laurabonk:

Field Trip to Tenerife – Day 7 Barranco de Masca

The Masca Gorge is one of the most popular destinations on Tenerife. And while it is absolutely beautiful and a joy to hike, it is also more difficult than most tourists imagine. Currently (2018) it is closed off as once again a hiking group didn’t heed weather warnings and had to be rescued.

Despite all the tourists we saw (and the locals with their shopping bags) we could still enjoy our descent. The very slow descent since botanists/mycologists/biologists in general need about thrice the amount of time to take in their surroundings. You never know what you may find if you look closely.

There was quite a lot more climbing involved than in all of the previous tours combined, but it was a nice change of pace and the scenery was wonderful. Most of the time you were completely surrounded by the walls of the gorge and couldn’t see the path you had taken five minutes before. Towards the end we were following a small creek and could hear the ocean at least half an hour before we could see it. The boat trip to the neighbouring village had breathtaking views even though I don’t particularly enjoy riding in boats (it was fine).