keep in mind this trail goes only one way… up. Like a lot of up. There are sections where the trail is built at a 60% grade. We gained over 4,000ft of elevation in 5.4 miles. For those who do not know, it’s like doing a stair climber for about three and a half hours. Circling back to those microclimates, we started the hike at 40 degrees F (later on the beach it will be close to 80 LOL). I was wearing fleece-lined leggings, two layers of thermals, a vest, a hat, and gloves. We both hiked with day packs, poles, a total of 5.5 liters of water, and snacks. Many snacks.

Sunrise was at about 7:45 am, so we could get up the mountain a good way before the sun majestically made its debut over the crest of the Atlantic. Out of all the moments, one could not feel more connected, more grounded than in those creeping moments, watching the earth spin and the sun crest the horizon. Watching the rainbow of colors shout across the world. Feeling the light upon our faces, the first fingers of warmth grace our cheeks, and the promise of a new day. A New Year’s Eve to remember.

The remainder of the arduous climb left us in a world of cooled lava slides, rock pillars, minimal vegetation, and a breathtaking view of a cloudless blue sky meeting the expanse of the sparkling ocean. You’ll pass a once active refugio or mountain hut, but it is no longer in service. It was a great resting spot to have a peanut butter and bagel sandwich and let the bright sun warm our insides.

The last few hundred meters are not so steep, and Mt. Teide is ever encouraging you (or looming over you…never getting closer –whichever mindset you slip into after 5 hours of hiking and minimal sleep) to keep going. Just before you reach the summit, the top of the trailthe where, you’ll be greeted with all the beautifully dressed, lovely smlovely-smellingeakered, non-sweaty humans who rode the gondola to the top (lol). AND a view that makes it all worth it. You can see a good portion of the shoreline surrounding the island, the green forest that circumnavigates the mountain, the lava slide from the latest erosion, and the never-ending blue-on-blue horizon. Breathtaking.

We happily paid a few euros too many to take the cable car down, to save time and our legs. At the bottom we knew we still had a few kilometers to walk, so, it was worth it. Although little did we know the temperature would be about 30 degrees warmer at the bottom than at the top! At the top, I was comfortable in my hat, merino wool layers, and fleece-lined leggings, but the three-kilometer walk back to the car (uphill, of course) on the black pavement was a slog. Woof. Nevertheless, overall, a 10/10. I would do it again. Seriously.

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We spent the rest of New Year’s Eve taking a nap, relaxing, and enjoying some tapas and Sangria. The island came alive that evening, with what appeared to be a lovely blend of tourists and locals, young and old, walking the promenades along the beach, enjoying the warm wind off the water and the promise of what tomorrow would bring.