<div class="text-justify">
Ordering my files, I stumbled upon my photos of Tenerife and remembered that it was from that moment that my collection of plane trips sponsored by myself began.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: In Las Cañadas of El Teide volcano*</center>
Do you remember the first plane trip you paid for yourself completely?
When I made that trip it wasn't long ago that I had graduated and I had just over a year working, but I had made it my goal to save to be able to travel outside of Venezuela when my vacation came and thus visit my friend Maribel who had invited me many times to go to that island.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: With my friend Maribel in Playa de Las Vistas, tourist area of Los Cristianos, south of Tenerife*</center>
Tenerife was not only the destination of the first plane ticket I bought with my money, it also became the protagonist of the first Travel Diary that I wrote and published on the Internet.
I looked for the article on the site where I had shared it (viajeros.com) and it's still online although the page has changed a lot and the comments they had written to me, the publication date (2006) and the times it was read no longer appear.
When I published it on that page, I only uploaded the text, since then I didn't have a digital camera, the photos I took in Tenerife were with an analog camera (with film), and at that time I didn't have a scanner to digitize the images and accompany the article. Anyway, many people from all over the world read it, more than 2,000, which excited me to continue writing about my travel experiences.
That text is a little (quite) long, I suppose that due to the excitement I had of writing my first Travel Diary, I didn't realize the length, hehehe, you can read it here if you want (in spanish): https://www.viajeros.com/guias/por-la-tierra-de-los-guanches.
I had a lot of fun rereading it and remembering so many details and anecdotes from that 23-day journey that meant my initiation as a traveler to other countries.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: The island has many viewpoints, here I am in one by San Juan de la Rambla*</center>
Tenerife is one of the seven Canary Islands, although they belong to Spain they are located in the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest of the African continent, very close to Morocco. It is a volcanic island and that is why it has unusual landscapes.
I remember that it exceeded my expectations due to the diversity it has: beaches, mountains, city, towns, nightlife, culture, popular festivals ... in addition to its varied climate, cool and humid to the north and hot to the south.
I share below reviews and photos of the places I visited, I hope you enjoy it!
<br>
### LA LAGUNA
This area has an impressive old town, declared by Unesco as a *Cultural Heritage of Humanity*. With map in hand you can walk through its streets without getting lost, if you don't have a map it's easy to get disoriented because all the blocks are the same.
<center></center>
In the 15th century Tenerife was integrated into the crown of Castilla and La Laguna was the first modern town to be founded on this island, perhaps this explains the pomposity of its buildings. There are many well-preserved monuments and buildings from the 16th century, including: the Tenerife History Museum (Casa Lercaro), which shows in its spaces how the wealthy people of the time lived: wooden floors and balconies, beautiful internal gardens, luxurious glass chandeliers and carved furniture; the City Hall building, the squares as Plaza del Cristo de La Laguna and Plaza del Adelantado, House of Father Anchieta, the Casino, the church of La Concepción which dates from 1496 and is the first parish established on the island, the Municipal Market with its fresh produce and many more places to explore.
<center></center>
<center>*Plaza del Adelantado*</center>
<center>*Mansion Rodríguez de Azero, which works as a Casino*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Municipal Market of La Laguna*</center>
In another sector of La Laguna there is the Museum of Science and the Cosmos, the building is of modern architecture and has a large terrace with panoramic views, when I went its exhibitions were almost all interactive and very fun to understand certain physical phenomena.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Terrace of the Science and Cosmos Museum*</center>
Most of the time I was in Tenerife I stayed in La Laguna, in the apartment that my friend Maribel shared with other girls. Nearby there is the University. This is considered the city of students, something that is seen in the so-called "marcha" or partying, as they say there. In La Laguna it's where there is the best nightlife because the university students take over the "quadrilateral", a series of streets with many bars for all tastes and where the party lasts until dawn. We went out several times, Latin music, salsa and meringue, is what sounded the most there.
<br>
### TAGANANA
Another day we went to the Pico del Inglés viewpoint, where we stopped to see a panoramic view of La Laguna and especially of El Teide volcano.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: That peak that is seen in the background surrounded by clouds is the El Teide volcano*</center>
Then Maribel and her friends took me to Taganana, from where you can see Los Roques de Anaga, an impressive beach landscape with huge stones in the middle of the sea.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Los Roques de Anaga*</center>
From there we went to the Benijo beach, nothing to do with the say "normal" beaches, this is black sand and I was very excited because I was going to bathe there hehehe. Being a volcanic island, almost all the beaches in Tenerife are like this.
<center></center>
<center>*Benijo beach*</center>
<center></center>
<center></center>
<br>
### SANTA CRUZ, THE CAPITAL
I remember that the first vision I had upon arrival was the Tenerife Auditorium, designed by Santiago Calatrava and which looks like a wave.
<center></center>
Santa Cruz is famous for shopping, Calle del Castillo is the place to buy clothes, shoes, everything. It's also here where huge cruises from all over the world arrive full of "guiris", that is how tourists are called in Tenerife, and from here boats leave for the other six islands of the Canary archipelago.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: The shopping site, Del Castillo street*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: With a drago, emblematic tree of the Canary Islands*</center>
Here I tried the typical island dish: wrinkled potatoes with fish and typical Canarian mojos.
To get to know the history of Tenerife I went to the Museum of Nature and Man, with a lot of information about the Guanches, inhabitants of this land who unfortunately were extinct by the Spanish colonization.
<center></center>
One of the things that caught my attention of the Guanches, apart from mummifying their dead, was their staple food that is still typical of the island today: gofio, which is a toasted wheat and corn flour. The canaries do everything with the gofio, even an ice cream I tried, by the way very tasty.
In Santa Cruz I had the opportunity to go to its most popular beach: Las Teresitas, which was transformed in 1970 when tons of sand were brought from the Sahara desert to fill it. Its waters are very calm, it looks like a swimming pool.
<center></center>
<br>
### LA OROTAVA
This is another place in Tenerife with a beautiful historic center, with opulent houses and gardens. The places that I liked the most: the Liceo de Taoro, a mansion-style cultural center with impressive green areas, that seem like something out of a story tale; the Municipal Palace and the Pantheon of the Quinta Roja with the Marquesado Gardens.
<center>*Gardens of the Liceo de Taoro*</center>
<center>*City Hall*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*In the Hijuela of the Botanical Garden*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Foto: Concepción church*</center>
I also went to the Casa de los Balcones (House of the Balconies) dating from the 17th century, there you can visit its interior where you can see what life was like for the wealthy people of that time, with luxurious furniture, hand-embroidered tablecloths, some wooden balconies with carved columns, among other details.
<center></center>
<center>*Foto: La Casa de los Balcones*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Pueblo Chico (Small Town) Theme Park, here you could find the emblematic sites of the Canary Islands but in miniature. A series of very well made models where it was very fun to take photos feeling giant hehehe. I consulted online and it no longer exists, it was closed in 2015 after thirteen years of activity*</center>
<br>
### PUERTO DE LA CRUZ
It seemed to me the most hectic place in Tenerife, too touristy, a crowd everywhere, many souvenir shops full of objects with bananas and parrots, hotels of all kinds, restaurants ... maybe that's how all the ports are, right? With a lot of movement.
<center></center>
Since it was hot, I ate one or another ice cream while strolling through its narrow cobbled streets.
<center></center>
<center>*Wooden balconies are seen in many of the island's old houses*</center>
<center></center>
The landscape along the coast is beautiful, as is the Fishing Pier. There I also learned about the existence of Loro Parque, perhaps the most promoted place on the island, the agencies offered me an informative brochure at every step.
In the end I decided to go, although since I was a teenager I have not been very in agreement with the existence of these places. It is a huge zoo with the largest collection of parrots in the world.
<center></center>
<center>*Loro Parque entrance*</center>
<center></center>
It also has many other animals such as gorillas, penguins, tigers, panthers, dolphins, sea lions ... it's like to stay the whole day because it is quite big. Of course, admission is not cheap but I think it's just enough to keep everything they offer in good condition. Fortunately I had brought something to eat because everything was expensive inside.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Sea Lion Show*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Dolphin Show*</center>
<center>*Photo: In Loro Parque there is also an orchid garden*</center>
There is a beach in Puerto de la Cruz but I bathed in Lago Martiánez, which is a large artificial lake stocked with sea water. The place was designed by the Canarian artist César Manrique and from there you can see the coast and the El Teide volcano.
<center></center>
Then I went to the Botanical Garden, which dates from 1788 and has species from all over the world, although the most striking are the very strange native plants.
<center></center>
<center></center>
<center>*Indian tree*</center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: The water lily lake*</center>
<br>
### EL TEIDE
This day was exciting because I had never been near a volcano, El Teide can be seen almost from anywhere on the island, so going there was one of the things I wanted to do.
<center></center>
I went with my friend Maribel in her car, if we saw something interesting on the way to that strange landscape, we would stop to get off and take photos.
<center></center>
When we arrived at Teide National Park, we passed through a beautiful forest through a road with many curves and stopped there to closely observe La Piedra de la Rosa (Stone Rose), huge, whose shape similar to this flower is a consequence of volcanic eruptions
<center></center>
I was impressed by the reddish and orange color of the earth, nuanced in some places with brown and black tones. After the forest you come to what they call Las Cañadas del Teide, a kind of esplanade full of mounds made up of tiny stones of yellow, ocher and orange colors and very rare vegetation, endemic to the island. It is like being on another planet.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Cañadas de El Teide*</center>
The idea was to take the cable car up to the base of the volcano, from where you walk to the top of the peak, but that day there was bad weather, it was very cloudy, and when this happens, you are not allowed to climb, so we only got to the cable car station. "It would have been good to call earlier to find out if the weather was good today," Maribel told me ... anyway, we still enjoyed the scenery and the cool weather.
El Teide is the highest peak in Spain, it is 3,718 meters and in winter it is filled with snow. From its summit they say that you can see the other six islands of the Canary archipelago. Maribel used to say to me “oh my! if one day the volcano explodes, it ends up with the island, it is in the whole center”.
<br>
### MASCA
This is a place to relax from the cities, the town is nailed between high mountains and stone cliffs, so you can see incredible landscapes.
<center></center>
<center></center>
Here I tried some very original culinary creations, cactus juices with lemon and papaya with orange, as well as sweets made with goat's milk yogurt and palm honey and cactus ice cream that was fuchsia in color.
<br>
### ICOD DE LOS VINOS
The most famous of this city is *the ancient drago*, an indigenous tree of the islands that although it is seen in many parts they say that only the one in Icod de Los Vinos is so old.
To see it you have to go to the Andrés de Cáceres square where there is a park that houses it and if you want to see it up close you pay a ticket, I saw it from outside hahaha.
<center></center>
In this area there are many wineries that sell typical Tenerife products such as mojos, cheeses, wines and other liquor. I remember buying a delicious banana liqueur and a wine called Viñátigo.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: City Hall headquarters*</center>
Icod also has a beach, it is called San Marcos, it is small, with black sand and surrounded by many restaurants.
A fun ride I did around here went to the town of El Tanque, where the Camello Center is located. I had never ridden a camel before!
The tour is recreated as if you were in the Sahara desert, they even give you the typical clothing so that you feel involved in the character and they assemble caravans with the people who are arriving.
<center></center>
<center></center>
Each camel carries two people in chairs that are tied to its sides. It is quite funny when the camel goes to stand with the people already located in the saddles, you feel like you are going to fall, but it doesn't happen.
<center></center>
<center></center>
During the walk with ups and downs you see other animals along the way such as goats, llamas and ponies. We were all laughing a lot, even the camels, who showed us their teeth hehehe.
<br>
### BUENAVISTA, LOS SILOS AND GARACHICO
These are three very nice towns located in the northwest of Tenerife.
In Buenavista Maribel made a stop to buy sweets in a famous pastry shop that I don't remember its name but what we ate: Canarian rosquetas. Then in Los Silos, we went to the Puertito and La Caleta beaches and in Garachico we visited several places such as the Castillo de San Miguel, a museum that shows the history of the place and has a beautiful terrace from where you can see the natural pools and the Roque de Garachico, a great stone there in front of the sea.
<center></center>
<br>
### CANDELARIA
The protagonist of this site is the Basilica de la Candelaria, the patron saint of Tenerife. The church is very large and has a wide plaza with a row of statues of the Guanche chiefs on the side facing the sea.
<center></center>
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: The Guanches, inhabitants of this island before the Spanish colonization*</center>
Maribel's mother told me that every August 14 and 15 the place is filled with pilgrims who worship the Virgin of Our Lady of Candelaria.
People also visit Candelaria at night to eat in Las Caletillas, an area in the coastal part where there are many restaurants.
<br>
### PYRAMIDS IN TENERIFE?
Yes, I had never heard of them, I thought they only existed in Egypt, Mexico ... I saw the information in a brochure and it caught my attention. Neither Maribel nor her friends had gone, that is, no idea what they were like and they couldn't accompany me that day because they had to work.
I took the "guagua" as they say there to the bus and went there, they are close to Santa Cruz. Officially called the Güímar Pyramids Ethnographic Park, it was opened to the public in 1998. Anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl received funding from his compatriot, Norwegian shipowner Fred Olsen to create it with the aim of saving the pyramids from destruction.
<center></center>
Heyerdahl's arduous investigations led him to conclude that these step pyramids, much like those in Egypt, Peru, and Mexico, were most likely related to one another and were the result of primitive sailing with reed boats. He pointed out that they were built before the arrival of the Spanish settlers in the 15th century, although he couldn't determine exactly when or by whom they were made.
But other researchers say they date back to the 19th century and were made by farmers, who removed the stones from their fields and piled them up that way to grow. These stacks are known as majanos.
<center></center>
Be that as it may, I have never seen pyramids live and direct! Although they are small, these six structures located east of Tenerife in the Güímar Valley, seemed to me as mysterious as the ones in Egypt that I had seen on television. To avoid deterioration, it is prohibited to climb them.
The Ethnographic Park also has a museum where Heyerdahl's theory on how the pyramids were built, their astronomical orientation following the summer and winter solstice, among other details is explained, and in the auditorium they projected a 15-minute documentary on other stepped pyramids that there is in the world and the parallelism that exists with those of Güímar.
<br>
### THE GREAT SOUTH
With Maribel and her friends we went to spend a weekend in the south and on the way they took me to Punta de Teno, a place with great remains of volcanic rock and very strong winds with which I had to fight to walk hahaha.
No one lives there, I imagine that because of those wind conditions. Apart from the beautiful landscape that is contemplated, the path that we crossed to get there was quite an adventure.
<center></center>
We passed some windmills and when I saw that we were heading towards an open tunnel in the rock without any other reinforcement like beams or concrete, I was a little scared but fortunately no stone crushed us. Then I saw a sign that warned that everyone took the risk by getting in there ...
There were many people in Punta de Teno, where there is a lighthouse and the impressive landscape of the Los Gigantes Cliffs, about 600 meters high.
<center></center>
Then we went to the Port of Santiago, which has a beautiful bay and a marina. It is a site with a lot of tourism, hotels and vacation apartments.
Our destination in the south was San Juan beach, where I stayed with Maribel for a weekend at Chicha's, a lady friend of her family. This fishing village has a pier, a wide beach and several restaurants.
<center></center>
The next day we went to the most famous in the south, Las Américas and Los Cristianos beaches. They are very touristy places, there were many people, and it is that there is full of outlet stores of recognized brands where prices are low. It's also because there is a great offer of activities such as water sports and boat trips.
<center></center>
<center>*Photo: Los Cristianos beach*</center>
Precisely, I wanted to go south to see whales! From the Port of Los Cristianos there are maritime excursions to see them and also dolphins.
Maribel had already done that tour so while I was going to sail she met her friends to go shopping and then she would look for me at the port when the tour ended.
The group on the boat was about 20 people, the sea was a little rough so most of them went to the top, I stayed there receiving water and saltpeter because I wanted to see the whales up close when they appeared.
<center></center>
When we were very far from the coast I saw the first black fin, it was a group of whales and there was even a whale with its calf. It seemed that they were not afraid of us, that they were already used to human beings.
<center></center>
Another place I visited in the south was Aqualand, a huge park with slides, pools, and many water attractions. I had never been to a place like this, so despite the fact that at first I was a little scared, I threw myself at almost everyone: the Kamikaze, Super Slalom, Crazy Race, Anaconda, Twister, Boomerang ... I screamed quite a bit hahaha.
And well, this is how I enjoyed the first plane trip that I paid for myself, and you remember your first time?
</div>
<br>
<center>**THANK YOU FOR READING!**</center>
***Photos of my property***