SANTA CRUZ, TENERIFE
Today, we arrived in Santa Cruz. on the island of Tenerife.
On our previous visit, just a few weeks ago, we climbed to the top of a nearby hill, and previous to that, we’ve regularly walked along the promenade to the opera house and back. For this visit, we decided to look for something different to do – something we’ve never done here before… the answer was to book an excursion to the Mount Teide National Park and a ride up the cable car to the upper station on Mount Teide, near to the top of what is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third highest volcano in the world. It would be taking us to an altitude I don’t believe I’ve ever been to out of an aeroplane before.
Just to put it into perspective: The summit of Mount Teide is at 12,188 feet (3715 metres). The cable car lower station is located at 7,730 ft, and its cars carry up to 38 passengers at a time, to a height of 11,663 ft in only 8 minutes.
As with all excursions, we headed for the Playhouse Theatre at 10:45am, picking up our packed lunches on the way (I chose egg mayonnaise and ham and lettuce sandwiches + chocolate cookies).
The coach drive to Mount Teide took 90 minutes, but it was a spectacular 90 minutes that seemed to be going up the whole way, providing us with extensive views across to both sides of the island. When Mount Teide eventually came into view, it was a relief to see that the summit was free from cloud. The guide also confirmed that he had checked in advance that the cable car would be running. If it’s too windy, then it doesn’t run.
When we arrived at the base station car park, the guide handed us our tickets for the cable car, and after a short wait, we proceeded to queue for the next available car.
The ride up to the top didn’t take long (8 minutes), and then we were there…
And the effects of a lack of oxygen at that altitude was the first thing we noticed. Visitors are only allowed to stay up there for up to one hour, mobility walking aids, pregnant women, children under-3 and visitors with heart conditions are not permitted. In fact, signs warn of the potential dangers of the ascent with medical conditions, and with the slightest feeling of light-headedness, I can completely understand why. With the guide having mentioned all the restrictions and warnings on the coach, I think there was a low-level anxiety about the trip, and a mild concern that one might not necessarily know if one had such a condition until confronted by the reality of the altitude.
In the end, we needn’t have worried; we were able to enjoy our time at the top, and the spectacular views that it gave us, without keeling over or blacking out. We’d taken our warm coats with us in case it was cold, but ended up in just our shirtsleeves, eating our lunch sat on a lava field, and enjoying the extensive views.
While the queues to take the cable car back down were quite long, we needn’t have worried about being late back at the coach because a minor medical emergency with one of the passengers meant that our return journey was delayed by about half an hour. A brilliant experience, though.
In the evening,, we were entertained by Roy Walker, of ‘Catchphrase’ fame, although he was an actor and established comedian long before that, and was able to prove that he still has it at 84 years old.
