Erynn and I got married in November of 2000, but we moved to England for my work about three weeks later. We didn't have a chance to have a proper honeymoon before we moved so we went to Tenerife a couple months later. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since we were in Britain, we figured we should try a British "package holiday." The package holiday had a bad reputation, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves on this trip. Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands of the coast of Morrocco, but the islands are actually part of Spain. This was our first major adventure abroad and we had an absolute blast! Here is a great link to a BBC website listing all the great things to do on Tenerife.
We stayed in a great place in Puerto de la Cruz on the north side of the island. The town was a bit quieter than some of the other "major" resorts on the island and suited us just fine. The picture is from our hotel balcony toward the El Teide mountain. The mountain is 3718m high!
Here we are walking around the harbor of Puerto de la Cruz looking every bit the American tourist. Behind us is the town and mountain, but it's a bit too cloudy to see the mountain top in this picture.
Here's Erynn sitting next to the black sand beach in Puerto de la Cruz. Since it was February the weather was warm, but not really hot enough to bring out flocks of sun worshippers. The second photo was from another day we were in town with the harbor walls behind her.
We went to Tenerife's famous 'Bananara' that grows, of all things, bananas! We learned how bananas are grown and that you eat the female bit of the plant when you eat a banana. They also had tons of stuff made out of bananas like ice cream and sweets. They also grew Bird of Paradise flowers, and you can see one in Erynn's hand.
It was Carnaval time while we there. Every night the streets were lit, and every town had their own little parade during the week to practice for the big festival in Santa Cruz. Here are some of the street lights from Puerto de la Cruz.
...and here is one of the floats from the big parade in Santa Cruz. The residents "claim" that their Carnaval is second only to the one held in Rio. It was big, but somehow I don't think they'd compare.
On the southwest of the island is the mecca for British "lager lads." Playa Americas is party central. This is a view of the main beach, which seems pretty nice until realize you can't get to sleep until 4am due to all the noise.
On one of the days we drove to the eastern point of the island to Mercedes Mountain. From the top, we were afforded some great views of the island.
On our way back from Mercedes Mountain we stopped in this little resort village called Punta Hidalgo for a look at the coast. The volcanic rocks, seaweed, and Erynn make this a great picture.
I'll have to say that you've never truly been on holiday until you rent a Vauxhall Corsa and driven up a huge volcano. Tenerife is especially cool because of the different climates all on this little island. Near the coast you have tropical temperatures, then as you go up to the rain shadow of the mountain you get forests, and on the windward side is just like the moon. In this picture you can see Erynn taking some photos on the way up to El Teide from the east. This shot also marks her career ambition to join the National Geographic Society as a photographer! She didn't appreciate me taking her photo without her knowing so she posed for a proper one moments later.
We couldn't actually get to the top of El Teide because there was too much fog for the cable car. We continued on around the volcano to see the moon landscape. Apparently in the 60s they tested the lunar rover on the surface of Tenerife. This photo is from the area where the tests were undertaken.
I'm actually really disappointed in this photo. It doesn't even come close to doing the view justice. I think this was the most dramatic scene of the whole trip. Getting to Masca is a real pain. It is a little moutain top village on the complete end of the island, and it takes forever to get to along a single track road. When you get there you see this deep valley with a couple buildings on top of a ridge. Through the valley you can see the ocean and the lush tropical trees. Absolutely amazing.
There are signs for Loro Parque everywhere on the island. We were beaten into submission and decided to give the place a try. It wasn't the most outstanding park I've ever been to, but enjoyable nonetheless. We both enjoyed the animal shows.
...and the penguin shot for my friend Jerod.
Here is a lovely picture of my wife in Loro Parque.
© 2001 Doug Rathburn