Tenerife

Day 1 Fri 28 Nov 2003

Up at 05:45 to get the bus down to Heathrow, it even arrived early! Checked in with no problems, and managed to get the last row seat. The flight was only about one third full, so I had no one sitting next to me. I managed to stretch out over the three seats. A few bumpy bits, but other than that the flight was okay. Last off the plane, and through passport control, but skipped baggage reclaim - travelling light does have its advantages!

Collected the hire car, and after a bit of stress getting it started - insert fob, out of gear, depress clutch, and then press a button - headed off. Driving here isn't too bad, and I'm kinda used to left hand drive, but not driving on the right hand side of the road! The road up the side of the volcano is very twisty, the Almafi coast has nothing on this!

Parador de Canadas del Teide

Checked into the Parador, and had a quick 40 winks, as I had a bit of a headache. Then up, to take a wander around outside. The landscape is something else, a bit like Iceland, but a bit more green. The tourism here is well organised, with good signage, and plenty of places to park and just take in the fabulous views. It's weird to think that I'm so high that I'm above the clouds.

The Parador is THE place to stay - nice room, great location, and few tourists! but I am paying €90 for a night. I wonder if my €27 B&B tomorrow night will be as good? Let's hope so!

Tomorrow I plan to take the cable car to the top of the volcano, and take a few sunrise shots.

Had a quick beer in the bar downstairs - there are few English speakers here, and the clientele in the hotel is almost totally Spanish.

The sky here is so clear, and there is no light pollution, so I managed to see the Milky Way.