Tenerife natural landscapes

1- INTRODUCTION

Tenerife is the largest and most populous of the seven Canary Islands with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the island and the seat of the island council (cabildo insular). The city is capital of the autonomous community of Canary Islands (shared with Las Palmas), sharing governmental institutions such as Presidency and ministries.



The island is home to the University of La Laguna, which was founded in 1792 and is the oldest university in the Canaries. Tenerife also has the highest elevation of Spain, a World Heritage Site that is the third largest volcano in the world from its base, El Teide. One of the scientific activities on the zone is the astrophysical. The Teide Observatory belongs to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, with headquarters in La Laguna.


2- THE GUANCHES

Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BC and 100 BC or perhaps earlier. The Roman author and military officer, Pliny the Elder, drawing upon the accounts of Juba II, king of Mauretania, stated that a Mauretanian expedition to the islands around 50 BC found the ruins of great buildings, but otherwise no population to speak of. The native term Guanchinet or Achinet literally translated means "man of Tenerife" (from Guan = person and Chinet = Tenerife). It was modified, according to Juan Núñez de la Peña, by the Castilians into "Guanchos".



Strictly speaking, the Guanches were the indigenous peoples of Tenerife, where the population seems to have lived in relative isolation up to the time of the Castilian conquest, around the 14th century (though Genoans, Portuguese, and Castilians may have visited there from the second half of the 8th century onwards). The name came to be applied to the original populations of Tenerife island.

Silbo Gomero (Spanish for 'Gomeran Whistle'), also known as "el silbo" ('the whistle'), is a whistled language spoken by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands to communicate across the deep ravines and narrow valleys (gullies) that radiate through the island. A speaker of Silbo Gomero is sometimes referred to in Spanish as a "silbador" ('whistler'). It was declared as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.

Although the Berbers are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements (e.g., the Islamic-Arabic conquest of the Berbers) have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands. Since the end of the 16th century, at least, two-thirds of the Canarian population had an indigenous substrate, as was previously inferred from historical and anthropological data.

3 - HISTORY

The Spanish conquest of the islands began in 1402, with the expedition of Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle to the island of Lanzarote. Gadifer would conquer Lanzarote and Fuerteventura with ease since many of the aborigines, faced with issues of starvation and poor agriculture, would surrender to Castilian rule.

The other five islands fought back. El Hierro and the Bimbache population were the next to fall, then La Gomera, Gran Canaria, La Palma and in 1496, Tenerife. Next photo belongs to a typical building in city of La Laguna, Tenerife:



Tenerife was most successful against the Castilian invaders. In the First Battle of Acentejo (31 May 1494), called La Matanza or "The Slaughter," Guanches with stones and spears ambushed the Castilians in a valley and killed many. Only one in five of the Castilians survived, including the leader of the expedition, Alonso Fernandez de Lugo. Lugo would return later to the island with the alliance of the kings of the southern part of the island, and defeated the Guanches in the Battle of Aguere. The northern Menceyatos or provinces fell after the Second Battle of Acentejo with the defeat of the successor of Bencomo, Bentor, Mencey of Taoro – what is now the Orotava Valley – in 1496.


4- CLIMBING THE TEIDE

The second day of our amazing Tenerife holidays we hiked up from the road using the cableway, since our poor body resistence prevented us to walk such a distance. The cableway was moving cumbersome due to the wind, keeping us terrified. The conditions were really bad at the start, the slopes of the mountain were covered in icy snow and a storm was coming up. Once up at the end of the cableway travel at 3.550 meters from the sea, we tried to walk to the crater.

On top of “La Rambleta” (3555 m) the oldest crater was waiting us, with a diameter of 850 m, emerging from the majestic “El Pilón”, the uppermost cone of the “Teide”, which with its 3718 m of height enjoys the privilege of being Spain’s highest point.

A special authorisation is necessary to climb this slope, which can be obtained from the National Park’s Management. The height and strong smell of sulphur that the numerous vapor streams give off, make advancing somewhat difficult and, therefore, the ascent must be slow, taking frequent rests and allowing the Island’s rumble to be felt in our feet, and perceiving the cold air of the heights.



We did up an down same day. It was funny to see also the tourists wearing short trousers and sandals. I thought only Spanish were able to do such a suicide, but we realized they were people from anywhere in Europe. Imagine posh girls walking till crater using spike heels, what a disaster!

Due to the difficults and the threats of strong wind, we desisted in our endevour as good Spanish lazybones. But at that point, the incredible landscape and power of the natural elements delighted our senses in a space of one hour. Completely recommended once in life. This was a great climb for me... I stayed positive and excited the whole way, and enjoyed the view throughout. The last 200 meters were completely iced.

The sunset alone makes the whole climb worthwhile. Finnally threats faded and beautyful weather came, awesome colors and spectacular views to the islands around the Atlantic Ocean. We enjoyed being on top of Spain and having absolutely great views of the Canarias and the neighbouring Ilands La Gomera and Gran Canaria as well as the lower caldera of Pico Viejo!

After such an effort, we returned back our hotel, rested, recovered and filled our empty stomachs eating famous local dish "papas arrugas with red mojo". It is kind of special cooked potatoes with a tasty spicy red sauce, very recommended to mix with a steak.




5- HIDDEN VILLAGE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS

One surprise we found during the way to the Teide was the little town Masca, raised among the mountains. Just 121 inhabitants. The trip to the Masca's gully is performed yearly by lot of people. It requires 3 hours each way. Their deep gullies mixed with luxurious vegetation along the thin and curved roads starting in Buenaventura del Norte.

Short time ago terrain was almost unknown, but nowadays it is one of the main atractions of the island. The town landscapes are magic and the houses literally hang scarcelly on the narrow gullies with dramatic rocky shapes.



Masca offers lots of traditional houses, some restaurants and little artisanat and souvenir stores, the prefered by our couples :). To stand out the presence of la Casa de los Avinculados, being the elder building of the zone. It is a must not to unnotice the Church of la Inmaculada Concepción, dated on XVIII century, that celebrate their parties in August.


6- MARTIAN LAYOUT


Analyzing the landscape during the trip in our small and easy to drive rent car, we realized we were stepping Mars ground. Comparing Earth with Mars, Mars is only about one-half the size of Earth, and yet has several volcanoes that surpass the scale of the largest terrestrial volcanoes. The most massive volcanoes are located on huge uplifts or domes in the Tharsis and Elysium regions of Mars. The Tharsis dome is 4,000 kilometers across and rises to 10 kilometers in height. We could glimpse in Tenerife one of the most popular martian structures called Finger of God:



Teide is the third greater volcano from its basis, after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, both in Hawai island. It is a stratum-volanco kind strombolian with a crater among 12 and 20 km diameter and partially covered by Montaña Blanca, Pico Viejo and Pico del Teide. The peak reaches within el Pilón de Azúcar, nowadays with a residual activity composed by dense cloud of smoke and sulfatum at 86º C.

The large shield volcanoes on Mars resemble Hawaiian shield volcanoes. They both have effusive eruptions which are relatively quiet and basaltic in nature. Both have summit pits or boilers and long lava flows or channels. The biggest difference between Martian and Terrestrial volcanoes is size. The volcanoes in the Tharsis region are 10 to 100 times larger than those on Earth. They were built from large magma chambers deep within the Martian crust. A photo of Olympus volcano in Mars:



The Martian flows are also much longer. This is probably due to larger eruption rates and to lower gravity. One of the reasons volcanoes of such magnitude were able to form on Mars is because the hot volcanic regions in the mantle remained fixed relative to the surface for hundreds of millions of years. On Earth, the tectonic flow of the crust across the hot volcanic regions prevent large volcanoes from forming. The Hawaiian islands were created as the Pacific plate moved northwest. These volcanoes have a relatively short life time. As the plate moves new volcanoes form and the old ones become silent.

In the case of Teide, it is noticed of ancient eruptions (150.000 years ago) that shaped the current relief of the whole island. So then it raised a higher volcano than the Teide. Specialists handle two hypothesis about the origin of the Teide, based in the dissaparition of the higher one. The first, the peak was splitted and sliced till the sea by the north of Tenerife. The second hypothesis explains the origin with a gravitational collapse that provoked the downfall. In both cases, it was created the named Cañadas del Teide. Thanks to the new eruptions raised the volcano that we can see currently.




7- VOLCANIC SAND BEACHES

Despite the coldness of the Atlantic sea, you can take a bath and get the benefits
of hydrotherapy in a environment of natural dark volcanic sand. When swimming, the mineral properties are too benefitial for the skin. In a few days people can note how dermatitis and acne fade.

A sun bath is one of the main sources of D-Vitamin. Sun rays aid to sinthesyze it, and empowers absorbtion of different Calcium components, revitalizing our body. Also is well known the antidepressant properties, having a huge feeling of wellness. Perfect for people worried about the daily rat-races and burnout of their jobs.



As well you can deeply breathe and get benefitis of aerotherapy, whilst walking through the sand on different intensities to oxigenate our body, due to the power and purity of the beach wind. Our lungs will be enraptured of fresh air without pollution.

The properties of the walking through volcanic sands have exfoliant benefits, and the mixure of all those factors makes people feel incredibly well and relaxed, all completely given by nature and completely free. It's the perfect matching to forget the pressure and irrealizable targets that our stupid bosses define in our work journey. Definitely i recommend Tenerife natural landscapes to run away from your daily routine in the rush of the city.





8- LINKS OF INTEREST

http://www.iki.rssi.ru/solar/eng/marsvolc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife
http://www.telefericoteide.com/parque.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanches
http://www.canariasnatural.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbo_Gomero_language
http://www.alertatierra.com/volTeide.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrotherapy
http://www.rutasdetenerife.com/masca.php
http://www.canaries-live.com/