When you are glad you didn’t make the headlines ..

Usually when i go walking alone here I always choose a route where you can mostly see the sea. This is because I have a terrible sense of direction and fear i may be that person in the headlines 'British woman found in Tenerife barranco surviving solely on cactus juice and dehydrated gecko toes' but, after some good advice and a little read on the interweb i decided to attempt the inland Ruta del Almandre en flor.  This is The Almond Blossom walk, very popular locally and with visitors in the know, and also very short lived as is blossom, only for a few weeks in February each year.  Almonds (together with dinky Canarian bananas - and now also avocados its seems) are grown widely on the island.
The wonderful Viewfinder app gave me a route of around five miles with a time of 3 hours. Perfect! I packed some food and water and headed north on the TF-1 (The only motorway i think we have on the island) for 30 mins to Santiago Del Tiede, I parked by the side of the road, it was already in the low 20's and the village seemed quite busy for 10am, something was going on in the church square, music, and people setting up bar-b-ques at the base on a nice looking mountain. The Spanish certainly know how to do family weekends!
I followed a few people with backpacks headed in the general direction the app pointed me in and we soon turned off the road onto a rocky well-defined trail.
With the sun on my back i headed off with a slight incline for quite a few kms, the beautiful almond trees didn't disappoint but also there were lots of other plants and even a few herbs. After about an hour I spotted behind me a gap between the mountains and the neighboring island of La Gomera rising silently out of the mist.  Further on I had a choice, a steep hill in front or an intriguing slightly obscure left turn, after consulting the map it was clear I was supposed to go left, and I'm glad I did! Around the corner was some impressive still famred terracing, and a valley full of little allotment like areas still also clearly in use. In front of me were the remains of a narrowgaugee railtrack which i traced into a nearby cave.  Im told they mine water from the mountains.  I did find a lot of fresh water in channels nearby too - brilliant.
Onwards and the day really began to heat up, i was glad of the litres of water i was carrying.  Geckos darted across the path in front of me and i was aware of the slightly sulphorous smell of the sun warming the lava rock trail which crunched under each footstep. Eventually i came to a road and trekked the last km back into town where i began.  Scouting out a bar opposite the church square i  sat in the shade enjoying a thirst quenching lemon beer (alcohol-free - apparently 15% of the local beer trade is alcohol-free as the spanish see beer more as a thirst quencher than an alcoholic beverage!)
In the church square there were stalls selling local honey, jewlerry, almond cakes and turon (google it!)
Feeling a little hot and bothered i decided to head down fromt he mountains to the beach.  Playa San Juan - a small beach and port where nearby so i headed there.  What a joy, black sand, loads of space, and a real relaxed vibe.  This was a world away from the very touristy beaches i am used to.  After a couple of hours rest i had a wander, caught the sunset from a great little spot and headed home for dinner.  Not bad for a Sunday, and glad ididn'tt make that headline.