Hiking Anaga Rainforest, Tenerife

A late flight out on our last day on the island meant we could squeeze in one last walk, and we choose to head over to the rainforest.  I'm not really sure why, as we normally live in a damp, drippy enviroment (!), but it sounded fun...and more importantly, not too strenuous.  We were pretty tired from a week of walking and the path over Chinobre was more flat than anything else.  We hoped.  We did have a plane to catch, after all. 

Walk #53 from the Tenerife Rother Walking Guide

The sun was just rising as we drove up from the coast into the Anaga mountains. We missed the unmarked parking area on the first drive-by but caught our mistake within a few minutes, and from there the trail was quite straighforward.  It went up a bit, enough to take us up and into the fog, so unfortunately the views from the summit of Chinobre lookout were non-existant.  The winds were also rather cool and strong on the small exposed rock cairn.   However, back in the rainforest, the only sounds were of dripping trees and swaying branches.  We slipped our way down the narrow mud path between ferns and mossy plants encroaching into our trail.  The descent dropped us below the clouds, so at the Cabezo del Tejo viewpoint we could see all the way to the tiny rocky island marking the northernmost end of Tenerife. In the other direction, we could just make out the flat terraces of Punta del Hidalgo where we had hiked earlier in the week. 

From there is was an relaxing walk back to the car, on a wide level gravel road.  It meandered in and out of the hillsides much like the level water canals had, but this time we were covered in deep forests that seemed to swallow up sounds and provide us with plenty of pure oxygen.