tenerife images: getty
From left: Hiking in the laurel forest of Anaga, a UNESCO biosphere reserve; mountains in Anaga Rural Park Previous page: Roques de Garcia with Mount Teide in the background
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’ ve been obsessed with dinosaurs since I was a child,” I tell my guide Cao Sánchez as I lace up my hiking boots and apply liberal amounts of sunscreen to my face. We’ re venturing into the Anaga Rural Park in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands located off the northwest coast of Africa. I’ m well aware that I’ m unlikely to see a tyrannosaurus rex or the remains of one— as this island sprang up from the ocean floor in a great volcanic eruption a mere three million years ago( some 63 million years too late)— and yet, there’ s something prehistoric in my midst.
“ Anaga is home to the laurisilva,” Cao tells me.“ Laurel forests here are a leftover from when all of Europe and even the Sahara was lush jungle.”
These forests disappeared from the rest of Europe about 20,000 years ago, and Tenerife is one of the last few places on Earth where you can see them. As the largest in the archipelago, the island has several microclimates. The south tends to be arid and hot, the center cool and fresh, and the northeasterly part, where I am, is much more humid. As we walk, I begin to see why the vegetation here is so verdant. There’ s a warmth that must allow these lush forests to thrive on the jagged peaks and ravines of the volcanic landscape.
We’ re heading for Roque Bermejo, a tiny hamlet and rocky outcrop on the most northeastern point of the island. Our starting point, the equally tiny hamlet of Chamorga, disappears behind us as we head up onto the craggy ridges that will eventually lead us toward the coast. Brush, broom, aloe, cacti, ferns and more proliferate along the relatively easy route.“ We’ ll end up at the beach where you can swim if you like,” Cao tells me. As we reach a summit and plateau, I see the sea and lighthouse of Anaga. The views are dramatic, with rugged, flora-filled rocks falling into the relentless pummel of the bracing Atlantic Ocean. We start to descend, and I’ m surprised to see signs of life. We happen upon a tiny chapel and some whitewashed houses. In a tiny hole-in-the-
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