Tenerife & La Gomera: Then & Now
Coming back to Tenerife wasn't very appealing to me until recently. I must have been there about 20 times with my family when I was growing up. My parents had a half share in an apartment in Las Americas with my Dad's’ business partner’s family . We had some great times there and it was the setting for some of my fondest memories.
I only got the travel bug in my mid twenties and since then I’ve been on a mission to see the world. I developed a rule about not going back to places, so Tenerife never got a look in. It was going to Madeira last year and walking the Levadas that started to change my mind. I realised that I’d only seen holiday resort Tenerife, not the outdoor wonderland that most tourists never visit. It was time to return and to show Timi the holiday places of my childhood.
First up, a 5 mile walk of the resort to recreate some old moments...
Playa de las Americas
Playa de las Americas beach - early 1980s
2018
Dad: view to Villamar, Bouganville Playa and Gran Tinerfe - early 1980s
2018: Same view from lower position. Upper walkway now closed for building works.
Dad: view to Parque Santiago 1,2,4 and Conquistador - late 1980s
Richard - 2018
Los Angeles cafe & view to Roque del Conde mountain: mid 1980s
Flanagans: the scene of some epic 1980s dad dancing.
Cafe amazingly still there in 2018. Mountain obscured by palm trees
2018: Flanagan's is long gone. Still classy though.
Parque Santiago 3
Parque Santiago 3 was the resort where my parents shared an apartment with the Blore's, the family of my dad's business partner.
Mum in front of Parque Santiago 3 being built in the 1980s
Mum: late 1980s. The big ugly block in the distance is the now-demolished Europa hotel
Timi in 2018
Same bridge 30 years later.
Late 1980s: Perfecting my smug grin
2018: Smugness comes naturally now. Bigger me, bigger tree.
Mount Teide Cable Car
Summit of Teide, early 1980s
2018: slightly different angle, bit colder, but still there.
Old cable car: mid 1980s
2018: new cable car. Click here for the Teide website's history of the cable car
1980s low tech sign on the cable car station
2018: same building, new tech.
Dragon Tree, Icod de los Vinos
800 year old Dragon Tree in 1980s
835 year old Dragon Tree.
La Gomera
Roque de Agando - mid 1980s, rocking the Comic Relief T-shirt
Ruins of old banana harbour - mid 1980s
View of Tenerife from La Gomera ferry: mid 1980s
Roque de Agando - looking a bit older in 2018
2018 - still ruined but looks like someone lives there now.
2018: much more development. Think there's a volcano in there somewhere.
And finally, one of my favourite photos: The Gowers and The Blores at the Santiago 3 apartment before a night out (late '80s). Sadly, no 2018 recreation for this one as not all of the original cast are still with us.
See also: Gran Canaria: Then and Now