Travels with Terri

I have a confession to make. Despite having lived in Portugal for three and a half years, we’ve never visited our neighboring country of Spain. It wasn’t for lack of trying, however. We had plans to visit Barcelona in 2020 but the pandemic closed borders, so we had to cancel our trip. Now that travel restrictions have eased, we booked a trip to Tenerife the largest of the seven Canary Islands. Located off West Africa, Tenerife has a land area of 785 square miles (2,034 square kilometers) and its population in 2020 was 966,354. With over 350 days per year of sunshine, Tenerife sounded like a great choice for a February get away.

We had a stunning view of Mount Teide, the tallest peak in Spain, on our flight into Tenerife. Measuring 12,198 feet (3,718 meters) above sea level, it’s the 3rd highest volcano in the world when measured from the ocean floor (24,606 feet or 7,500 meters.) It is also the main attraction of Teide National Park. At 46,720 acres (18,907 ha) the volcanic landscape of Teide National Park contains unique geological formations, over 1,000 species of invertebrates, and 168 different species of plant life. It is also home to the Teide Observatory with an impressive array of solar, nocturnal, and radio telescopes. In 1995, the first brown dwarf star was discovered using one of its telescopes.

We chose Costa Adeje on the southwestern coast of Tenerife as our home for the week. Its beaches are some of the best in the Canary Islands and it offers a variety of activities such as water parks, boat tours, jet skiing, wind surfing, and golf. As a top destination for visitors from all over Europe, the choice of dining options is amazing. Besides fresh seafood and Spanish cuisine, there are numerous Indian, Asian, Italian, Scottish, and Irish restaurants. I was quite happy to find several Irish pubs close to our apartment since I do love a proper pint of Guinness! With a lower sales tax rate than in the EU, shopping is a top attraction and tourists can find everything from kitschy souvenirs to high-end items like electronics, jewelry, and designer clothing at bargain prices. Many places offer live music, karaoke, or football matches during the day and well into the night.

To celebrate Rick’s birthday, I booked a 3-hour whale watching tour on a catamaran. The forecast called for rain and as we walked down to the marina, dark clouds hung over the mountains. Luckily, they stayed put and we had sunshine and puffy white clouds during our trip. There were twenty guests onboard of various ages and nationalities plus the captain and a deckhand. Rick and I joined the captain on the top deck and were the only passengers, so it felt like a private tour. The captain mentioned that our seats were the most unstable on the boat and boy he sure wasn’t kidding! Once we left the marina and reached full speed, it felt like we were riding a roller coaster. Fortunately, neither of us get seasick so we enjoyed the ride and the amazing views. He told us we’d be going out 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) to find the best spot for seeing whales.

Once the captain spotted a pod of whales, he slowed the engine and told everyone to start looking off the bow of the boat. There were several other boats nearby, all with their engines off to not disturb the whales. It was magical seeing them emerge from the water so close to our boat. The captain told us that these are Short-Finned Pilot whales and that they are the second largest dolphin species behind the Orca or Killer whale. They range in size from 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) long and can dive to depths of 2,300 feet (700 meters) looking for their favorite prey, squid. The Pilot whales of Tenerife live in matriarchal pods of between 10 to 30 members and we were thrilled to spot a mother and her baby. We spent about 20 minutes watching the whales before heading off towards a sheltered cove. I was very impressed by the care shown to the whales by all the tour boats in the area. Only a handful of boats got close to them and once we left, another boat moved in to take our place.

Since the captain had already told us that spotting dolphins was rare this time of year, we were surprised when he slowed the boat and told everyone to look towards the right. We saw several black shapes break the surface of the water, and in a matter of minutes we were surrounded by a pod of Bottlenose dolphins. As the largest of the beaked dolphin species, male Bottlenose dolphins can grow to 13 feet (4 meters) in length and weigh up to 1,323 pounds (600 kilograms.) Females are slightly smaller, and both can live between 40 and 60 years. Both males and females have dark grey backs with light grey sides and almost white undersides. This shading acts like camouflage and makes it hard for their prey to spot them underwater. Bottlenose dolphins use echolocation during their hunts and pods often work together as a group herding fish into a bait ball, making it easier to harvest the fish. We spent a long time watching these magnificent animals before heading off to a cove for tapas and drinks. Once anchored, our deck hand popped open bottles of a Spanish sparkling white wine called Cava and we toasted a very successful day on the water.

Join me for my next post where we venture into the Teno Mountains to see stunning cliffs, ancient caves, the oldest Dragon Tree in the world, and more!