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The term Isleña, meaning island girl in Spanish, is what we
call my grandmother. A term of endearment exclaimed
whenever she walks in the door. ¡Llegó la isleña! (The island
girl is here!) I grew up thinking it was a reference to our
Cuban heritage, but when I became more inquisitive about
our family’s lineage, I discovered that her nickname was a
tribute to her Canary Island roots. Her father emigrated to
Cuba from Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the nickname, along
with a strong emotional connection to Spain, was passed
down to her.
Naturally, after confirming my first-ever journey to the
Canary Islands, I called my grandmother straight away.
Having traveled there often, she assured me that I was going
to love it. She rattled off a list of places to see and distant
relatives to visit, and then unknowingly said something in
passing that became the highlight of my trip.
“Go to the enchanted forest,” she said. “Once you see it,
you’ll understand my love of the natural world.”
This piqued my interest. As a child, spending quality time
with her always entailed the outdoors, whether fishing or
camping. Even in her late-eighties, my grandmother’s green
thumb continues to be bionic and she goes bird-watching in
the woods. As a life-long city dweller, this was a once-in-alifetime
opportunity to see the world through her eyes.
On the third day of my stay, after basking on the beach
and indulging in the nightlife, I set out from my posh hotel
at Playa de Las Americas on the tip island’s southern coast
toward the very north of the island in search of this magical
place. My grandmother certainly made me work for it, as this
hidden forest was part of the Anaga Mountains, a protected
natural landscape and a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve,
which required a permit to visit. Luckily, my local guide took
care of the details for this adventure.
On my ride out, I watched as the hills obscured the shops,
terraced homes and hotel-lined coast. The landscape slowly
changed like a clock in retrograde the closer we got to the
massive Teide, the tallest mountain in Spain. Like Sicily’s
Etna, Mt. Teide is inescapable when you’re on Tenerife. In
addition to attracting visitors to the Canary Islands, this
UNESCO-deemed World Heritage Site also serves as a
proverbial dividing wall, in effect cutting Tenerife in two
halves. And now I could appreciate it wasn’t just south to
north, but also modern to ancient, man-made to natural.
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