islands in the sun

When we left Recife, most of the passengers started grumbling about not seeing land for another five days. What caused grumbling for them caused glee for me: I love sea days. I seek them out. I lust for them.


To me, being at sea, with no port obligations, is pure heaven. Usually, I just sit in the sun and read. Or listen to music. Or watch the fascinating antics of my fellow passengers. It is the very essence of vacation.


And there was trivia. Trivia is one of my favorite cruise pursuits because it is just plain fun. Right or wrong, trivia brings out some of the best -- and worst -- humor in people. On this cruise, there were up to three trivia contests a day. The cruise staff also sponsored a multi-day trivia marathon. It may sound juvenile, but we all had great fun playing.


I even went so far as to play bingo. I think the last time I played bingo was at my grandmother's house when I was ten or so. I was shocked to discover that you had to pay money ($30) to play. I suppose I use "shocked" in about the same sense as Captain Renault was shocked at the presence of gambling in Rick's Café Américain.

We had just finished a game of bingo when this island loomed out of the mist on our third day at sea. It is Sal, one of the Cape Verde Islands. And, as you can see, there is almost nothing there except volcano cones and sulphur. It is one of the most desolate places I have ever seen. We sailed past it in 2003 just after visiting a much more inviting Cape Verde island: São Vicente.


Here is a map to give you an idea where the islands are located. Even the inhabitants refer to the islands as being in the middle of nowhere. If not nowherem they are, at least, in the middle of the Atlantic.

We then settled into our usual routine for another day until we arrived at Tenerife in the Canary Islands. I love Tenerife -- even though it had been 5 years since my last visit.


I had planned on simply strolling through the port city of Santa Cruz. But my friends wanted to see the chief tourist attraction of the island -- the volcano Teide. So, off I went with them.


In reviewing my photographs, I discovered that I must have got a drop of oil -- or something -- on my camera lens. Every exposure has what appears to be the early onset of glaucoma. I will choose exposures that minimize the effect. But I apologize. Tenerife is far more beautiful than these samples would indicate.


We headed off on a bus tour to see Teide that forms the very core of Tenerife. It is quite a sight -- and quite a height. At 12,188.3 feet, it is the third largest volcano on earth -- and the highest mountain in Spain. Because of Teide's height, Tenerife has the climatic diversity of a mini-continent. And it is just plain beautiful.

Much of its beauty is created by the rock formations that have built up and eroded over the centuries. Several of us noted the similarity to parts of central Oregon and northern Mexico.

Even the plant life has its own stark beauty.

After bouncing around in a bus on windy roads for three hours, we decided to spend time walking around Santa Cruz -- a city that has its own amazing vistas.

But I found the people and the details of the city to be just as interesting. (The first picture is of crew members. But I liked the intensity of the shot.)

When I was last in Santa Cruz five years ago, we searched out a local fish restaurant and had a great meal. Well, my companions did. In my faulty spanish, I thought I had ordered fresh shark -- and ended up with a reconstituted cod dish. Gelatinous would be a kind description. This year, we did not have time to find a place to eat. So, off to the ship we went for dinner -- and another sail away from Tenerife. One of these days, I would like to return for more than a cruise visit.


I was going to include Madeira in this post, but I have written more than I intended. So, we will hold off on Madeira until next post -- or the post after.