Cruise around the Canaries

First stop was the island of San Miguel de La Palma – La Isla Bonita is well named - it is very pretty and unspoilt. Criss-crossed by hundreds of kilometres of marked paths it is a heaven for walker; it doesn’t have the mass-market attractions of the better-known Canary Islands but there are now direct flights from Europe so that could change in the future. Our local guide was quite passionate about the local traditions so hopefully they will make an effort to maintain its nature. It’s a very mountainous live volcanic island: the last eruption was in 1971 and there are regular small-ish earthquakes but there have been no fatalities ever. They say it’s not dangerous because it’s all about the thickness of the earth’s crust there: they get lots of warning and can move to safe areas in good time. We climbed the volcan San Antonio, enjoyed a typical Canarian lunch concluding with local bananas, then toured some stunning locations with fabulous panoramic views. We learned that the island has several natural springs which provide all the water needed for agriculture but that it is hard labour, the land here is too precipitous to use machines for planting or harvesting so everything is done manually, but the volcanic soil is so fertile and the climate so mild that they can produce 3 harvests of most crops every year. A fascinating place and very beautiful: I loved it. Next stop was Madeira which we last visited about 25 years ago and what a difference! Fabulous new roads have been built: tunnelling through mountains and spanning valleys – an awesome achievement which makes reaching all regions of the island so much easier and safer for visiting drivers: our earlier experience on the old roads was really scary. The only flat-ish land is on the coast, where most of the hotels are located; the weather is mild and sunny throughout the year and the rain falls mainly on the higher land, making it a great place for winter holidays Today we were driven up into the mountains by an expert: Ricardo from Mountain Expeditions and he took us to places on roads that we wouldn’t have dared to attempt ourselves. Madeira is very steep: all the agricultural produce and building materials have to be carried, mainly on the shoulders, they don’t even use donkeys and many of the dwellings don’t have roads, just footpaths, so they are largely hidden, a great advantage in the days of the Conquistadors, when the locals could hide from, and limit supplies to, the invaders. It’s a hard life but not a harsh one: the volcanic soil is fertile and the climate mild year-round, so food is easy to grow and there is plenty of water, which is channelled around the island in levadas to irrigate the terraced farmland: these make wonderful footpaths so it is popular with walkers. A beautiful island and certainly worth a return visit. The journey from Madeira to Morocco was long, so there was a day of relaxation on the ship and the following day our stop in Morocco took us to Agadir very early in the day. It’s quite a modern seaside resort with the ruins of the ancient fortress on the outskirts, we watched the sun come up from the fortress and then visited the market, but a bit too early for shopping. Next stop was Tourandant, an inland walled city which is a centre for buying and selling local produce from the outlying areas, the market here was amazing, buzzing with activity and crowded with mountains of beautiful fresh produce. En route we had enjoyed a typical Moroccan lunch in a Berber tented restaurant within a beautiful garden setting. This was an interesting day, but long, with a lot of coach travel and we were tired when we got back to the ship. Lanzarote, our next stop, was interesting too: it was my first visit to this volcanic island so we took a tour of the island. The café, theatre and lake within an old lava tube at Jameos del Aqua was fascinating and I’d love to see a performance there. Then we saw numerous examples of their peculiar form of agriculture: because there is so little water on the island and some serious winds they coax plants into life in some very strange ways. A tour of the lava fields followed with a demonstration of the incendiary nature of the gases released by the volcanoes, which was pretty dramatic! Sadly we didn’t get a chance to visit Puerto del Carmen, which looked really nice as we passed through, so I’ll just have to go back again! Our final stop was Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where we took a walking tour with Urban Adventures: just the two of us with a local guide who took us to breakfast like the locals – the best churros in town with leche leche coffee; then we strolled around town and along Las Canteras Beach – one of the best inner-city beaches I have seen anywhere, making it perfect for a city break – the best of both worlds! She told us lots of stories about people and customs, the best places to eat, drink, chat, dance with the locals and by chance we came upon a folklore group dancing, singing and playing in the main square – an unexpected pleasure, I could have watched all day. We picked up picnic supplies for lunch then were joined by another tourist for the afternoon walk: through residential areas, to the beaches the locals use, then back to town where we saw an international exhibition of Christmas sand sculptures: a lovely walk which gave us an alternative view of this great city: a memorable day with great company! Returning to Santa Cruz and our winter home on Tenerife we looked back on the week: it was a great way to see lots of new places in a short time without the need to unpack and pack each day; our cabin was well appointed with a balcony and all mod cons; the food and service in the main restaurant was good; but this was a ‘family’ cruise and the style didn’t really suit us, the buffet restaurant was too hectic with food to please kids; the entertainment to was generally loud and kid-centric, not to our taste except for one lone guitarist who we followed between venues. It was a Spanish cruise company and obviously popular with local families and it gave us the opportunity to visit other islands without having to travel far from home; so all-in-all a success.