Walking in the Canary Islands

During the early part of March, two groups of A-walkers made their way to the Canary Islands for walking expeditions. One group went to Tenerife while the other went further west to La Palma. Although there was snow on the top of Mount Teide (Pico del Teide) in Tenerife, there was none on the high ground in La Palma - Roque de los Mouchachos and Pico Bejenado.
 
It was certainly a lovely experience to be walking in shorts and tee-shirt. Equally nice was the 'all-day' sunshine and blue skies that we were exposed to during our walks. Even the sea (Atlantic Ocean) was warm enough to go in for a swim! As for the scenery, this was also superb and offered a sharp contrast to what we have available in the UK.
 
The group in La Palma spent quite some time exploring the central national park (Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente) and walking south (from El Pilar) along the famous 'volcano route' (Ruta de los Vulcanes). We had to pay to visit the San Antonio volcano crater (Volcan de San Antonio) - but the views we got of the southern tip of the island were well worth the admission fee.
 
We had hoped to do some walks in the Barranco de Las Angustias area. Unfortunately, the two routes that we had planned to take were closed due to the possibility of land-slides - arising from the hurricane that hit the island a week prior to our visit.
 
A selection of some of the photos that we took during the La Palma expedition can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:
 

Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.
 

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