I have never wanted to visit Tenerife or the other Canary Islands, since I associated them with cheap English and German package holidays. I am sure there is that aspect to them but not where I went! It is hard to believe that Tenerife is only a few hundred miles off the African coast---it is a purely European island in aspect and population. It has benefited enormously from having shed-loads of EU money lavished on it. Our ship's tour took us up Mount Teide, the classically-shaped volcano which covers the centre of Tenerife, on a butter-smooth, beautifully graded tarmac road which rises from sea level to over 2000 meters in an easy one and a half hour drive.
Here are a few things I didn't know about Tenerife--did you? It lies just south of one of the four cold water currents in the world. Not only does this cold water current keep the temperature a spring-like 22 degrees year-round despite the Canaries being in the tropics, but it also is the current which the explorers going to the Americas used to carry them across the Atlantic. Ships still follow this route.
Another interesting fact is that despite having almost no rainfall and no natural rivers or lakes, Tenerife (at least the northern half) is green and fertile. How? The lower slopes of Mount Teide are covered with a luxurious forest of long-needled pines. Because of the aforementioned cold water current passing through a tropical latitude, clouds form around the island frequently. Because Mount Teide is over 3700 meters high, its peak is above the clouds and the tree line. So the pine trees on its lower slopes are shrouded in clouds a lot of the time. The long needles cause the water in the clouds to condense and run down the trunks of the trees where it soaks into the porous volcanic soil and hey presto: underground reservoirs of abundant water to nourish the banana plantations and vineyards and tourist hotels! Magic!
The upper slopes of Mount Teide are a true moonscape of weird lava formations--true "badlands". This has not escaped the notice of film-makers over the years and many a movie has been shot here--remember the first Planet of the Apes? The terrain was also of interest to space agencies who have determined that it is the closest to a moon-like landscape on earth and so they have tested their moon-buggies and equipment there.
---and Rescue at Sea!
And so what about this rescue at sea, you ask? Well, it was pretty rough weather last night and even our big ship with its stabilisers was juddering and jerking during the night. When I awoke this morning and checked our route I saw that we had made a sharp turn to port and gone about 100 miles off our course. All was explained by the captain in his morning briefing. At about 10 last night the ship had received a message from the maritime authorities that two men who had been trying to row across the Atlantic (as one does,of course, in December!) had capsized and we were the nearest ship to them. So we changed course and went to their rescue. They were finally found at 4 am adrift in a tiny life raft and brought on board. I expect they thought they had died and gone to heaven--seeing a huge luxury cruise liner appear out of the darkness as they were saying their final prayers, and being gathered up into six star luxury to finish their journey to the Americas in style!
Next
I will not be doing any more posts for a few days--not much to tell you about being at sea : just eating lobster and caviar and drinking fine wines and watching first class shows and listening to excellent lecturers. Ho hum.
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