Los Gigantes / Puerto De Santiago

Hola amigos. We just spent the last 4 nights in Puerto De Santiago on the west coast of Tenerife.  Although there are lots of tourists here, it is not nearly as crowded and it has a more relaxing feel.  The tourists are mainly Brits but you hear a variety of languages. 

This area is know for the rugged cliffs, deep canyons and serious hiking trails.  The coast line is a series of connected towns with small black sand beaches and several surf breaks for talented surfers. There is a nice, partially paved coastal trail that interconnects the communities. We walked it a couple of times. 

On one of these walks I stopped to take a photo of a fellow fishing off some rocks. To get a better shot I climbed onto a mound of gravel near the edge of a cliff.  I’m still not sure if I took the photo. My right foot slipped on the gravel, tucked behind my left foot and I crashed to the ground.  I hit the ground with my right knee and my right hand. Unfortunately I was holding my new camera in my right hand and it smashed hard into some rocks, with the telephoto lens fully extended.  

My knee was cut and bruised but I’ll recover. The camera though, is damaged beyond repair.  The body is distorted and the lens mechanism is jammed.  I’m pretty upset about breaking the camera. I was enjoying learning the capabilities of an advanced digital camera.  It was a Christmas gift. 

With luck I might be able to get it replaced (or repaired). Jamie bought it with his Visa card and he has 90 day replacement coverage with his card. He has filed a report with Visa and I have mailed the camera to Jamie. It has to be examined by a Panasonic repair depot to assess the camera for repair or replacement.  It is in the hands of the Spanish postal system now.  Hopefully it arrives and I can get a replacement.

Unfortunately, I can’t access all the photos that are on the SD card that was in the camera until the end of the month, so there are limited photos that I can post.

The shot below is part of the view from the balcony of our apartment in Puerto Santiago.

Yesterday we took the bus from Puerto Santiago into Playas de la Américas.  It was about a 45 minute trip.  We had a little trouble finding the apartment we had rented but after a few calls we arrive and shown our room.

We dropped of our stuff and headed out to explore the area.  About 10 minutes into our walk we received a distressed call from the gal who had shown us to our suite.  With panic in her voice she explained to us partly in English and partly in Spanish that she had mistakenly taken us to the wrong apartment and asked us to return immediately to the registration area.  We were only a couple of  hundred metres away, so it was no problem. we hadn’t even unpacked.  The only issue was that the first suite was much nicer than second!   It was the one we rented though, although it didn’t look as good as the pictures.  We are only here 3 nights, so it is no big deal.

This area of Tenerife is the  busiest part. Tons of hotel, condos, etc.  As well as tacky building, restaurants, tour shops, etc.   It reminds us a bit of Vegas.  There is a nice ocean side pathway that runs for several kilometres along the coast. Also there are some great surfing spots.  The waves were pretty big yesterday  afternoon so there was some surfing to watch.


Saturday we are off again.  Jumping on the bus again for a ride to the airport. Then catching a flight back to Lisbon, where we will be staying for a week.