This morning we climbed two volcanos, San Antonio and Teneguía. San Antonio although the highest is easily accessible from the road, to get to Teneguía requires a two mile hike followed by a scramble up the edge of a crater onto a ridge which you then walk along to a fantastic viewpoint. It looks good in the photos but the wind was the strongest I have ever encountered, about two thirds of the way across the ridge we perhaps should have turned back but the shelter of the summit cairn looked appealing.
Having got there for a little respite out of the direct wind we then had to decide, stay there for a while in the hope that it abates, but what if it gets stronger - oh dear, we might be stuck there for days. We did manage to get back without mishap but it was quite exciting and as you can see it did not do a lot for Gills hair.
Later I noticed a comment in the guidebook ‘can be dangerous when the wind is strong’. Somehow you associate danger with rain, snow or mist, not on days when the sun is shining and it is 25 degrees.
There were a number of 'Interpretation Boards' whose designers we suspect use some form of translation software to create the English text and example of which is “From this privileged enclave we have visual access to the vineyards which grow on cinder, cultural landscape of great beauty where dark substrates contrast with the different shades of the vineyards throughout the seasons. We highlight the nearby areas of ‘Los Quemados’”.
I think this means from here you can see vineyards and the village of Los Quemados.
Tomorrow we will probably do a couple more volcanos before we leave the barren south of the island and establish ourselves in the lush, green (and possibly wet) north.
Below is a picture of the sea salt lagoons right at the tip of La Palma.