Barracno del Infierno
Heaven and Hell
Equipped with lots of useful things (camera, snacks and supplies) and useless (bikini, beachtowel), a little bleary-eyed but highly motivated, four adventuresome short-term Canarios were waiting for the Express to Hell at the bus station in Puerto de la Cruz on Sunday morning. Literally the Express to Hell since “Barranco del Infierno” means “Hell’s Gorge”. Maria, Romaine, Ronja and Manuel took the bus from Puerto de la Cruz to Playa de Las Américas. Adeje, the little village which is the gateway to the Barranco, was just another 10 minute bus ride away.
Arriving in Adeje, the party began immediately: To reach the entrance of the gorge we had to hike through the whole village, uphill all the time. Because of the steep road we almost started to doubt that this trip could be fun, but we were going to be rewarded in a big way.
The first part of the easy-to-walk trail is huddled against the slopes and winds deeper and deeper into the cliffy towering mountains. On the left-hand side vertical scarps soar up to the sky - they are scarred with caves of varying sizes and overgrown with cactus, while on the right-hand side the terrain drops abruptly down into the gorge. From time to time you reach little observation decks that offer great views down into the gorge itself and to the village of Adeje and the Atlantic Ocean.
The further you work your way into the Gorge of Hell the more impressive the surroundings become. The rock faces press ever closer together while the vegetation becomes more and more lush. The reason for this greenery is to be found at the end of the gorge: it is the only place on the whole island of Tenerife where a natural spring rises. As a result, the environment there is different from the rest of the island.
The second part of the trail led us along a small stream that we had to cross several times as we continued our hike. No real bridges but stones and planks were the only useful devices to cross the stream without getting wet feet. Not for the first time we were happy to have brought robust boots with us since we had to do quite a bit of climbing to be able to continue our way towards the spring.
It got really interesting when we suddenly entered an area where plants and trees had formed an archway through which we had to pass. We ducked down and almost crawled along underneath the thick green roof. The contrast between this lively and abundantly covered with vegetation scenery and the meager, grey-yellowish rocky desert around Playa de Las Américas couldn`t be less extreme. That`s exactly what made the whole trip so fascinating.
We reached our destination sooner than we thought: two huge waterfalls (huge in terms of height, not in terms of the amount of water flowing down) drop down into the gorge. Their natural source is to be found on top of the mountains that enclose the dead end of the Barranco. How much water the waterfalls carry varies depending on the time of year and the amount of rainfall. Either way it is highly fascinating to find such a little paradise in the dry south of the island.
Since the daily number of visitors in the Reserva Natural Especial de Barranco del Infierno is strictly limited, you will only meet a few other hikers on this relatively easy walk. In order to get a permit for the Gorge you have to call the Punto de información del Barranco del Infierno (922 782 885) and make a reservation. After your registration you have the best chances to enjoy the breath-taking beauty of the Barranco without masses of tourists stepping on your feet (like at few other sightseeing spots on Tenerife).
After a short picture & snack break at the end of the Gorge we began our hike back and reached the exit in no time. All in all we were walking for about 2 hours in total.
We actually had planned to relax at the beach in Las Américas after returning from the Barranco del Infierno (that´s where the bikinis and towels should have made their grand entrance), but the weather thwarted us and our trip ended a bit earlier than we expected. We went to a little restaurant, had a bite to eat and took the bus back home to Puerto de la Cruz.