Hiking into the God's Eye - Tenerife
If you have been visiting Los Gigante's you might have noticed a visible hole on the glorious giant cliff side wall. This huge cliffside hole has multiple names such as El Bujero, El Agujero, OKO, and God's Eye. There is a possibility to also visit this place which opens up a picturesque view of the port of Los Gigantes, the Atlantic Ocean, and the landscape of Costa Adeje. However, getting there is an adventure and experience of its own and one should take great caution and care as there are significant dangers on the way. Always remember to follow the equal line-colored markings to stay on the right path and avoid moving towards visible colored crossed markings on stones.
My personal experience to reach God's Eye was two days long as on the first try we were unable to find the complete route to the end destination, but instead ended up hiking halfway, up to Cruz de Los Misioneros viewpoint and then back down. We took the PR-TF 65.2 route from the northern side which was partly closed with the markings of possible falling stones. We disregarded the signs and still hiked the way up, however after the second day I would highly recommend taking these signs seriously and I will tell you why later. The way up to the cross was pretty rocky, filled with a lot of pebble stones and with a risk of falling and slipping on the road. This a fair precaution for you my fellow hiker, as I did fall on this route I strongly suggest avoiding my mistake of wearing comfy Nike's and upgrading to proper hiking gear and hiking boots. Luckily I did not get badly injured and missed a few inches sliding into a bush of cactuses. I got away with several bruises on my back and arms. Lucky me indeed! As we ascended to the top we did not see a crossing route to the other side of the mountain nor did we see a passage on our way down. On the top of the mountain we found a panoramic view around the Cruz de Los Misioneros, with a view on the village of Tamaimo, Teide, and a valley before Masca.
Upon our return down the same path, we saw a hiker come down the same route and as we had not seen her before on our way up or down we asked if she had possibly found the route to God's Eye. Indeed she had seen the God's Eye from a distance on top of the mountain and later somehow mysteriously navigated through stones, rocks, and cliffs onto the same path we were on. The road she found was narrow, rocky, unsteady, and very sketchy according to her and she did feel at times very lost on her way. As we had already finished the burdensome trail of climbing to the cross and back down, we were no longer eager to hike it up again to find the rout to the cliff and left it as a trail to be yet solved.
However, to me, it did not give a real peace of mind to leave the trail as it was and I was eager to see how would it be possible to navigate through another possible route to the Gods Eye. As we drove out of Tamaimo into the sunset, I saw the southern side of the same route having an ascending path toward the cliffside opening and I promised myself that this route is worth checking out in near future.
A week later we took another voyage with a few friends of mine to solve the mystery of how to get to the opening. One of my friends had already visited the place so we felt like this time around it would be a piece of cake with our experienced "travel guide" friend. Indeed there is another route on the southern side to God's Eye. This one is much easier to climb up and has wonderful picturesque views overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. However, taking the southern route PR-TF 65.2 and climbing up the mountain with amazing views we decided to cut the route short. Just before the top of the mountain our friend led us to the left, off the road into the Barranco to take a shortcut. At times we found green ribbons on branches to navigate our way to the cliff side. We would not recommend this to anyone, however doable it is as there is a probability of getting lost. There is a real route with a better connection, or we assume so thanks to the AllTrails navigation app. Reaching the cliff under which the opening resided we saw a few lost hikers on dangerous paths trying to make their way up the cliff to where we were. We helped the lost hikers up to where we were so they could safely continue their journey back home. One should take great caution reaching God's Eye as the mountainside is pretty steep and one wrong move can lead to a fall downhill. This is where we heard 2-3 times real huge landslides within the Barranco facing Masca Valley. It sounded like between the mountains thousands of rocks were shaking and the valley screaming in pain. It made us sit quietly in God's Eye and understand how small we are in the midst of mother nature's powerful forces. This is why it is highly important to follow the local authority's guidelines and restrictions upon hiking and not to enter routes that can be dangerous for one's safety! The last few steps were more like holding on to the rocks and climbing to the opening of the cliff with legs shaking. The view that opened up to the Atlantic Ocean, Los Gigantes, and Costa Adeje we're mesmerizingly beautiful! Was hard to believe we made it to the end destination with adrenaline rushing through our bodies. We took time to sit in the opening gazing into the mesmerizing horizon and kept wondering about the marvelous island ahead of us. If one is extra attentive you can see also see mountain goats making their way into the valley below.
The way back up was a little bit tricky like we saw when helping with the lost hikers. The best is to visually keep in mind the path you took down to the opening and how to navigate back up without getting lost on the way. For us, the way back was the same way we took the short cut and was pretty easy to get back to the other mountain cliff and from there descend back down the mountain and hike up to the village of Tamaimo. On our way down we saw a few hikers making their way up the mountain, but we thought they are already too late if they were about to hike to the same place as we did. If you wish to hike to God's Eye, make sure to hike on a good day with great weather conditions and not too late before the sun is about to set to avoid all types of risks on the way.
In the end, I was pretty exhilarated to have finished the hike that seemed to be so devious and hard to find on the first day. We left the village of Tamimo with a glorious sunset of golden, pink, and violet sky beaming behind the mountains and La Gomera! This trail is worth it the you are looking for a little adrenalin rush with a great view and I can recommend this exhilarating visit to the giant cliffs of Los Gigantes!
