In the evening the tannoy bonged with an announcement that the captains had changed. For the first time in my admittedly brief experience the new captain gave a demo of the emergency alarm! After explaining what you should do (I’m sure it’s middle aged fat men first) he then did a smooth segway into the fact that the trip to Tenerife would be rough!
This was probably the most movement (so far) we’ve experienced on a cruise. An almost continuous swaying which would be followed by a shudder like someone was bouncing on the mattress to wake you up. I still managed a fair amount of sleep so it can’t of been that bad. It’s probably quite good for the Atlantic in March.
The previous evening I’d spoken to one of the cabin staff and within an hour the broken chair was replaced, a topper was put on the mattress and he’d shown me where another plug socket was (there still aren’t enough). I wrote yesterday that the ship was tired but the truth is it was me that was tired and I was just looking for faults.
Our trip up to the volcano or Mount Teide wasn’t until 11am. The departures here in the Canaries are later than we are use to so you have a lot more time in port which is no bad thing. It also gives you a bit of time to people watch.
Last time I turned my fashion eye on the ladies and their animal prints. This time let’s talk about the gents. It seems to me that as men get older they loose all sense of colour coordination. What seems important is that it has to be bright. Fluorescent green or hot pink are both good choices and if you can combine them in a way that would offend even a blind person so much the better. The other option is beige, any shade you like is acceptable. From light sand to that wet bit of sand that’s in the shade. I shall prove both of these hypotheses in my own fashion choices on this trip.
We got on the bus and our guide, Angkor, said that everybody must have chosen this trip because they love nature. Nope, I just wanted to stand on top of a volcano. The road was a relentless climb from the port. Once we cleared Santa Cruise we then hit forest and the expression ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ took on a literal meaning. Then we started driving through the cloud’s. We’d been driving for about an hour at this point but then the clouds and trees disappeared.
Teide National Park is a sight to behold. If you’ve holidayed in Tenerife and not left your hotel then that’s fine but you are missing a feast for the eyes. We did our first stop and took some pictures. However once back on the coach Angkor then informed us that the cable car was shut. It was understandable given the wind but very disappointing. What was particularly annoying was he must of known this before we left. We would still have gone (probably) but give people a choice.
Our next stop was a cafe for coffee only but there was quite a good vantage point by the side of it. It did involve a little climbing over the rocks. I climbed up and took some pictures then looked behind me. A woman was standing a few meters away and below. I asked if she needed a hand. ‘No if I get up there I’ve got to get back down’. I indicated an easier path but she didn’t want to do that. As I made my way down past her, her husband came to help her. This is what I heard her saying.
‘Well put your camera down!’
‘No! I need both hands!’
‘For fuck sake don’t let me fall!’
Like a hero from a movie when there’s an explosion behind them I didn’t flinch, I didn’t look around, I just kept walking.
There were a few more photo stops but to be honest there’s only so many pictures you can take of different types of rocks. Every now and then you’d look at a formation but then notice a person or something man made and the impressive scale would hit you but by the last stop we didn’t even bother to get off the coach. Happy to have seen what we had but disappointed that the volcano, or at least the wind, had beaten us we just wanted to get back to the ship and some food as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
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