Tenerife Pyramids of Guimar Excursion Reviews

This tour was combined with a trip to Esperanza which provided a viewpoint over Mount Teide and the National Park which was spectacular. The trip to the Pyramids was very disappointing. The guide was petite and her voice did not carry, so the commentary was almost impossible to follow. The pyramids were quite interesting but there was no time to actually explore them and the various exhibits seemed to bear no relation to the pyramids - all something to do with Thor Heyerdahl. There was an AV show which was interesting - once one worked out how to get the right language through the headphones.

Provider: Saga Holidays

This tour was okay. The guides were great, both on the bus and at the pyramids. I liked that we had some time to shop after the tour.

Provider: Royal Caribbean International

My tour was "Pyramids of Guimar". we visited a group of 6 small step pyramids. They averaged probably 25 feet tall and the sides ranged from perhaps 30 feet to 350 feet. The smallest is above a small cave (there are many natural caves on the volcanic island, many providing shelter to local farm animals. I'm not sure if he really discovered them but Thor Hyerdal brought them to popular attention in one of his voyages. He believed they are ancient and were part of temple to the sun gods. An exhibit in the museum details a wide variety of pyramids worldwide which Hyerdal believed was a universal form of human expression. The pyramids all have steps to the top along the West wall which align with the setting sun on the winter solstice. Another vantage point aligns with the sun setting on the summer solstice and a mountain creates a double sunset where the sun setting on an angle goes behind a mountain and briefly reappears in a "notch" at the base before it finally sets. The local university thinks they date from the 19th century as agricultural structures. Nobody knows, but it seems at least reasonable to me that they are ancient but were adapted later to an agricultural use. We toured the museum with a guide and then had about a half hour to walk among the pyramids.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises