Yesterday, we docked in Tenerife, Spain. FINALLY!!!! After six long sea days, LAND! After boat drill, everyone rushed to get off the ship. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly with the wind and it probably felt a lot colder than it really was because we had four months of hot, hot Brazilian sun.
Tenerife is one of the seven islands that make up the Canary Islands. It is home to Teide, a volcano that erupted 600 years ago and caused the split of the land. The volcano is the highest peak in the Atlantic Ocean, towering at 7,500 m above the ocean floor. Teide means “father” in the Canary island language and the other islands are the “sons”.
Once we got into the town, we ran into a few issues. Seems nobody would exchange our U.S. bills for Euros without our passports. The ship takes our passports when we sign on board so that we can’t “jump ship”. Luckily, Brett had brought his visa and drew out enough money to cover our expenses for the day and we would pay him back accordingly. I understand the fear of fraud but they wouldn’t even take my driver’s license. It was very frustrating after we spent an hour standing in line at two different banks before giving up.
We stopped into a little bakery to grab some sandwiches for the car ride up to the volcano. After purchasing my food I said “Obrigada” (thank you in Portuguese) than realized my mistake and quickly said “I mean, Gracias”. I was so embarrassed! DUH Shannon, we aren’t in Brazil anymore!
We had a very nice taxi driver who was waiting to take us up to a volcano. It was great too because Stephany, whose from Chile, was able to communicate with him in Spanish and than translate into English for us. We saw a protest in the streets and there was a bit of traffic because the government was in town and the people were fighting for more money for their schools. I guess they are having similar issues to the states, all over the world.
We also passed the Opera house that greatly resembled the one in Sydney, Australia. The trip up to the volcano took an hour total, but we made plenty of picturesque stops along the way. Unfortunately, our poor taxi driver started to worry because you can only stop at certain points off the road and police drive looking for those that stop illegally. I mean, everyone of course stopped frequently, despite the police but he didn’t want to be the one to get caught. :/ There was a time when the police passed us and Brett and I literally ran and jumped into the car and we drove around the bind, but hey; life is short!
We drove up a mountain and it felt so much like home. We rolled the windows down to soak in the fresh air and the distinct smell of pine. Further up, we were surrounded by mist and there was a drizzle from the altitude.
Once we drove out above the clouds, the sun reappeared and we drove on towards the volcano. The closer we got, the darker the rocks got. They had been burnt from the lava and we even saw red rocks that were the ash. Brett, from South Africa, saw his first snow atop the peak. I love people’s reactions when they have never seen snow; it’s like a kid on Christmas Day.
At the base of the volcano, there was a museum that we explored. There was supposed to be a video that showed the explosion of the volcano and the formation of the seven islands, but it wasn’t playing. Our taxi driver commented, “I wonder how they filmed the eruption since it happened 600 years ago!?!” He was such a cute, little old man!
Above the museum were hiking trails and we set out on them to get a better view of the volcano. I took pictures of everyone cautiously walking down the slippery, dirt floor and laughed even harder when I was the one who fell. OF COURSE. I asked the driver when the volcano was expected to erupt next to which he said, “The scientists have declared it dead.” But, I was researching it all later that night and there were reports of seismic activity and volcanic unrest from 2005. I hope they hire new scientists…..
We headed back to the taxi, joking how we were all so short that we fit right in with the high school field trip that was there too. There was a man laying on a wall and a crowd gathered around him. Soon, an ambulance came to get him and we learned he had passed out. Our driver said a lot of people get sick or even die from altitude sickness when they come up here. YIKES!
After driving as close as we could get to the volcano, we started our trek back down the mountain. We passed the airport famous for the deadliest accident in aviation history. I’m not sure if that was before 9/11 or if that doesn’t count as an accident.
I took a nap after I got back on the ship and then went to see one of our singers, Jade Warshaw, perform her show, “The Definition of Soul”. Because it was such long cruise, a lot of guest entertainers were brought on. Some were amazing, and some not so great. The first act was a magician/ illusionist. In a way, the performance was good for me because the guy was so bad, you could see how the trick worked. I had always wondered how they keep a spinning plate balanced on a stick and now I know the secret ;)
The next night was gaucho dancers from Argentina. Their act was really interesting. They included the typical gaucho dancing with a lot of drums and other rhythm-makers. I filmed a lot of it, especially when they danced the tango. I love Latin dancing and I hope to learn how to do all of them in the future!!!! I think it will come in handy if I get a Latin boyfriend :D
There was also Allen, who called himself a “mindgician”. He was alright, however he did most of his act in Portuguese and forgot to translate into English so that was a little confusing. I couldn’t figure out all of his tricks so I guess, in my mind at least, his show was a success.
And finally, a performance from….CELINE DION. Well, not the REAL Celine Dion. Tracy is an impersonator
And the best guest entertainer on ships. I had seen her show on the first crossing and I was so excited to have her back! This time I filmed her show so I can show my mommy :) I felt bad for her though because it was really, really rocky and I heard from the theater staff that she was feeling seasick. I could see a difference in her performance as compared to last time but she was still unbelievable. I’m just glad we didn’t have our show that night.
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