April 22, 2025
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands
"Strong sweet potato!"~ Canarian saying that means he is a liar and 'liquefied' person
This was our first visit to the Canary Islands, another strand of volcanic pearls in the North Atlantic. This one considers itself attached to Spain, much like our own Hawaiian Islands are a part of us. It is a jaw-droppingly gorgeous place and we saw only the tiniest slice of it in our four hour tour.
![]() |
Sunrise over Tenerife. The scarecrow-ish looking tree is a Dragon palm. |
The Canary islands got their name from the ancient Romans, who believed they'd encountered islands inhabited only by "large dogs." Hence, the "Can" part of the place name refers to "canines," not the songbirds. Roman ruins have been excavated on the islands, one of which still boasts an volcano which erupted as lately as 2021.
Later however, when the Spanish arrived in the 15th century, they found neither dogs nor Romans. Instead, a blond, blue-eyed people group called the Guanches had been fruitful and multiplied there. Laura Lovelock, one of our onboard lecturers, posits that the Romans used the islands as a prison and dumped its prisoners from North African Berbers there. With no shipbuilding or navigation skills, they couldn't possibly leave or even stay in contact with humans on the other islands.
The Guanches built step pyramids and practiced a form of mummification (not the Egyptian manner) before interring their dead in remote caves. The living changed their quarters depending on the time of year--caves in the cool weather (not in the same place as their departed loved ones and in huts by the beach in warm months.
Our tour took us to a lovely little botanical garden with plants and trees from all over the world. Sadly, the offerings from the US were several species of cacti! Looks like they could've included a flowering dogwood or two. But it was still a restful ramble along the narrow pathways.
I hope you'll enjoy the Dh's photo montage at the end of this post, but I wanted to share a pic our friend Debra took of us unawares in the garden. She said she couldn't resist catching me with my yellow umbrella.
Our guide today told us that even though their climate is lush and green, they don't have a lot of actual rain. Certainly not like the "frog-strangling" downpours we experience in the Ozarks. Instead, she described frequent mists, what she called "horizontal rain."
When we lived in Seattle, I told the DH it was as if God took care of us as if we were Boston ferns with little sprits of moisture several times a day. It was easy to spot folk who didn't live in Seattle. They were the ones carrying an umbrella. Locals were happy with the damp and if we went a week with no rain, they'd get antsy.
As beautiful as the islands are, we didn't feel completely welcome. At the first photo stop of the day, there was graffiti etched on the garden wall saying, "Tourist Go Home!" Later, before our guide let us off the bus in a market area for "shopping free time," she admitted to us there have been public demonstrations against so many property owners choosing to become AirB&B's instead of providing long term rentals for locals.
Our guide also said the Canarian laws favor tenants to the point that it takes two full years to evict for non-payment.
No wonder landlords choose to turn their property into short term vacation homes.
Interesting part of the world!
ReplyDelete