Tenerife: From Volcanic Dreams to Toddler Realities

Big news! Mike’s dad, Denny, is here visiting. He bravely crossed an entire ocean on a cruise to spend a couple of weeks with us. It’s been really great having him here.

And, because we are opportunists, Mike and I took advantage of the built-in childcare coverage and escaped for a trip without a 14-year-old in tow.

After scanning the map for somewhere warm-ish with decent hiking, we decided on Tenerife. For those unfamiliar (including me until recently), Tenerife is a Spanish island off the coast of Africa. Historically a shipping stop, currently a mix of tourists and banana farmers, which honestly sounds like a solid economic model.

The marquee hike is up to the rim of a volcanic crater. To keep things from turning into a hiking version of Disneyland, they require permits. Six weeks before our trip, I began my daily ritual of refreshing the permit site. After three weeks of persistence, success! Permits secured. Type-A planning victory.

…And then the weather said, “How sweet.  I think not.”

We landed after a smooth four-hour flight from Amsterdam to discover the island was in the middle of Storm Therese (Europe names rainstorms too, very civilized). It didn’t seem dramatic at sea level, but Tenerife also has Spain’s highest peak, which means the weather basically does whatever it wants depending on where you are.

Later that day: email notification. All hiking permits canceled.

Deep breath.

Fine. We have AllTrails. We found a different volcano hike.  No permit required, very promising. We laced up our boots and drove to the trailhead, only to discover the road was closed due to a landslide from the storm. We regrouped, found another trail, drove there and on attempt number three managed to go on an actual hike. It was lovely.

On our eventual hike - with the volcano we were supposed to hike in the background.

The rest of the trip was a mix of exploring the island and relaxing at the hotel. One unexpected highlight: the demographics. Everywhere we turned…toddlers. So. Many. Toddlers. We had escaped a 14-year-old only to land in a daycare with a swim-up bar. Character-building, really.

Mike finally asked the staff what was going on. Turns out kids stay, eat, and go to the kids club for free.

Mystery solved.

Now…the food. Absolutely incredible. The fruit alone deserves its own paragraph. Papaya, oranges, watermelon; everything tasted like it was grown by someone who cares. I ate my body weight in fruit.  And, of course, the bananas were excellent, given we could see the farm from our beach chairs.

Coming from the Netherlands, this was…shocking. Dutch fruit is technically fruit, but mostly in a conceptual sense. We like to say the marketing for peaches here should be: “Dutch peaches - now with a hint of peach flavor.”  

So yes, Tenerife reminded us that fruit can, in fact, taste like something.  It was revelatory.

We also noticed something interesting about the other tourists. Tenerife is popular with Europeans, and we've always felt European travelers tend to be a bit more chill than their American counterparts.  You know, less of the "Do you know who I am?" energy. We'd always wondered if we were just missing the entitled behavior because of the language barrier. But in Tenerife, almost everyone spoke English, and we encountered exactly one mildly difficult person the whole trip. One!

So our working theory now is: Americans really are more entitled travelers.

Not shocking. Slightly disappointing. Filed under “Things we suspected but didn’t want confirmed.”

Back at home, spring is doing its thing and more flowers are blooming in the garden (still feels weird not to call it a yard). We’re putting the finishing touches on everything and will share a full garden tour soon.

Happy spring!