After the rainy night fishermen sit on their rocks under the cliffs. El Teide, the heighest peak of Tenerife, is covered with snow, glittering over the sea. It is time to put down our tent, say goodbye to German friend, a solo treveler and a mother of 3 children, with whom we shared the wild beach for last 2 nights, and continue our walk through Aldea into national park Güigüi.
Volcanic scenery with red, brown and black rocks, caves, endemic plants and palms in the narrow valleys is passing by.
We reach Playa Güigüi in the late afternoon and jump into the sea. Later a man tells us you can meet giant mantas resting in the black sand in the shallow water or see dolphins, whales and sharks. Although Güigüi is considered a wild beach, approachable by foot in 2 hours, everybody knows about it but only few people overnight here with us. The tricky question is where to make your bed because of the falling rocks. We can hear stones sliding over the walls while looking at the bright night sky.
In the morning we are surprised by the light rain. A young cat is following us far uphill and we almost adopt it. Just before valley Tasartico we meet an Italian fellow who drives us up to the main road towards Aldea while we listen to piano music by Giovanni Allevi.
After cooking and eating at the main square we buy icecream. Before we even finish it we catch, hitchhiking, the only car so far, directly to Acusa Seca. “Can we enter the car with the icecream?” asks Eva. One hour drive with a Belgian couple is full of laughing and questions about life on the wild winding road.
Back to Acusa Seca. This time we sleep in a cave house, restored in a traditional way by association Atlas we cooperated with, following the idea of silent tourism. Perfect darkness and constant temperature call for a good sleep. Eleven cats wait in front of the door. We could bring one more.
While giving street theatre workshops in Las Palmas we met Sara, a charming woman of Iranian origin, who invited us to spend evening in her outdoor living room – a square with stone sofas next to the music store where she practises playing harp. We visit her in a guesthouse above village Tejeda this time and put up a tent in the garden.
It is raining the next morning but Roque Nublo (clouded rock) is still outside the clouds. I decide to try my luck and almost run towards it.
After 2 hours walking over the blooming slopes and pine forest I stand under the monumental red rock, breathless.
Rain disappeared but crowds are coming from the closest parking. After circling the rock I continue through white almond orchards to the Roque Bentayga, another glorious rock 8 km away. Under the rock I adore caves and plato with engraved water channels, supposedly a sacred place for indigenous Canarians. They could follow spring equinox from here. The sun rises over the Roque Nublo directly in the line with Roque Bentayga and Acusa Seca, where the main field area was.
After hitchhiking back to Tejeda I should work a bit. We agreed to help with the house work to have a bed. But everything has already been done.
In the morning we help with cleaning and changing beds before we leave towards national park Tamadaba. Through the magical pine forests with long bright green lichens hanging from the brenches we reach the campsite in complete fog. Only one tent is standing there. You need a free municipality permit to overnight and rangers come to check yours daily. Luckily we don’t meet them as we don’t have a permit.
In the evening we are waiting at the viewpoint 100 m from the tent and see nothing. The fog suddenly opens and we realise we stand at the edge of a huge cliff above town Agaete and the sun is setting. Our performer friends from Chile we met in the hostel were right: endless …
The last day starts with a stretching in the sun at the viewpoint. We descend to San Pedro, white and peaceful village under the steep dark slopes. We want to hitchhike to the nearest town. The lady who picks us up goes directly to Las Palmas making our tired faces smile again.
Text: Uroš
Photo: Eva & Uroš