On April 1, 1985, we took off to Madrid to spend a couple of days sightseeing before we left on the 3rd for Tenerife. I wanted to see the Prado again, and Robin and Diana were interested in touring the Royal Palace. We also took in a flamenco show one night. We got to Tenerife at 9:45 PM on the 3rd, then had over an hour's drive from Reina Sofia Airport in the south to get to our hotel in Puerto de la Cruz, the Hotel Trovador at Calle Puerto Viejo, 40 (http://www.hoteltrovador.com/). We were the only English-speaking people on the tour; everyone else was Spanish. Even our tour guide didn't speak much English, but fortunately our Spanish was very good, so it was actually good for us NOT to be around other Americans.
The Canaries are located in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the northern coast of Africa. The islands have a warm, dry climate throughout the year, making them a popular destination for sun-starved Northern Europeans (and visiting American students!). The Canaries today consist of seven islands divided, for administrative purposes, into two areas. The province of Las Palmas brings together the major island of Gran Canaria and the lesser ones of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife encompasses Tenerife and its satellite islands of La Gomera, La Palma and Hierro. Within the archipelago there is a variety so extreme that it is easiest to refer to it as a mini-continent. The isles share an eternal spring climate but they differ dramatically amongst each other. Exploring the Canaries, you move from sub-tropical vegetation to volcanic semi-deserts, from verdant cliffs and gorges to sand dunes by the sea shore. The Canary Islands have a climate of their own, due in the first place to their geographical position in the middle of the Atlantic, near the African coast; secondly, because of their place in the path of the trade winds, which are responsible for the peculiar character of their climate; and thirdly, because of the variety of their geographical features, ie, the more mountainous islands have more rain, such as Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria, and the less rugged ones, such as Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, have less rain. Consequently, the mountains have a direct bearing on the amount of rain that falls and not the proximity of the African continent, as is commonly believed. In the language of its original Guanche inhabitants, Tenerife means "Snowy Mountain", a tribute to its most striking geographical feature, the dormant volcano of Mount Teide, Spain's highest peak, which divides the north of the island from the south.
According to some theories, the Canary Islands are the last remains of the legendary continent of Atlantis. Because the Spanish conquerors exterminated most of the native inhabitants, the "Guanches", and used the few survivors as slaves, there is almost no information available about their culture and way of living. We know that they were a people of herdsmen living in caves. (Important findings of that period are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum in Santa Cruz.) The first islands to be conquered by Juan de Bethencourt in 1402 were Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and then La Gomera and El Hierro. First, the Guanches stood their ground successfully against the Spanish assaults but, in 1495, they were absolutely and cruelly defeated, though it should be mentioned that this was with the help of the plague that was brought in by the Spaniards. Tenerife was often used as a last station before the passage to America. When Christopher Columbus stayed here on the 9th of August 1492, he made an entry in his logbook about an eruption of Mount Teide. In the following years, the Dutch, English, and French tried unsuccessfully to conquer the islands. Tenerife was the last of the Canary Islands to be put under the control of the Spanish crown. The islands experienced a quick economical uplift because of their favorable position for Spanish ships sailing to America. This outstanding position, however, also caused plenty of assaults, the latest in 1797 by English ships under the command of Admiral Nelson who lost his right arm to a cannon ball fired by the cannon "El Tigre" which nowadays is exhibited in the harbor of Santa Cruz.
The island of Tenerife is the largest of the Canary archipelago - 2,053 square kilometers - and it has the shape characteristic of a triangle. The island became part of the kingdom of Castile in 1496 thanks to Alonso Fernández de Lugo who, four years earlier, had landed on the Eastern Coast to found Santa Cruz which was to become the capital city of Tenerife. It is the island of eternal spring because its peerless climate is full of huge contrasts and has a great variety of scenery in the different regions. A mountain chain runs through its center from Anaga to Teno and on both of its slopes there are large, exuberantly fertile valleys, among them especially La Orotava and Güímar. In the heart of the chain, there is a gigantic, natural crater, called Las Cañadas del Teide, which is about 29 km. across and has officially been declared a National Park. It lies over 2,000 meters above sea level. North of the crater stands El Pico del Teide, a 3,718 meter high volcanic mountain, which is the highest point in Spain. Tenerife has extremely varied plant life, large, wooded mountains, and extensive areas where banana, tomato, potato and other agricultural products are grown. Its coast is rocky and lined by cliffs in some places, while in others there are beaches with soft, clean sand, which is sometimes black and sometimes golden.
Gran Canaria is known as 'the small continent' for the great climatic variety found there. The island is almost circular; 50 km. across and crammed with long, steep winding cliffs that end in the sea. Large stretches of beach and black sand creeks cover most of it. Gran Canaria is divided into two dramatically different climatic zones: the humid north-central filled with beautiful green valleys, craters and other volcanic wonders; and the arid south, with desert-like landscapes where you'll find great places to swim and sunbathe on the huge beaches. The interior of Gran Canaria hosts steep highlands, small villages with white houses and red roofs, banana plantations, and orchards of tropical fruits. Where's the biggest tourist area? On the southern tip. You can enjoy huge famous beaches like 'Playa del Inglés' or 'Maspalomas', surrounded by the empty dunes and miles of sand. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital of the island, is located in the north amongst magnificent scenery composed of two bays and their beaches - Playa de Las Canteras and Playa de Las Alcaravaneras. Founded in 1478, it has an important historical and cultural base concentrated around the Vegueta district. This city has a large infrastructure of hotels and apartments. Las Palmas' harbor (Puerto de La Luz) is one of the most important in all of Spain.
While on Tenerife, we took some of the optional excursions that were offered by the tour company. One evening was spent at the Barbacoa Tacoronte enjoying dinner and a show; the next day, we took a cruise on a pirate ship and managed to get half drunk and very sunburned. Of course, we took the trip through the Orotava Valley and up Las Cañadas Highway through the pine forests to El Teide, where I climbed all the way to the summit to savor the wonderful views in all directions. It was a fairly clear day, so I could see several of the neighboring islands, as well as all of Tenerife surrounding me. We spent a very interesting afternoon at the Castillo Museum learning about the history and folklore of the Canaries. Our trip to El Guanche banana plantation is forever emblazoned in our memories, and not just because of the beautiful scenery and the shots of banana liqueur...they had a nasty little monkey on display there that put on quite a show (I'll spare you the gory details). Let's just say that Robin and Diana were very mortified and I laughed hysterically for days.
On Gran Canaria, we had much more opportunity to enjoy the actual beaches. While Las Canteras beach in Las Palmas was nice, it rained a lot and we weren't really able to enjoy the beach there as much as we would have liked. On the south end of the island, though, we spent a day each at Puerto Rico and Maspalomas, two gorgeous golden sand beaches. Although I've never been to the Sahara Desert, I can certainly picture it after seeing the awesome sand dunes at Maspalomas. The beach was great, but it was rocky when you got out into the water, plus I remember there being quite a bit of seaweed in the water too. At Puerto Rico, the sea was calm and it was like sitting in a bathtub full of warm water while watching fish swim by. We also took a day tour of the island that stopped at the Botanical Gardens outside Las Palmas and took us to the scenic towns of Telde and San Bartolomé de Tirajana. In Telde, we visited the Church of San Juan, and then we had lunch at the parador in San Bartolomé.
Our only "bad" experience of the trip was that the hotel (Hotel Corinto) in Las Palmas could have been better. The toilet was hardly a toilet (it flushed with a faucet!) and the bathtub was, to put it mildly, a cracked and chipped piece of s**t that had a small hole in the bottom of it so that the bathroom flooded every time one of us took a shower. I was the first to find this out when I stepped out of the shower and went bodysurfing across the tile floor. The towels we'd been given weren't much more than face cloths, and when we asked for more, you'd have thought we'd asked them to part the Red Sea. After much complaining, we DID get enough to sop up the mess on the floor. Also, I made the mistake of drinking water from the tap in the bathroom and paid for it all night with cramps beyond belief and a case of Montezuma's Revenge that kept me "going" all night. I should have known better as the water on Gran Canaria is desalinated ocean water. That little episode in Las Palmas is the one and only time I have ever gotten sick while travelling abroad, so I guess I should consider myself lucky. I even survived México! Rule #1 of travelling where you're not sure about the water...stick to bottled!!!
Being students on a very limited budget, we didn't shop too much, though I did pick up some Lladró porcelain, and the gals got a decent deal on a couple of very pretty lace dresses at the rastro in Puerto de la Cruz. The best bargain we found was an all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Palmas called La Strada. Las Palmas itself isn't the most scenic city I've ever visited; in fact, parts of it were fairly ugly. While sitting at a café in Santa Catalina Park, we were bugged by ladies selling tablecloths, a guy wanting to shine my shoes, another selling a ring, yet another selling heroin, and several kids begging. Being so close to Africa, the Canaries attract many Africans, and unfortunately not always the kind you'd like to meet. Still, there are things to see in Las Palmas, such as the Botanical Gardens, Parque Doramas, and the Museo Néstor. Tenerife, though, was my favorite island of the two. Much more lush, verdant scenery...and a cool volcano to climb! If you've managed to read this far, I thank you. I also apologize for the quality of some of the photos; the color has faded over the past 19 years and some of them aren't as nice now as when I first got them developed. Also, I only had a small Minolta camera that took 110 film at the time, so I guess I should be happy that some of my photos are as good as they are! Again, thank you for reading and I hope that you can someday (if you already haven't) visit the beautiful Canary Islands and enjoy them for yourself.
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