Austinites find an unusual plant during their stay in Tenerife
Like many people, we like to blend our travel with outdoor activities and education, so this summer we went to Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. One of our goals was to find a specific plant called the tajinaste.
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago located off the northwest coast of Africa and consist of seven major islands that are of volcanic origin. Tenerife is the location of Teide, one of the highest volcanoes in the world and the highest mountain in Spain. The whole area of Teide is surrounded by a beautiful national park with an intricate series of trails to hike.
The island has an extremely diverse climate: The southern coast is very dry and warm compared with the more lush and verdant north coastal areas.
Driving toward the eastern tip of the island, we spent a day hiking in a humid, fragrant subtropical laurel forest. Much of the islands' coasts, with the exception of the southern beaches, are remarkable for their rocky, steep cliffs. Los Gigantes, for example, are 1,600 feet tall.
The Parque Nacional de Teide is remarkable for its austere, lunarlike landscapes. It is covered with volcanic rock and soil in an intricate palette of colors. The park itself, and the surrounding protected areas, cover more than a third of the island. The peak of Teide, and an older volcano, Pico Viejo, are contained in the caldera of Las Cañadas, an ancient volcano that erupted some 200,000 years ago.
Our goal during one day of hiking was to find significant populations of the tajinaste, a plant that is endemic to the national park. We were excited to find the plants and quite amazed at their unusual beauty; they were in full bloom during the month of May. It seemed unbelievable that plants like this could grow under such dry and harsh conditions.
Our days ended back in our hotel in Puerto de la Cruz where we enjoyed the fabulous food of the Canary Islands and the warm friendliness of the local islanders.
Kowalak-Pérez is an instructor in the nursing school at the University of Texas. Her husband, Francisco Pérez, is a professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at UT. They are planning to visit the province of Murcia in Spain next summer, an area known for its many vineyards.
Source: Statesmen.com
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