When we left the Anaga Mountains early that morning, the thick white clouds didn’t give us much hope for a bluer perspective. Mount Teide, Tenerife’s volcano normally visible from most places on the island, was lost in this immaculate immensity. An hour and a half later, we were in the lush pine forest that precedes the dry and rocky landscape of the caldeira, a vast crater formed after the explosion of the volcanic cone. We were driving slowly in the fog that seemed to affect not only visibility but sound too. The forest was immersed in stillness and silence. Little by little, some light started to filter through the foliage, and soon the trees, the road -everything – became crisper, as if our eyesight had been restored. We then reached a viewing platform and saw the most beautiful landscape of our trip on the island. Far above the clouds, Mount Teide was the king of an azure realm. We enjoyed a surreal, areal-like view without being on a plane; the horizon like a sea of clouds. As we drew away, the trees rarified and got progressively replaced by rocks, stones and sand. As we got higher, the intense heat made us feel like we were close enough to touch the sun. The landscape became alien and lunar, with its only inhabitants being lizards and… tourists.