In most countries that Chris and I have visited over the years, we’ve passed through a Las Vegas, many times a tiny hamlet that contrasts with the mega-Las Vegas of Nevada. This Las Vegas is tiny, set 2,000 feet up in the foothills on the south side of Tenerife.
The 7 1/2 mile hike we did up here crosses a bunch of cool stuff, including many dwellings cut into the tuff (a softer type of volcanic rock), terraced gardens, stacked stone food structures and an elaborate system of canals transporting water by gravity from the wetter heights down to this arid area. The wildflower displays were amazing too, and we took a side trail to visit a climbing area called Riscos de Muerto, which means Dead Man’s Ridge. I thought that was pretty brave.
Digging out caves to make dwellings, often starting off from natural openings, is part of the legacy of the indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife. It is especially common in areas like Las Vegas as the tuff formations are easier to dig into.
This area has one of the main canal systems on the island, which brings water from the higher and wetter elevations, distributing it in this area using gravity. While we saw some more modern plastic pipe being used, many of these open canals are still in use.
It’s Spring! Along the trail, flowers are everywhere including rockrose, tree lucerne, various types of bugloss and lots of things I can’t identify.
Not sure how Risco del Muerto (Dead Man’s Ridge) got its name, but it’s a dramatic rock outcropping that had no climbers on it the day we visited.
And finally, we received a request to add more cat pictures to this blog by our friend Lisa, and so here’s some cats Chris made friends with at San Miguel de Tajao, which we visited on our way back from Las Vegas.
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