We walked four kilometres and 5417 steps, but only because we went by bus to Punta de Teno. It is not possible to go there by car, as the roads are blocked during the day. A good thing because shoo! that road going through the mountain/s is snakey curvy…ssss…very high…don’t look down, too late…faint…and quite narrow. The views though. Fantastic! One can walk up, oh hell no, or use a bicycle, say what?, take a taxi or go by bus. A big green bus. BIG. BUS. They run often and drop you at the nearest point to the lighthouse. Here’s a shout out to those amazing bus drivers. Nerves of steel and always smiling.

We walked up to see the lighthouse first. Up. It was not accessible, that is, we could only see it through a gap in the locked gate, or from other points, one of which was climbing up the rock to the left, quite precarious, and probably not allowed, but you know, curiosity and all that…If we were able to get a bit nearer, without shivering knees from the top, or walk through the gate at the bottom, we would have liked to see the older lighthouse, anno 1890’s, in the front. It was not very high, only about seven or so metres and built with stones from the nearby island of La Gomera, that can be clearly or not so clearly seen, depending on the weather, from here. The new one is about twenty metres high and was built in the 1970’s.

This little corner of Tenerife was, for us, one of the hottest parts of the island. Don’t move and you’re fried. There are no trees here. No shade. Nada. Unless you’re a lizard. There’s not much to see or do if you’re looking for action, but the view of the mountains, the sea, the almost arid nature around it…estupendo! It somehow exudes this very calm, serene, beautiful and peaceful aura. One feels like ohming…but with all that heat it’s better to glugg-glugg, or take a dip…

If we had known how hot it would be, we would have brought our swimming stuff with us. The water looked so inviting! Imagine floating in the water and having all those views in front of you! Instead we took the bus back after only two hours spent on the peninsula.