Everyone loves cheap deals but this one was rediculasly cheap to be true. A fully equipped 1 bed apartment in a popular sea side resort for just $150 for 3 that too for a full week. I was not sure if I am getting into a scam and then we rescheduled two time times due to covid restrictions . So finally in Feb 2022 we were off for Tenerife and Madrid .
Day 1
My flight from Luton took off early morning and we checked in Pearly Greay ocean resort by 12. In the afternoon we just settled down in our new home for a week , enoyed some swimming in the afternoon and chilled with pint of beer.
Day 2
Next day we booked a whale watching trip in the afternoon. So we left our hotel at 9.30 after breakfast and then walked to the nearest bust stop – Callao Salvaje. The bus then took us to Puerto Colon. This is the most touristic part of the Tenerife . There were various watersports option there . We spent sometime there , enjoy the popular Playa de la Pinta had our lunch and then we were off to the whale watching ferry trip with company called White Tenerife. This was over a 3 hour trip mostly in Teno-Rasca protected natural area it’s about 695 square km marine area and it protects mainly 3 species, Bottle Nosed Dolphins and 2 different types of sea turtles. We saw hoards of dolphins , short finned pilot whale even a very rarely seen migratory fin whale.
Day 3
Today I booked a trip Lorro park . Loro park (Parrot park) is one of the biggest attraction in Tenerife . It was conceived as park for parrots and founded by Wolfgang Kiessling in 1972. The park is home to some 4000 parrots representing 350 species and sub-species which is largest in world. Since grown to 13.5 hectares, it has an indoor exibition of Penguins , got largest Dolphin pool and also an Orca pool. Even thoough it has other animals but the sea animal shows are really good. We watched all the shows , seal lion , Orca and Dolphins.
Day 4
This day was schedulde for Scuba diving . Visit to Tenerife is incomplete without peek to its amazing underwater volcanic rock formations and plethora of flora and fauna . I left resort in the morning and walked to paradise divers where I spent some time practising in their local pool .Once I felt comfortable with gear , I was driven to El Balito. It belongs to the municipality of Adeje and is a few minutes from Marazul. Formerly, it was a banana processing plant with its own dock where ships came to collect merchandise. Today the buildings are abandoned to their fate and the pier is only used by fishermen, bathers and divers. I had bit of problem with my diving googles , it was leaking like anything. In spite of that it was an unforgetable experience down there.
Later in the afternoon we went to local beach (Playa de Ajabo) for bit of swimming and relaxation.
Day 5
Today morning we visited Teide national park. Since 2007, it has also been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, not only for being the highest point but also for its unique biodiversity and its richness in terms of landscape and ecology.There are amazing rock formations of El Llano de Ucanca, such as Roques de García. We reached Teide National Park from the southern slope of the island, after a walk across the Canary Islands pine forest and the village of Vilaflor, the highest town in Spain. Then, we got to Cañadas del Teide with its huge 17-km diameter caldera. It is home to wonderful and diverse landscapes with on one side, a moon-like scenery, on the other, rock formations included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, and, at the back, the summit of Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain and third largest volcano in the world with its 3718-meter high.
We then reached the base of the cable car; which is an option to get to an altitude of 3500 meters. I took the cable car up there . The cable car was not only expensive all the walking path’s were closed so , it was pretty much go up and then come down .The day would have been better spent just to walk around . There was also a long queue for cable car which was frustrating. After having admired the view over the whole Ucanca valley, we descended along the Southwestern slope, which boasts a very distinctive landscape and gives you a feeling of walking on the Moon. Latter in the afternoon we got dropped at the hotel.
Day 6
Today we planned for Siam park , a very well known water park in Europe owned by the owners of Loro park. There are many interesting ride but “Tower of Power” is a very special one. This is a water slide of a height of 28m you can reach a speed of up to 80km/h, finishing the ride passing through a huge aquarium full of sharks and rays. We pretty much covered most of the rides except Mai Thai river , which was closed for maintainance. Overall a very interesting and fun filled day.
Day 7
Today is pretty much wasted. As part of the deal we had to attain their promotion campaign , for which I was interested initially but latter changed my mind because based of my research of RCS point based system , it did not seem worth.
Day 8
Today morning I caught my flight back to Madrid . Checked in to our budget hotel in Madrid center. It was basic but fit for the purpose. Later in the evening we went to a flamenco show with tapas dinner.
Day 9
Today we booked viator tour for the city of Toledo and Segovia. Toledo is an beautiful ancient city set on a hill above the plains of Castilla-La Mancha which is also an Unesco listed heritage site. We enjoyed a beautiful view of the city from Mirador del valle. Then we had guided walking tour from the main Plaza along the narrow streets . Catedral primada of Toledo which is a roman catholic church is worth a visit inside.
Latter after having some lunch we came back to Madrid and then left for Segovia. This is also an UNESCO world heritage city . The aqueduct of Segovia is – because of its long span, architectural beauty, uncharacteristic slenderness, and dramatic presence in the center of a dense urban fabric – the most impressive Roman structure in Spain, and one of the most famous among the numerous aqueducts built by the Romans throughout their vast Empire. There are also other important buildings including The Alcazar of Segovia, Cathedral, and the Walls.
Day 10
Today is end of out nice little adventure and time to go back home.
