Our goal is to give you the best advice to discover the Canary Islands from another point of view. So today in this post you will find a new trekking route in Fuerteventura island.
The route between the village of El Cardón and El Tanquito is very popular because every year is celebrated the famous romeria that departs from El Cardón to the chapel of the Tanquito Virgin. Although this is a recent tradition, before the conquest of the Fuerteventura, the old inhabitants of the islands the “mahos” venerated this mountain. This beauty place keeps the enshrinement of the indigenous because to them this place meant the link between the heaven and the Earth.
TREKKING: from Cardón to Tanquito
START: El Cardón village
DISTANCE: 9 km (round trip: 18km) DIFFICULTY: Medium
SLOPE: 817 meters TYPE: lineal itinerary (round trip)
DURATION: 4 hours (round trip)
With this route we will continue beyond the chapel and we will get the top of the Natural Monument of Cardón with its 690 meters. This place is characterised by its landscape, one of the most impressive of Fuerteventura. Although its colours are monotonous this place has a great geomorphological beauty. It geological formation is due to the superposition of volcanic flows that cover a great part of the Basal Complex. Sharp peaked mountains, little ravines and a plateau at the end will accompany you on the route. Although the slope in the last part of the route is hard, we guarantee you that the views deserve your effort.
Moreover, if you like vegetation and discover endemic species, you can not miss this area. Although the land here is not productive, a long time ago, when the conquest happened, in this area existed thermophilic forest. Today the are has vascular plant species, some of them are difficult to find in other areas of the island. The are two famous endemism of Fuerteventura that are endangered: the “conservilla majorera” (Salvia herbanica) and the “colino majorero” (Crambe sventenii). There are also other interesting species like the Canary Island spurge (Euphorbia canariensis), the “esparraguera majorera” (Aspargus nesiotes) or the “cuernúa” (Caralluma burchardii), among other ones. This gives to the area a great florostic and conservationist value.
We start the route in the village of el Cardón. We can park just in the base of the mountain. We go out the village taking the FV 618 road till the neglected greenhouses. There we will find a parking area.
In this place starts the route that is well signed and that get us to the Tanquito chapel. After 2 km we will arrive to the chapel where we could rest before continue. Although the route has been short, we recommend you to make a break to face the hardest part of the route. Just in the entrance of the rest area starts the ascent. The slope is quite a difficult climb and there is not a signed path. You will probably see the footprints of other hikers.
From the top, as we have said, the views leave you breathless (although it could be probably by the slope.) The rocky landscape of the Natural Monument, the views of the area of the south of the Island, Jandía, and the area of Las Hermosas will surprise you.
Photos:
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Flickr
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wildcanarias.com
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fuerteventura.kanaren-insel.org
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