Prickly

Pre Prickles

Sucking the guts out of this amazingly sweet, rarely enjoyed fruit, I thought myself so savy, willing to try this wild cactus fruit in front of me.  After taking this selfy, enjoying the pulp of the prickly pear cactus scattered all over the hills of Adaje, I proceded to spit and scrape stickers out of my lips, gums, tongue and fingers, laughing at myself and my arrogance.  Humans always think we are the smartest, but nature's got a few things on us, and the prickly pear catus won this round.  But I'll be back with gloves and tools with hopes to preserve some of this magical fruit before it goes to waste on La Barranca de Inferno on the south side of Tenerrife. 

The town of Anaje has a long history as a grainery, now with lots of shops and bars to enjoy, as well as miles of trails.  One in particular has been capitalized on and they have paved it with cobblestone and charge german tourists a fee for access.  After a few minutes of careful slow instructions from the Spanish guide at the visitor center, he directed me to the regular hiking trails, recognizing that I wasn't some old german fart that they were going to make a euro off.  I headed out into the hills, enjoying the well marked dusty trail, as well as the dusty air, the Saharran vog they call La Clima.  If we are getting this much sand pollution from the storms in Africa, I'm sure glad I'm here and not there right now.  I cannot even imagine the torture a real sandstorm would be.  For now, it's increased the humidity, toned down the wind, and motivated me for a morning swim.  

Voy a la playa!

The don't hurt going in, only coming out, tricking me into thinking I was having a great time!