Canary Islands!

Sorry this is taking me forever to update on my Semana Santa/ Spring Break II! Things have been a little loco in Sevilla!

Anyways, back to the Canary Islands!

After spending a quick two nights in London we were off to the Canary Islands. Talk about opposite extremes! The Canary Islands are off the coast of Africa/Morocco but still part of Spain. They are actually the southernmost part of Spain and played a big role in Christopher Columbus’ explorations to the new world. Unfortunately, this trip we were not there to seek out to much history, mostly sun and some great sites!
The first four nights of the trip we stayed on the southwest side of Tenerife. It was absolutely gorgeous! We were really lucky this trip and happened to land a condo with a great pool facility right on the beach. Well I guess not the beach; there are more cliffs in Tenerife than beach, so more like cliffs with a gorgeous view. We had a kitchen for the first time in four months and we were super excited to get to the grocery store and cook what we were in the mood for.
The first night in Tenerife we were exhausted from flying so we mostly spent it hanging out in the condo and grabbing a quick bite to eat. The condo that we were staying in had the Disney Channel in English! We didn’t even care what was on we were just so excited to watch something in English!
The following day we spent lying by the pool. It was great and the weather was hot, hot, hot. After a late lunch we decided to go out and explore a little bit of the area we were in. Right down the street was a town called Los Gigantes. This town is named after Los Gigantes Cliffs that are located there. It was gorgeous! We walked up and down the streets for a while and got some great views of the cliffs. Due to the large amounts of rain that southern Spain has had over the past few months the beach near the cliffs had been washed out and was closed off for the time being. This was a bummer because it offers one of the best views of the cliffs. We did get some great views by wandering through the streets however. When it was nearing sunset we found a great little spot to grab a pina colada and enjoy the beautiful sunset over the water. After this we were off to find a great place to eat. Of course we opted for Mexican!
Thursday was a day that I had been looking forward to for a while. I had done plenty of research on the island before visiting and found out that they have a GREAT new water park for a GREAT price, “Siam Park”. The plans for Thursday were to head to the water park. We had so much fun here and saw some interesting people. The rides were great. One of my favorites was a nearly straight down slide that takes you through a shark tank! I was so proud of myself for doing this. We noticed that it must be a little freaky because there were not many people in line and the only ones that were in line were men. We looked a little out of place I guess! They also had a huge lazy river that went through a tunnel in the shark tank. This was probably the prettiest water park that I have been to. It was located right near the beach and you could see the ocean right off the edge of the park. The natural areas were gorgeous and they did a great job not making it look cheap. Everything was over the top and matched perfect for the Canary Islands. After a long day at the water park we headed home to cook in our little kitchen J
Friday was our day to explore the beach. We spent the first part of the day near the pool because we did not want to get to hot sitting on the beach. Later in the afternoon after lunch we headed to a beach near our hotel. It was tiny because most of the coastline of the Island is cliffs. And there were a ton of people! We also had our first experience with a European/topless beach. This was interesting….sorry I don’t have many pictures!-we were not too sure of the etiquette? Anyways..the beach was so HOT! The sand on the beach is black due to the volcanic ash/rock on the island. This definitely intensified the beach. It was probably over 100 degrees. I am so glad we had not gone to the beach earlier because I am sure it was much hotter. There is actually a rule at the beach that requires you to wear “sand shoes”/sandals so that you do not burn your feet. While at this beach we saw a lot of interesting people as well as a shark spotting! What a day. After a few hours of heat on the beach we headed back to the condo to re coop. This was our last evening in Tenerife so we decided to make our way back to Los Gigantes since it was our favorite area. We had a nice meal here and then went back to our hotel to pack for the next island.
Saturday we were island hopping to Grand Canary! We had to catch a ferry early Saturday morning in North Tenerife so that required us to wake up extra early and get to North Tenerife. There we caught a speed ferry to Las Palmas, Grand Canary. The ferry ride was about an hour long. For someone who enjoys boats and cruises, I was not a fan! The water between the two islands was very choppy and there were strong winds, those combined did not make for a very smooth ride. We made it there safely after an hour and I was so ready to get off that boat!
Once in Grand Canary we had to make our way from Las Palmas (north) to Maspalomas (south). It took us about an hour to get there by bus. I was so proud of us for making it! We checked into our hotel in Maspalomas and were headed to get something to eat. First thing we spotted was a McDonalds sign. I know, I know! So bad! But sometimes McDonalds is so homey and good. We followed the signs for over 2km to the McDonalds…maybe that is a little embarrassing. But on the way we got a great tour of the area! There are more beaches in Grand Canary than in Tenerife. We have decided that both of the Islands are very different. The parts of Grand Canary that we were in seemed way more touristy than Tenerife. And…..Maspalomas reminded us a little bit of Myrtle Beach. We really had a great time there though. After eating lunch we went back to our hotel and took a siesta because we had woken up bright and early. A while later and it was time to eat dinner. One night thing about Maspalomas was that it had a great boardwalk. The boardwalk hugged the beach for a few miles. This was nice because our hotel was right there and we had plenty of options for places to eat and little shops.
Sunday was a beach day! Maspalomas has huge sand dunes that are apparently made from Sand from the Sahara desert. They are right along the beach and were a lot of fun. We found a great little spot on the sand dunes to lie out and enjoy the weather. Little did we know this little area that we thought was so nice and secluded was part of a nude beach…OOPS! We noticed this shortly into the time that we were relaxing on the dunes and quickly relocated! That night was our flight back to Sevilla. I kick myself to this day for booking a redeye…This was my first and last red eye! We left Las Palmas, Grand Canary at 3am and arrived back in Sevilla around 5:45am. Not my cup of tea! After arriving home the first thing I did was go right to bed!
One funny thing about the Canary Islands is the people. We learned that there are WAY more Non-Spanish European tourists than Spanish. I felt more foreign in the Canary Islands than I have ever felt in Sevilla. When we checked into our hotel in Tenerife the first thing that the man said was “English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish?” Notice that Spanish is last. It was that way everywhere else also. Whenever we went to a restaurant the menu was always in German, English, Dutch, French and then Spanish. There were all sorts of different restaurants in the Canaries as well- Mexican, Thai, Italian, German, Swiss, etc. I think I heard more German that week than I have heard in my entire life.
We loved the Canary Islands! I can see where I would never return there again due to the location but I am so glad that I made it part of my trip. Tenerife was my favorite place. It was absolutely beautiful and entirely surreal.