Good morning from the Canaries (and the blackbirds singing their liquid song nearby). I slept like a log last night, but could have used another 8 hours or so. In a few minutes we’re taking off for an all-day Puerto de la Cruz.
As I said, the internet situation aboard ship, which won’t be settled till we board this evening, is unknown, so I’ll post photos as often as I can, but it may not be as often as in Antarctica. Meanwhile, this morning I have two photos from my balcony taken about an hour apart.
Here we go – gorgeous sky!
The volcanic islands off the African coast often poke up through a temperature inversion so you get an altitude-constrained band of “mist forest”. As I recall, the one on Tenerife is between about 1 and 2km above sea level, and produces a pine-dominated forest ecology, with a considerably drier climate higher up in the caldera(s – there are several, partly overlapping).
That projection above a temperature inversion is also why large infrared telescopes and oceanic islands often make a good combination.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound as if the tour will be getting out of the city.
Great photos. Admiral Horatio Nelson lost his arm attacking Tenerife (Walter Raleigh had previously had a go, too).
What, at Nelson’s arm?! 🙂
The best place to eat “papas arrugás” in Santa Cruz:
https://lahierbita.es/
They can be taken with “mojo verde”
https://elcocinerocasero.com/receta/papas-arrugadas-con-mojo-verde
or with “mojo picón”
https://mojopicon.com.es/papas-arrugadas-con/
The largest commercial aviation accident occurred at the Tenerife North airport, Los Rodeos.
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19770327-0
On my stay in Tenerife I learned two surprising things: the volcano Mt Teide is the highest mountain in Spain, and the Canaries were inhabited by pre-historic people.