It was still dark when we sailed into Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands this morning. The Canary Islands are an archipelago of eight islands off the coast of Morocco. Unlike Cape Verde, the Canary Islands are not a country, but an autonomous community of Spain. Although the Canaries, as the islands are known, are a part of Spain politically, they are closer to Africa and are a part of the African continent geographically.
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| Arriving at Santa Cruz de Tenerife Before Dawn |
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| We Were Soon Joined by a Princess Ship |
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where we are docked today, is the capital of Tenerife, the Canaries’ largest and most populous island. The Canary Islands are one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and are known for their beaches, subtropical climate, and year-round sunshine. Today, however, the sun only peeked out for a short while.
While Tim had decided to explore Mt. Teide, the third largest volcano in the world, with a summit of more than 12,000 feet, I settled on the included excursion, “Impressions of Tenerife,” to see the following sights:
Visit the popular Puerto de la Cruz and enjoy the exotic plants, flowers and trees of the botanical gardens. You will enjoy a panoramic island drive though the lush green landscape and tropical fruit plantations of the Orotava Valley region to reach Puerto de la Cruz. Both Spanish and island traditions are evident in the former fishing village, which is now one of Tenerife’s top resorts, lined with narrow cobblestone streets, traditional colonial-style cafés and bars, charming plazas and a quaint harbor. Enjoy free time to stroll around the seaside resort at your leisure. Continue on to the city's world-class botanical garden (Jardín de Aclimatación de la Orotava, or JAO)—home to a plethora of exotic tropical and subtropical plants, including the South American Coussapoa dealbata, or liana tree, with a mass of intertwining trunks. Finally, stop for photos overlooking the Orotava Valley before returning to your ship.
We left the traffic in the city of Santa Cruz behind and began to climb one of Tenerife’s many hills to reach Mirador de Humbolt. This viewpoint offered spectacular views of the Orotava Valley, and we were able to see banana plantations and the town of Puerto de la Cruz, where we would be heading next. Everything was so green, unlike the arid landscape of Cape Verde. Because of the fog and clouds, however, the volcanos that tower over the valley were mostly hidden today.
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| Beautiful Views |
The viewpoint was named for German naturalist Alexander von Humbolt, who arrived in the valley in 1799 and “discovered the key which, years later, would enable him to lay down the foundations of the new science of geo-botany,” according to a marker here. Humbolt’s realization that plants adapted to their environment, which he observed here, was the origin of geobotany.
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| Alexander von Humboldt |
We headed back down to sea level for a visit to the Jardín de Aclimatación de la Orotava, a beautiful botanical garden. The Acclimatization Garden of la Orotava was created by Royal Order of King Carlos III of Spain in 1788. At that time, Spain needed a place in one of its territories with a suitable climate to cultivate the exotic plants collected from its colonies in the New World. Tenerife’s environmental conditions and rich soil were ideal.
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| A Lovely and Peaceful Garden |
Our guide described many of the trees and plants, including those that are endemic to the Canary Islands. I enjoyed strolling through the garden and admiring the many trees and flowers. Although it was sprinkling rain when we arrived, it soon stopped, and the sun even came out for a while before we left, making the garden even more lovely.
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| A Wide Variety of Trees |
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| Beautiful Flowers |
From the garden, we drove into the town of Puerto de la Cruz, the first tourist destination in the Canary Islands, following the British Medical Society’s recommendation of the island as an ideal location during the nineteenth century. Tourists still flock here for its year-round, pleasant climate.
We were given over an hour to explore the town on our own, but without a map, I really wasn’t sure where to go. I walked by the nearby Ermita de San Telmo, a small Catholic church set in a dramatic location and perched high on a cliff.
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| Ermita de San Telmo |
I wandered along the waterfront for a while, and I then happened to stumble across the beautiful Plaza de la Iglesia, with its lovely gardens and fountain topped with a stone swan.
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| Plaza de la Iglesia |
The plaza was surrounded by many historic buildings and the Church of Our Lady of the Rock of France, originally constructed in 1697. The steeple was added in 1898.
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| Buildings Around Plaza de la Iglesia |
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| Church of Our Lady of the Rock of France |
I’m sure that I missed many interesting streets lined with buildings that date back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but I didn’t know where they were. Besides, it was time to head back to the bus for our drive back to the ship.
The fog had returned as we left Puerto de la Cruz, and the mountains were hiding from us once again. On the way, we passed banana plantations, the main crop of the Canary Islands, as well as vineyards that climb Mt. Teide.
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| Scenes On the Way Back to the Ship |
In the afternoon, I had planned to visit the city of Santa Cruz, where we were docked, but I was lazy and never made it into town, even though Viking provided a shuttle. Instead, I spent part of my time packing for our Marrakesh Overland excursion. Although we won’t leave the ship until tomorrow evening after we dock in Agadir, Morocco, suitcases needed to be outside our door tonight.
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| The Sun Did Come Out Later in the Afternoon |
How beautiful!
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