Mount Teide Tenerife 9.1.26
Unusually this is a second consecutive foreign holiday (ignoring the short excursions to Cornwall and Brighton) where we intend to do very little. La Gomera is an island situated a little way away from Tenerife and it was visible from Playa San Juan when we stayed there some 20+ years ago. In those days the ferry sailed across from Playa San Juan to the island but these days the ferry link is to and from Los Christianos. We are travelling with Tui and our destination is Hotel Jardin Tecina which is situated above the small town of Playa Santiago on the south coast of the island.
The outward journey requires an early start to Gatwick and the usual wait at the airport. A decent flight down to Tenerife South airport, passing Mount Teide on our way) and then a coach to the Los Christianos port where there is a lack of information. We follow others obtaining tickets from Armas ferry – which is awaiting departure. We hand cases over to white van man and have to hope they will be at the other end. 50 minutes later we are on the island and further guesswork is needed to reach the terminal building where we are re-united with our cases.
Volcán de Teno Ferry 9.1.26
A minibus and trailer are then loaded and a fifty minute run along the mountain tops enables arrival at our destination.
The hotel has a number of restaurants and the second best meal of the week is in La Tasca which has friendly staff and good service.
Hotel Jardin Tecina 10.1.26
Our daytimes – when the weather permits – which is most days I can report were spent on one of the Bali beds adjacent to the pool area outside our room.
Our room is a slight understatement. The ground floor has a bedroom and bathroom and opens onto the beds surrounding the pool area. On the floor above is a lounge area (both are equipped with televisions) where typically we take lunch and a toilet plus a “front” door which opens to the main path at the front. Up another flight of stairs there is a large circular bed – if the Bali beds were being used this might be a nice alternative but we did not use it during our stay.
On the second evening we negotiated our way down the steps, lift and more steps to sea level. If it seemed a long way down it seemed further when going up later! We wander around the town – quiet but we eat as early as we can in Kuffs which was notable for some excellent prawns.
Cave and carrier basket 11.1.26
Come Sunday evening we had the most wonderful experience in The Cave. We are escorted up the steps to a remote (but warm) cave and the waiter takes an order for alcohol as the menu is largely fixed. He then vanishes and to a timetable they have a “zip wire” type cage which brings the food up from the kitchen and into which we load the plates after each course. It is probably the best meal of the week with some superb veal as the main course. Veal simply does not get served enough in the UK but is on just about every menu here. The cave contains a bed – but we are unable to avail ourselves of its comforts as we find we are both in need of the toilets after completing the meal – which requires descent back to the facilities – not by zip wire for us – we have to use the steps.
Bed in a cave 11.1.26
The hotel does not seem exceptionally busy – we have no trouble finding a table outside at breakfast (there are two restaurants serving breakfast – La Gara has a large outside area) so it consumes a few calories walking to and from the buffet areas. In our area the most number of beds occupied was I think 4 and on later days of the holiday we would choose one for sun in the morning and then occupy a different one in the afternoon to maximise the sun available.
Two of the hotel’s restaurants are also down at sea level – Club Laurel which we use on Monday evening and La Trattoria on Wednesday evening. In the latter we are disappointed that the lasagne (an essential Italian dish) was vegetarian only. In both cases it was my perception that the attention to detail and service was lacking.
On the final evening we visited a recommended restaurant in the town, we had visited it on the second evening to secure a booking and it seems to be full every evening. An excellent salad to open but the follow up was not perhaps as good as we had been led to expect – it is probably the best in town but I am not sure it quite deserved the hype we experienced – however it was exceptionally busy.
The timing of the return trip is dependent on the ferries. These leave La Gomera at 7 am (Fred Olsen) and 7:30 am (Armas). We are booked on the latter which determines an 04:40 alarm call. Plus we end up with four meals during the day – a light breakfast at the hotel, a Burger King during our five years hours at the airport awaiting our flight, sandwiches on the flight and then battered sausage and chips once we are home. It is also a long old day.
