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Spain | Travel | Regions | Cities | Coasts | Islands | Culture |
Spain / Canary islands / Tenerife / National Park El Teide |
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This National Park offers a fascinating landscape, created by the elemantar forces of the volcano Teide. Christopher Columbus observed its last great eruption in 1492 from the nearby island La Gomera, just before continueing his discovery travel to America. In 1798 there was another smaller eruption. The Teide has piled up some 12 million cubic meters of volcanic material at its sides, those formations being popularly called the Narices del Teide, "noses of Teide". With a height of 3718 meters the Teide is not only the highest mountain of Spain  but as well the highest elevation in all the Atlantic Ocean and worldwide the volcano with the third-highest elevation, behind Mauna Loa und Mauna Kea, both on the island of Hawaii. A cableway takes visitors up to 3600 meters. From there you may climb the peak by foot.On clear days you have a fantastic view. But at least equally impressive is the volcano's immense crater. After previous agreement with the park's administration you may participate (by free!) at a visit. You will then enter the crater, first with a cross-country car, then by foot, until you arrive to still active parts of the volcano. Around the Teide there are several other smaller volcanos, such as Montaña Chahorra (or "Pico Viejo"), with a height of 3100 meters and a crater with a diameter of 800 meters, and Montaña Rajada, which has great amounts of the black volcanic glass obsidian. At the side of Teide there is a large flat country called Las Cañadas del Teide, having been used by the island's original population, the Guanches, as pastureland. Today it is covered with petrified lava having very bizarre forms, as the Roques de García and several caves, as Cueva del Hielo or Cueva de los Cazadores.In this area exist some extremely rare species of plants, as the Guanche Rose, of which are known only some 50 exemplares worldwide, the Teide Violet and animals, in particular lizards. More Information: Canary Islands | Tenerife | The Beaches | Excursions | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Puerto de la Cruz | San Cristobal de la Laguna | Photo Tour |