stipulated we needed to be up top before
9am. Alas, the satnav in my hire car had other
ideas. After leading me on a merry dance
halfway across the island, I arrived at our
meeting point too late to climb to the summit.
Even worse, strong winds meant that my fall-
back plan – the cable car – was also a no-go.
“It’s going to be closed all day, I’m afraid,”
González confirmed. “It happens every eight
days or so.” I was forced to accept defeat
before I’d even begun.
Despite my deflated spirits as we drove
back towards one of the park’s visitor centres,
it was difficult not to marvel at the scenery
outside, as the first rays of sun bathed our
surroundings in a purple and orange glow
10
.
Described by Neil Armstrong as “the
closest thing to the lunar landscape
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I’ve ever
seen”, the area that surrounds the volcano is
certainly desolate, but by no means dull. It
resembles a prehistoric land, with cacti and
wildflowers
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sparsely scattered along the
moulded lava flows and ochre dunes that lead
up to the cone of the magnificent Mount
Teide (which, contrary to popular belief, I
learn is pronounced ‘Taydee’).
It comes as no surprise to me that this
unusual landscape has formed the backdrop
for numerous movies over the years, including
the 1966 film
One Million Years BC,
complete
with stumbling Raquel Welch in her famously
minimal animal-skin ensemble
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and
Clash of
the Titans
. This World Heritage Site is the
most-visited national park in all of Spain. Due
to its steep ascents and high altitude, the
world’s top professional cyclists also come
here to train, booking out the park’s only
hotel, Parador Cañadas del Teide
(paradores-
spain.com),
for weeks at a time.
Of course, the most thrilling thing about
this volcano is that it’s still live. “The last
eruption was in 1909,” González told me. “It’s
not normally until you smell the sulphur at
the top – a rotten-egg type stench – that you
remember something is still going on. The
volcano will blow again one day for sure,
though no one can say when exactly.”
It had been a long, emotional day, though
one thing I have learned about failure is that
there’s no better way of softening the blow
than by checking into a five-star hotel. The
luxurious Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora Resort
& Spa
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(melia.com)
was voted the best resort
in Spain by
Condé Nast Traveller
last year
and I was fortunate enough to be staying in its
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