Masca Gorge and Kayaking

View over Masca and the gorge

In celebration of World Mental Health Day on October 10th, the Fundación En Pié organized a charity event to raise awareness and collect donations. A friend of mine here in La Laguna always takes part in these events and is friends with some of the founders of the organization, so we asked a few people and decided to come along. It is a good cause after all, but it was also a perfect opportunity to explore the island a little more and spend a great day outside.

We started early in the morning, even before the sun rose and drove to Los Gigantes where we met the rest of the group. Divided into smaller groups we hopped into taxis and were taken to the small town of Masca, where our hike through the gorge would begin. When we arrived it was raining a little, so we got to start out with the beautiful view of a rainbow all the way over the canyon. The rain soon stopped and we started climbing down into the gorge. 

I've been on a few hikes around the island so far, but this has to be the most impressive one yet. At first, the path goes straight down for about half an hour. It is quite challenging at parts, but don't worry if you are not the fittest hiker, it's still possible. Just take your time. It's most definitely worth it. Once you reach the ground of the gorge, there are only small ups and downs and sometimes you might have to climb a few rocks or search for the best way around. But that's what is the most fun! If you want you can leave the trail and find your own adventurous path (that's what we did), or you can stay on the official way and just enjoy the spectacular view. Since there are hugh stonewalls on either side, there is no way to get lost.

Especially on weekends it can get quite crowdy with lots of tourist groups, but for me that didn't hinder the experience. 

After about 2 to 3 hours (maybe even 4, depending on how good a walker you are), you start to hear the sound of crashing waves and soon arrive at the ocean. Now it's up to you: you can climb the rocks and relax a little at the beautiful black sand beach. But be aware that there is the constant danger of falling rocks, so be sure to watch out for signs if the beach is closed or if other people are over there. If not, maybe stay on the safe side on the stones or be extra cautious. When you are ready to leave you can either climb back to Masca or buy a ticket for one of the many water taxis to take you to Los Gigantes. We did neither of that, but climbed into kayaks to paddel our way back. But only after we had to escape into the water to rescue ourselves from said rock slide - I told you, it is not a rare incident. 

It might not seem this way from the pictures, but the sea was a bit rough that day, so we all were rather exhausted once we arrived at the harbor in Los Gigantes. Nonetheless, it was quite fun! We spend the evening eating Paella, listening to various artists performing live on stage, dancing and watching the sun set over the water. 

 We spend most of the evening watching the little fish and crabs on the docks.

All in all it was a beautiful day and a great adventure! I enjoyed every second of it. Have you recently had such an action packed day? 

♡