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Pretty but poisonous flowers of Tenerife |
 Tenerife is a real paradise for people who like plants because there is an incredible range of exotic and endemic species growing on the island and very many flowers of amazing beauty, however, there are also plenty of “femme fatales” that whilst they look visually attractive harbour a poison within. These are the flowers, which are good to look at but it is best to leave them alone.
One of the most commonly planted poisonous plants is the attractive Oleander (Nerium oleander), an ornamental evergreen shrub with pink flowers, although there are other cultivar strains in white, yellow and red. The Oleander brightens up many a border in parks and gardens but it is a very poisonous plant.
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Santa Bárbara – the Tenerife pyramids village in the north |
 Santa Bárbara is a village in the north of Tenerife just a short distance from Icod de los Vinos and it is worth a visit to see the pyramids, of which there are several with the largest readily visible from the road going through.
The pyramids are on farmland and some are in much better condition than others. There is some evidence that they have been patched up over the years where the stonework has fallen away but in other places the ravages of time are easy to see. On one of the roads there is even a house built right next to one pyramid.
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The mysterious Guanches who lived on Tenerife |
 If you are a visitor to Tenerife it probably won’t be long before you hear about the Guanches or even see a statue of one of their leaders, of which there are many such monuments on the island. There is a hotel in Tenerife South named after a Guanche princess in Los Cristianos – the Hotel Princesa Dácil. In La Orotava in the north of the island there is a statue of the same princess forming a decorative fountain.
But who were these mysterious people who lived on Tenerife and the other Canary Islands before they were conquered, and in many cases killed by the Spanish invaders? Many people believe that the Guanches, who were white-skinned, and blonde-haired and blue-eyed in many cases, were descended from the Berbers who live in North Africa in Libya, and in the Atlas Mountains and surrounding areas.
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The Tenerife villages San Juan del Reparo and Genovés |
 In the northwest part of Tenerife between El Tanque and Icod de los Vinos there is a section of the TF-82 that climbs the mountains whilst overlooking the sea, and it passes through two villages as it does so. Going downhill from El Tanque towards Icod the first of these is San Juan del Reparo.
You know you have arrived in San Juan del Reparo because you will see an image of John the Baptist adorning a white wall and this goes with the church that towers above. The church of San Juan del Reparo also has a typical bell tower.
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The Mariposario del Drago – Tenerife’s butterfly gardens |
 In Icod de los Vinos in the north of Tenerife, besides the attraction of the Drago Milenario thousand-year-old Dragon Tree, there is also another place that has proved to be very popular with visitors and locals alike, and that is the Mariposario del Drago butterfly gardens and centre.
The Mariposario del Drago is at the end of the road known as Avenida de Canarias that lies below the squares in the vicinity of the most famous Tenerife Dragon Tree, and so it is convenient for visitors coming to see this part of Icod. Once you have paid to enter you go into the glass-roofed building, which is full of exotic flowering plants, bushes and creepers with a water gardens included, and it really feels like some enchanted corner of paradise with all the beautiful butterflies flying freely around you
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Results 1 - 5 of 33 |
Tenerife Island