‘Mirador’ is the Spanish word for 'view point'.
Whenever we visit any hill station, there is always a place
up on a plateau from where you can see the bird’s eye view of the city. Besides
offering a beautiful view there is a powerful breeze from all sides that is worth the visit.
In Tenerife, we have many such miradors that offer a
beautiful view of the coastline.
On my way to Puerto de las Cruz from Buen Paso (where I live), I asked my niece to stop by
one such mirador at San Juan de Rambla.
She took a turn off the motorway and stopped behind the
restaurant, called San Pedro, to a big open space that has a semi circular
balcony like structure. There were wooden benches for people who would want to
spend a longer time; one telescope to see the panoramic scene of the hills (although I couldn’t see much, because
the lens was broken,) also there was a large map which listed all the
surrounding villages that were down below the view point.
The view was spectacular.
The vast plains of banana plantation slope down towards the
sea, with few houses scattered between fields.
There were narrow paths leading down the dirt road, with
flowering plants and palm trees on the sides. I saw some people exploring the
area by foot. I saw one farmer taking
his produce of bright red tomatoes in his open tempo down the curved dirt path.
Tenerife has guided walking tours that many tourists indulge
in. The organized walking/hiking tours include the day walk with typical
Canarias lunch in their program. I am told that they normally pay 100 euros for
such tours. Actually you are not likely to get lost in this island because the
directions are clearly marked on the road and if you have a map, its easy to
follow, but with a tourist guide, its becomes easy to explore.
So close to nature and so very quiet, its easy to meditate
if you are on your own.
