Arrecife, Canary Isalnds, Spain
20 November 2007- Tuesday
Arrecife, Canary Islands
Arrive in the port of Arrecife at daybreak and the boat is docked just in front of one of those huge Carribean cruise ships that carries 3-4000 passengers. Thye must all be asleep because there's nobady walking around hte decks. It really towers above our ship and makes you feel like you're in a row boat. Today's tour is going to be to Jameo's Cave and cctus gardens. The island we landed on inly one os several Canary islands the most notorius of which is Tenerife where 2 747s ran into each other on the runway- One had been cleared to take off and the other taxied onto the runway. The island we are on is Lanzarote. The islands are volcanic in origin and formed about 35 million years ago when the South American continent split off fro Africa. There is an Atlantic ridge that runs from Isceland thru the Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Ascension Island, St Helena to Tristan de Cunha along which these volcanic islands formed as is where the continents are drifting apart. Alfred Wegener who came up with the idea visited this place in 1912 to show how it fitted in with his theory of continental drift. The bus drive takes us to the highest point on the island where ther is a radar station for air traffic control. Lanzarote also has an airfield. The land is really barren you can see dozens of cinder cones at one time and the soil is brown except where farmers have gotten volcanic ash and covered their fams with it. It acts as both a fertilizer and pevents water evaporation. This was really poor country until the 60s-70s when tourism took over. Now over 90% of the population is involved with tourism. They have enacted laws to keep down high rise buildings- all the structures must be painted white, there are on certain styles of chimneys to choose from and the shutters and other structures have to be blue, green or brown. I didn't get into town, but from the boat you can see he only tall building on the island and it was a 16 story building built before the regulations took effect. All the resort hotels we passed are built like villages. Roads were good and very little trafic so I think when the tourists arrive they pretty much stay at the resorts. So the tourist attraction we are on the way to see is a lava tube that runs from a volcano crater called Corona to several hundred feet out to sea. (Lavva tues form when hot magma running downhill cools on the outside first and forms a rind and when the hot stuff runs out it leaves a tube.) Anyway, this place was developed by a local artist called Cesar Manrique who made an entrance to the tube where its upper wal had collapsed in one area so it became like a cave- so he built a restaurant, a natural pool that has albino, blind crabs about an inch long , that you can't swim in, a concert hall for a few hundred people and on the outside a man made pool that you can't swim in either. Ther is also a very well done volcano museum and a shop that sells postcards but no stamps (we are back in Spain again). All in all not a bad place to spend an hour. Then on to the cactus garden by the same Cesar- he's also created modern sculptures that are in the roundabouts- in front of the Cactus garden he built a huge cactus out of steel tubes and rods. The garden is supposed to have 10,000 different cacti in it but I quit counting and the usual coffee shop. There is also a windmill which makes a nice backdrop. Next to the cactus garden there are real cactus gardens on which they are raising cochinilla, a liitle whit beetle that when crushed produced a real red color that is used in expensive lipstick and Cinzano- was musch sought after in the middle ages (cardinals robes)but the modern chemicals are much better. Then back to the ship in time for lunch- a mob scene as it is 2pm and that's a long time since breakfst. The sailaway at 430 is preceded by the departure of the huge ship behind us- I think it was the Queen of the seas. Anyway, it was amazing to see all the ropes let go as it smoothly backed out of the pier turned and headed for the Carribean. When it blew it's 3 depating blast though it almost knocked us off the back deck. From a distance it looked more like a container ship instead of a passenger vessel. Hope never to sail on one. Entertainment tonight ws excellent a Brit comedian called Tony Stevens. The early show was packed and it turned out to be a good one because he was really fst with the jokes. I hear there were only 45 people at the late show and he flopped.Oh well, I have gotten into the second season of Rome so I couldn't go to both shows.
Don't want to jinx myself, but the seas have been great so far, a small swell now and then but otherwise smooth- although I probably wouldn't thinks so if I were in a rowboat.
Arrecife, Canary Islands
Arrive in the port of Arrecife at daybreak and the boat is docked just in front of one of those huge Carribean cruise ships that carries 3-4000 passengers. Thye must all be asleep because there's nobady walking around hte decks. It really towers above our ship and makes you feel like you're in a row boat. Today's tour is going to be to Jameo's Cave and cctus gardens. The island we landed on inly one os several Canary islands the most notorius of which is Tenerife where 2 747s ran into each other on the runway- One had been cleared to take off and the other taxied onto the runway. The island we are on is Lanzarote. The islands are volcanic in origin and formed about 35 million years ago when the South American continent split off fro Africa. There is an Atlantic ridge that runs from Isceland thru the Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Ascension Island, St Helena to Tristan de Cunha along which these volcanic islands formed as is where the continents are drifting apart. Alfred Wegener who came up with the idea visited this place in 1912 to show how it fitted in with his theory of continental drift. The bus drive takes us to the highest point on the island where ther is a radar station for air traffic control. Lanzarote also has an airfield. The land is really barren you can see dozens of cinder cones at one time and the soil is brown except where farmers have gotten volcanic ash and covered their fams with it. It acts as both a fertilizer and pevents water evaporation. This was really poor country until the 60s-70s when tourism took over. Now over 90% of the population is involved with tourism. They have enacted laws to keep down high rise buildings- all the structures must be painted white, there are on certain styles of chimneys to choose from and the shutters and other structures have to be blue, green or brown. I didn't get into town, but from the boat you can see he only tall building on the island and it was a 16 story building built before the regulations took effect. All the resort hotels we passed are built like villages. Roads were good and very little trafic so I think when the tourists arrive they pretty much stay at the resorts. So the tourist attraction we are on the way to see is a lava tube that runs from a volcano crater called Corona to several hundred feet out to sea. (Lavva tues form when hot magma running downhill cools on the outside first and forms a rind and when the hot stuff runs out it leaves a tube.) Anyway, this place was developed by a local artist called Cesar Manrique who made an entrance to the tube where its upper wal had collapsed in one area so it became like a cave- so he built a restaurant, a natural pool that has albino, blind crabs about an inch long , that you can't swim in, a concert hall for a few hundred people and on the outside a man made pool that you can't swim in either. Ther is also a very well done volcano museum and a shop that sells postcards but no stamps (we are back in Spain again). All in all not a bad place to spend an hour. Then on to the cactus garden by the same Cesar- he's also created modern sculptures that are in the roundabouts- in front of the Cactus garden he built a huge cactus out of steel tubes and rods. The garden is supposed to have 10,000 different cacti in it but I quit counting and the usual coffee shop. There is also a windmill which makes a nice backdrop. Next to the cactus garden there are real cactus gardens on which they are raising cochinilla, a liitle whit beetle that when crushed produced a real red color that is used in expensive lipstick and Cinzano- was musch sought after in the middle ages (cardinals robes)but the modern chemicals are much better. Then back to the ship in time for lunch- a mob scene as it is 2pm and that's a long time since breakfst. The sailaway at 430 is preceded by the departure of the huge ship behind us- I think it was the Queen of the seas. Anyway, it was amazing to see all the ropes let go as it smoothly backed out of the pier turned and headed for the Carribean. When it blew it's 3 depating blast though it almost knocked us off the back deck. From a distance it looked more like a container ship instead of a passenger vessel. Hope never to sail on one. Entertainment tonight ws excellent a Brit comedian called Tony Stevens. The early show was packed and it turned out to be a good one because he was really fst with the jokes. I hear there were only 45 people at the late show and he flopped.Oh well, I have gotten into the second season of Rome so I couldn't go to both shows.
Don't want to jinx myself, but the seas have been great so far, a small swell now and then but otherwise smooth- although I probably wouldn't thinks so if I were in a rowboat.
Labels: bardelona to rio
posted by DT at 7:43 AM
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