Wind, Waves, and New Pages- Part 2 of 7
Waking up as the ship approaches Tenerife. The sun’s upper limb is about to peak over the horizon.
The first morning on the ship was a typical dawn arrival at the next port of call. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the largest city on the island. Tenerife is the largest and most populous island in the Canary chain, with over 965,000 inhabitants. Like its neighbor Gran Canaria, Tenerife was probably settled by ancestors of the Berbers around 300-500 BC. The Spanish unsuccessfully tried to subdue it for about 50 years before finally achieving the task in 1496.
The harbor pilot coming along side to jump aboard our ship.
We were up early for a full day trip to Mount Teide and the 47,000 acre National Park. The active volcano is the highest point in Spain at 12,188 feet above sea level and last erupted in 1909. It took a couple hours to drive from the port, and the highest part of the park we reached exceeded 8,000 feet. The park is one of the most visited sights in Europe, taking in over 4 million visitors a year. Most of them don’t stray too far from the beaten path. There are almost no services. There isn’t any water, unless you count fog, mist and snow melt. It also has very changeable weather. During our time on the lava rock slopes, the weather went from a mild 50F with sunburn clear skies to windy, cold, and clouds pushing up-slope, blanketing the park in dense fog.
The densely populated north shore of the island and the slopes leading up to Mount Teide in the distance.
The guides claim it is as close to Martian terrain as exists on Earth. I haven’t been to Mars to compare it myself, but I can imagine it. Most of the folks who toured with us didn’t get far away from the vehicle, but The Captain and I made the most of our allotted time and hiked up and around the Roques de Garcia. Being low-landers, the air seemed very thin, but we knew it would probably be only time we’d see this natural wonder with our own eyes.
The Roques de Garcia are reckoned to be the core columns of old volcanos. In the distance, a standing cloud has formed over Mount Teide, our first indication of changing weather.
Desolate remains of old volcano eruptions flank Mount Teide.
On our way back down the mountain, the peak is obscured by clouds and the north coast is fogged in. The clouds pushed up over the road ten minutes later.
Clouds being pushed uphill by the wind, about to reduce visibility on the roads to less than a hundred feet.
Visiting Tenerife isn’t all volcanos. Santa Cruz is the sister city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and it boasts of its carnival celebrations being second only to the famous events in Rio. For our evening entertainment, we were shuttled into town for an exhibition of the competitive performance groups that march in the Carnival parades.
The neighborhood or civic association groups compete for top music, dance, comedy, and costume awards. The groups are known for their loud, high energy performances. For our Philly friends, think Mummer String Band.
The performance was in the distinctive Auditorio de Tenerife Adan Martin. The main hall seats 1600 and is inspired by the sea and the Sydney Opera House.