As previously mentioned, Mt. Teide is considered an active volcano even though the last eruption was more than 100 years ago. The geologists have divided its history into 5 stages. The last stage goes back 160,000 years ago. I have no idea when some of this was formed.

Some places look barren and others have some flora.

Really, this is as close to the top we will get. If we had the time, one can ride a cable car up to better appreciate what Mt. Teide is.

You can see the path that lava took many years ago.

I was fascinated that there could be rocks and something like sand at the same location.

More of the flora on the older parts of lava of Mt. Teide.

Not a great view, but this is the west side of Tenerife, we tied up on the east side.

A view of Santa Cruz in the afternoon. We still had about 2 hours of driving before we got back to town. Not much to see then, for the sun had set and we were ready to return to the ship as it we had not stopped for a snack and it would be late (8:00 p.m.)

Next up is another of the Canary Islands - Grand Canary and the city of Las Palmas.

That's the trouble with the short shore excursions, you would like to see more, lean more but you have to move on. Just enough to wet your appetite to maybe come back some other time.

Very interesting side trip. So, where did that sand come from? And how come there is flora in some places and not others?
Oh Jim, I don't expect you to answer those questions.
You raised questions, that's a good thing.

The sand, just like all the rest of that area is volcanic in nature. This volcano has been doing its thing for thousands of years. If some of the ash (we'll see more of that from Mt. Etna later on) is small enough, then the wind would break it down.

I was once on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean. On the east side of the island, there was no real beach, just large rocks and what I would call boulders. However, nearby islands had pure white sand beaches. Go figure.

Again, the nature of the flora has to do with the lava flows and such. Some volcanoes have very little vegetation, while others have a lot. This picture is of a pine tree about half way up the mountain on a very steep bank. The cones are itty-bitty. I did not detect any fragrance.