Canary Island cruise

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Sunday 28th January





Today we are on the island of La Palma, we docked at Santa Cruz around 9am, it was quite hazy and on our panoramic tour the guide explained that the haze is due to the Calima, a meteorological phenomenon that occurs when fine sand and dust particles from the Sahara Desert are lifted into the atmosphere and transported by prevailing winds.



Our first viewpoint stop the haze was still apparent but it was a lovely view and we learnt a lot about the growing cycle of the dragon tree.



The island is very green with palms everywhere and at this time of the year the blossom is out.



We had a stop viewing the volcano and the blackened path of the lava flow that had decimated the area.

After lying dormant for half a century, the Cumbre Vieja volcano suddenly exploded in a river of fire on September 19, 2021. The eruption lasted for 85 days. No one was killed, but more than 1,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 70 kilometres of roads. Some 350 hectares of banana plantations were covered with lava. The eruption dealt a huge blow to the island's economy. Almost 2 year and a half later, around 100 residents are still being housed in hotels and many continue to wait for the financial aid promised by the Spanish authorities.



We then continued to the Caldera de Taburiente National Park - Rising to 2,000 meters above sea level

As we turned and twisted our way to the crater, although we couldn’t actually see the bottom but our guide was so interesting in describing what we were looking at.



Coming back down the narrow twisting road seemed a lot easier than going up !

A very informative and beautiful tour.



Santa Cruz, The islands capital is a small but charming city that has been declared in its entirety as an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Historical-Artistic Site.

Historic buildings & pretty balconies, being Sunday not too many people about as shops are closed.



Our next Port of call tomorrow is Santa Crus but this time in Tenerife.

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