When you either live in or frequently visit Tenerife you become acquainted with weather terms that you’re unlikely to have encountered before.
Words such as bruma (low level cloud) and calima (hot, sand-filled wind coming in from the Sahara that causes a misty white-out) will fall from your lips the way that rain and cold do in the UK.
But if you live in and around Puerto de la Cruz, there’s another phrase that you’ll unfortunately find becoming a fairly frequent visitor to your vocabulary and that’s panza de burro - “under the belly of the donkey”.
Summer brings trade winds to Tenerife and sometimes they bring cloud which sits stubbornly on the north side of Mount Teide creating skies in Puerto that, every time you look up, are grey – the grey belly of the donkey.
And so far this May, that damned donkey has been well and truly tethered above us, shifting his butt on no more than half a dozen days.
It has to be said, whatever exaggerations there are around weather differences between the north and the south of Tenerife, the belly of the donkey is definitely one we could do without.
So, when Eyore decides to spend a bit of time in his favourite resort, there’s only one thing to do; hire a car, get out of town and find the sun.
Drive just about anywhere else on Tenerife and the chances are you’ll discover that everyone else is enjoying glorious weather, but if you want to stack the deck in favour of finding the sun, try these:
Santa Cruz – despite popular belief that because the island’s capital is ‘in the north’ it must be cold, cloudy and/or wet, in fact, because it’s in the east the default setting for the city is most definitely hot, sunny and dry. Explore its beautiful gardens and plazas, give the credit cards a workout in its stylish shops or by-pass the city and head to one of Tenerife’s best beaches - Las Teresitas.
Teide National Park – follow the route that takes you along Tenerife’s spine and into the volcanic wonderland of the crater. Take the cable car to below the summit for spectacular vistas over the archipelago or get into some Tenerife walks in this incredible landscape where the only other life you’ll encounter is lizards – and definitely NO donkeys!
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Lying on a beach all day every day might make for a relaxing holiday, but memories of it fade as quickly as your sun tan. Island Drives is aimed at travellers who want to experience the real essence of Tenerife, not just its pools and beaches. If you want an unforgettable holiday as opposed to a good one, Real Tenerife Island Drives will make the difference.
