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Aguamansa – a mountain village with a trout farm |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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.jpg) Aguamansa is a mountain village in the north of Tenerife that is unique and definitely worth visiting. It has a trout farm with access from the road just before the forest starts and fish from there are served in the local restaurants. The fish farm is open to the public from 10 am Mondays to Saturdays and provides information on trout breeding, which, of course needs plenty of fresh water, and is perhaps not something you would expect to find being done on Tenerife.
Aguamansa has water in its name though and often in the air because it is situated between La Orotava and Mt Teide where because of its mountainous location it is often shrouded in clouds brought in by the trade winds, as well as having water running downhill from the higher ground above.
 The cloud forest in Aguamansa is some of the best of its kind in the Canary Islands and many interesting endemic plants grow in it such as the Balm of Gilead (Cedronella canariensis) or Té de Canarias, as it is known in Spanish. Balm of Gilead has pink flowers and the whole herb gives off an aroma of lemon mixed with camphor. It is used in traditional Canary Island folk medicine to treat colds and flu and for the digestion. As its Spanish name suggests it makes a great herbal tea.
The moisture in the air means that lichens, mosses and ferns do well in the forest and one of the most distinctive is the Old Man’s Beard lichen (Usnea sp.), which hangs down from the trunks and branches of the Canary Pine (Pinus canariensis). It looks like the weird Spanish Moss you see in American swampland and gives it all a very fairytale forest look there, especially with all the green moss growing on the rusty brown pine needles below the trees.
 As well as the pine forest in Aguamansa there is also plenty of Tree Heath (Erica arborea), Canary Island Wax Myrtle or Faya (Myrica faya) and other evergreen trees and shrubs that grow well in the area.
 There are plenty of trails for trekking through the woods from Aguamansa and some high rocky cliffs known as Los Organos where more of the unique Tenerife flora can be found. There is also the picnic area higher on up in the mountains known as La Caldera and the regular bus number 345 will take you there and through Aguamansa from Puerto de la Cruz via La Orotava. The rare Blue Chaffinch (Fringilla teydea) has been seen around La Caldera making it of interest to bird-watchers.
 Aguamansa and its surrounding cloud forests offer a completely different world to the one in the resort town of Puerto, which is just a bus or car journey away on the coast below, and it is possible to go from walking in a cool and mossy pine forest to a hot sunny beach in a short space of time.
Buses and excursions to Mt Teide pass through Aguamansa on their climb upwards and again on their descent going back, so visitors to Tenerife’s world famous mountain will see the forests and area briefly through the windows of the vehicle they are in. But it is well worth making a separate trip to see this unique village in the clouds.
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Tenerife Island