Day 3 - Cueva del Viento, barraquitos, Orotava valley and back through the caldera

Another early start! I was really stressing abut this one because I'd fixed to arrive at the Visitor Centre at 9.30 am and it's a long drive... they are obviously all keen and eager though as they were all there at 0745 ready to go! We made it just about on the dot (and the previous day's driving practice came in handy as we drove up through the narrow streets of the village, missed the turning by the roadworks, did a 3-point turn and came back down again (Jan said the car park was easier to approach from that angle and she'd done it on purpose... nice one Jan!)
This was a most excellently run centre! Our guide gave us an intorductory talk with video etc that was really informative, before taking us in 2 minibuses further on up the hill where we walked up the side of a flow levee and then down onto the pahoehoe surface west of it which hides the lava tube 'Cueva del Viento'. Lots of informative chat about village life and agriculture in the area - did you know for example that the little fields between the levees have had soil brought in from elsewhere to create them? Endemic plants were pointed out to us as we walked through the pine trees to the cave entrance. There, all kitted up with caving lamps etc we went down the steps into the tube which really is quite exceptional. Although only a short section is open this is the longest tube in Europe and has multiple levels where one flow has built up over another and then emptied out leaving them hollow.

Terraces in the lava tube show succesively lower lava levels as the effusion rate abated

To round off the morning our guide introduced us to barraquitos which are a tasty coffee based drink with condensed milk, ordinary milk, a shot of liqueur a slice of lemon peel and a shake of cinnamon. Extremely good value for €1
Next on the itinerary was the Orotava Valley and, after a few false casts when the two-way radios came into their own, we managed to get back into convoy and headed up the hill with a stop at the Piedra Margarita (a cross section of an undrained lava tube with radiating joint pattern) and then into the caldera at El Portillo where we had a tea break before a final stop to see the contrasting red and green pumice from the 2000 years BP eruption of Montana Blanca and the stunning blocky vitric phonolite flow it rests on.