EL DRAGO
This secretive tree keeps its true age under wraps / Image: 123rf
Never mind cynics who say Tenerife’s famous El Drago is probably only about 300 years old (and, since the heartwood rots away, counting rings is out), or the ones that point out it’s not really a tree (even at 17 metres high and six metres around, it’s technically part of the asparagus family). Revelling in the moody Latin name Dracaena draco, locals swear blind their gnarly gothic superstar is at least a thousand years old; while its eerie red sap – nicknamed ‘dragon’s blood’ – has for centuries been used as a remedy for leprosy, as hair dye, and even as a mummification balm.
Parque del Drago, Calle Arcipreste Ossuna, Icod de los Vinos
Barranco de Badajoz
They say time stands still in this enigmatic ravine / Image: Adobe Stock
This gorgeous ravine out on the east side of the island has countless bizarre myths and legends associated with it, not least UFO sightings and reports of strange figures mooching around clad in white. It’s also said that clocks have a surreal way of stopping here – most famously, one tall tale from the 19th century has it that a local girl entered the valley to pick pears and vanished. Her desperate parents searched every inch of the valley to no avail. Yet 20 years later the girl emerged from the ravine, still looking dewy and young as if only an hour or so had elapsed.
Reserva Natural del Cielo y de la Tierra
Mount Teide
This mighty volcano has inspired epic lore / Image: Adobe Stock
According the Guanches – aboriginal folk who inhabited the Canaries from the first millennium BC onward – Tenerife’s almighty volcano has a bit of an epic backstory. The say the evil spirit Guayota (the bad guy from hell) once kidnapped the sun god Magec (bringer of light and goodness) and imprisoned him inside rocky mount Teide. Predictably, without the sun, the world was plunged into darkness, so the people desperately prayed to Achamán, another good god, who dutifully fought Guayota in a fierce battle, freed Magec and trapped Guayota inside the volcano instead. Epic.
Parque Nacional del Teide
