Tenerife, Canary Islands 20-NOV

On Saturday the 20th, we arrived at Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.  The islands got their name from the Latin word for "dog" (Canine?), as the indigenous people seemed to hold dogs in an unusually high esteem.  Some small song birds were also found there, and named after the islands.  Thus, canaries are so named because some people really liked their dogs a little too much.  The Canary Islands are part of Spain, but about 60 miles off the coast of Africa (for the nearest island, although Tenerife is about 200 or so), about at the border of Morocco and Western Sahara (about the same latitude as Orlando, Florida). 
We decided to take one of the planned tours this time, due to the size of the island, and complexity of trying to do it all on our own.  After docking at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, we took a bus to near the top of Mount Teide, to the caldera, which is slightly below the peak.  Incidentally, this is the highest point in "Spain", at 3718 meters (12,200 ft).  The caldera we toured was a few hundred meters lower than the peak.  The area was named Cañadas, which apparently means "animal tracks".

Mount Teide peak, viewed from NE side of island.



"Dragon Tree"

One of the unique features of the island are the "Dragon Trees".  This is one of the largest and oldest on the island.

Caldera basin in "Cañadas".

Theresa is down there somewhere...in pink, I think. 
(Visually midway between the bald head and the bus's front tire!)

The "Finger of God"  (I hope it's a thumb?)

So, this was a shot I really liked, as it shows a nice compliment of texture and depth (perhaps color?) with the flora in the foreground and the mountain peak in the background, and some whispy clouds in the blue sky.  I thought it was quite nice.  Apparently, someone else agreed, because just after I took it, another guy did a double take, and walked back to take the same shot.  So, if you see another one of these, know that THIS is the original, and the others are copy cats!!

As we drove by on the freeway heading back to the ship, we passed the Tenerife North airport.  This was the best view I could manage on a bus.
Tenerife is the site of the worst air disaster in history.  On March 27, 1977, a bomb scare was called in for Las Palmas, another of the Canary Islands.  The airport was closed, and all flights were diverted here.  The airport was choked with airplanes and nowhere to put them all.  Then fog rolled down from the mountain, and visibility disappeared.  

A KLM 747-200 started a takeoff in the heavy fog with insufficient visibility.  A Pan Am 747-100 was trying to find the exit from the runway in thick fog. This is about the position that the KLM would have been holding, but facing the other way, obviously!
583 people perished, with 61 survivors.



Santa Cruz de Tenerife Post Office.



Oddly, the Tenerife flag is the same as the flag of Scotland (seen above on the Post Office, to the right of the Spanish flag), a blue feild with a white X.  On Tenerife, I was able to continue my tradition of McDonald's in every country.  But, I wasn't going to buy something I could get for free on the ship, so I had a McBeer!! (Supersized, of course!)

Departing Tenerife, heading West across the great ocean.  Might Columbus have seen a similar sight on his way heading across?  (Probably not.  He left from another island, and most likely in the morning.)