We just had a short break away in Tenerife for a week.  It was a good week.  The sun was shining and the temperature was much better than that which we’d left behind in foggy, wet and cold Britain. In fact the weekend we departed it was actually snowing!

During the week we went for a number of trips but the highlights of the week were an afternoon out at sea watching the dolphins and a drive up through the mountains to the volcano Teidi.  Apparently Teidi is still active – (wasn’t aware of that before the trip!), it’s the third highest volcano in the world and rises about 3,500 meters above sea level and the crater which it sits within has a 12/13 mile diameter.

I must admit that I really surprised myself with this because I’m a bit scared of heights so I didn’t think I would enjoy the outing.  So, you may well ask why I was going up in the first place.  Simply because I don’t want to be dictated to by my fears.

Anyway, we had a long drive up some rather hair raising bends through the mountains eventually passing through pine forests and then actually driving through the clouds.

The landscape then changes dramatically and becomes very barren and almost lunar.  We were driving along a road that was actually laid through a massive crater – you could see the rim all around – so strange!  The road continues to rise until you eventually reach a visitor centre, again really bizarre having this building just out there in the middle of the wilderness.  A lot of people stop at this point and get out to take various walks.  We continued in the car until you come to a further building where you can pay to go up the rest of the mountain via cable car.  I really expected to be nervous about this but I wasn’t and in fact really enjoyed it.  Go figure.

The cable car takes you almost to the top and, providing you have the necessary permit and are fit enough you can climb the last few metres to the top.

Another cable car

We didn’t continue to the very top because we didn’t have the permits, also it was absolutely freezing up there and although we had prepared I don’t think we we wrapped up enough.

It was a cloudy day but I loved the view we had looking down to see the crater below and the clouds which we had passed through.  It was the brilliant blue that you experience when flying.

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What I discovered on this outing is that my fear of heights depends on the context.  After all, I’m not afraid to fly and planes tend to be pretty high up after all!  I’m not afraid to be in a high building even on the top floor – because I’m inside the building.  However, I wouldn’t like to be on a balcony very high up – it would just make me feel ‘wrong’!  So I didn’t mind being so high up because it wasn’t like the experience of standing on a sharp cliff edge.

Anyway, a great trip and well worth it.