Since the Canary Islands had been added at the last minute to our itinerary, we did not know much about them. The island of Tenerife blew us away with its natural beauty and the charm of the beach towns.
With only 33 hours to spend in Tenerife, we quickly grabbed a taxi and headed to the north side of the island to explore the beaches. On our way, the taxi toured us around the larger than expected capital city of Santa Cruz and showed us stunning vistas overlooking the sea towns and volcano that dominate the island.
Upon arriving in Puerto de la Cruz, we found an oasis of unique swimming pools that included lava islands, fountains and caves. The pools were built along the sea wall and waves crashed into the rocks and create sprays of textured water that we ventured dangerously close to. After seeing these amazing (public!) pools it was hard to get our kids to do anything cultural that day.
We tore ourselves away from the beach on our last day in Tenerife to explore the jagged mountains on the northeast coast called Monte de las Mercedes. Our driver dropped us off in a chilly cloud forest and we hiked along the island’s old trail system that wound through villages, past goatherds and descended through several microclimates on the way down to the hot beaches below. The scenery was striking and well worth the hike. We drove back on a new and even more spectacular set of nausea-inducing roads that left us amazed at the beauty of the surrounding peaks. 
