Monte del Agua

The Monte del Agua (The Mountain of the Water),  located in Teno, in the north-western side of the island of Tenerife, is along with the forests in the Anaga Mountains, at the other end of the island, the best example of Laurisilva in the  Island of Tenerife.

The Laurisilva is a kind of subtropical jungle or rainforest, typical of wetlands in mild temperate areas, usually always covered with fog, vestige of the extensive Tertiary subtropical forests, which in the Macaronesian region hardly exist in isolated areas of Madeira, Azores and Canary Islands.

These own ecosystems, home to countless plant species, endemic in large part, along with an extensive collection of birds, among which are the endemic laurel pigeon (Columba junoniae) and Bolle (Columba bollii) and many invertebrates.

The lushness, eternal greenery and humidity of these forests, often close to areas of marked aridity, surprise travelers who visit and walk around the island of Tenerife. Some of the trees that comprise this magnificent forests are the lime trees (Ocotea foetens) that can reach 40m in height, the most abundant laurel (Laurus Novocanariensis) of up to 20 meters high, the barbusano (barbujana apollonia) up to 25 meters high or viñátigo (Persea Indica), all of which  forge a dense evergreen dome, the dome of an evergreen forest, which is the origin of the rich soil of medium altitude areas of the island of Tenerife. 

The Laurisilva is one, if not the greatest, of plant treasures of the island of Tenerife.

As regards to the magnificent Monte del Agua, the best way to cross it is passing the forest road linking the towns of Las Portelas and Erjos and then eventually entering the different paths that take you into the deep forest.

Within the lush, the moss and the huge and unforgettable ferns the hiker will enter step by step a magic world closer in its appearance to centenary large English forests like Sherwood, than to any other expected botanic experience in this sunny corner of the world which is Tenerife.