When we arrived back in Los Cristianos the plan had been to get a bus to Santiago del Teide but in a moment of panic Geoff ended up renting a car !! Which actually made moving around far easier for the rest of our holiday.

Our next walk was down the Masca Gorge Valley, we decided to stay at Santiago del Teide so we could extend the walk by walking over to Masca village. When we set off it was dull and over the top it became very misty but by the time we arrived in the village it was beautiful sunshine.

The actual walk was amazing and quite tough with lots of boulders to climb over, no path is marked so you just make your own way down, luckily for us there was not many groups about that day as they would hold you up quite a bit !!

The walk ends in Gigantos bay and the only way out is by boat so we paid our money and off we went, we thought we had made a mistake as the boat was going out to sea…… but then the reason why became apparent, they had taken us out to see the most amazing sight Dolphins !!

Next it was off to Mount Teide, and I was very lucky to be able to stay at the Teide Parador, in the Teide National park.

I totally fell in love with this place and the walking was amazing , the volcanic landscape made me feel like I was on the moon 🙂

First after walking to the cable car from the parador we took the cable car up Teide to explore round all the little paths and decide what other walks we wanted to do.

Unfortunately we were unable to get a permit to allow us to walk right to the Teide peak 🙁

So we made do with Walking all the way back up Teide a route that took us by the Teide eggs also known as volcanic boulders and the Teide refuge which was fully booked for weeks as its the only way to walk to Teide peak with out a permit. A tough walk where the altitude affected me for the first time ever !!

Other walks included some amazing rock formations known as The Rogues de Garcia and Montana De Guajara the third highest mountain in Tenerife, which was a fantastic climb and a great way to end our stay on Teide, on this walk we had to rescue a german couple who was struggling with fear

Then by chance we stumbled on another amazing place, I dont usually like beaches they can be flat uninteresting and much the same BUT El Medano had a lovely feel to it and is right next to Montana Roja.

I could of happily have stayed here for a few days, a great place to walk, run and swim , close by the airport too.

A fabulous holiday but I feel we have unfinished business here and must return sometime !!

Our first week in Tenerife was spent on the Island La Gomera.

We based ourselves in San Sebastian, a quiet non touristy town but perfect for the day walking we wanted to do and meant we could do a section of the GR132 and the GR131

The walking trails were very wild barren and peaceful with the most amazing views and huge Cacti growing along the paths,every now and again we would get a tantalising peek of Mount Teide in the distance, the weather was hot sunny and wonderful making it perfect !!

One day we did catch the bus over to the very touristy Valley Gran Rey where we enjoyed a great walk but was more than happy to be going back to San sebastian.

We found a great restaurant that served good food and the most amazing locally grown avocado’s , interestingly the guy that served us, Cristofer Clemente was a trail runner who had won many marathons including the 2014 Scafell Pike Trail Marathon.

Before we left I had to have a run along the sea front but after a mile my achilles started to complain 🙁 so more rest was needed.

We left la Gomera on the early ferry feeling excited about part two of our holiday not quite realising the best was yet to come and how amazing it would be !!!