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Tenerife in the Canary Islands is usually associated with either coastal holiday resorts around its outer edge (on the coast, naturally enough!), or the other-worldly volcanic landscapes surrounding the 12,000ft high Mount teide in the centre of the island.
But in-between sea level and mountain top there is a rich array of different zones of climate and vegetation, through which you pass when driving up from the coast to the volcanic plateau.
One of the most interesting zones is the cloud pine region of the Forestal Natural Park, which spends most of its time shrouded in fog formed when moist Atlantic air is forced upwards by the imposing bulk of Mount Teide.
You can see a time lapse video of the clouds here.
With very little rainfall, these trees are specially designed with frond-like needles onto which the fog condenses and then drops to the ground, providing the water the trees need to survive.
On our excursions up to the high altitude Teide National Park, Liz and I drove through the cloud pines in our little hire car, and were so entranced by the unexpected alien environment that we stopped for a while just to experience the cool, quiet dampness of the fog shrouded forest.
And to take a couple of photos, of course!
Filename - tenerife cloud pines 01.jpg
Camera - Canon 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 28mm
Exposure - 1/50 secs @ f11, ISO400
Filters - None.
Location - Forestal Natural Park, Tenerife, Canary Islands
This image - 594x800px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Image deliberately overexposed by 1 stop to preserve details in the shadows.
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