December 8-15, 2008: Our Transatlantic Crossing
	December 6, 2008: Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
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Docking at Santa Cruz de la Palma

We left Arrecife as darkness was falling and Fred and I were in the gym on the stationary bikes.

The ship sailed all through the night, but I am pretty sure that much of that time was spent tacking back and forth so as not to arrive in Santa Cruz de la Palma too soon. I had asked one of the crew at the service center if they knew the route we would be following, and I was given to understand that we would be cruising north of the islands so as to stay out of as many shipping lanes as possible, and so that's the route that I've marked on the map above.

We had time to get some breakfast before we disembarked to meet our tour guide for today's trip to one of the Canaries' largest volcano craters. When we got off the ship and were standing on the dock, I took a photo of part of the harbor just opposite the dock from the ship. Although I did not realize it at the time, the aerial view at left reveals that the point of land at the left side of the picture of the harbor is actually part of the wall of a large circular crater; the eastern wall must have collapsed at some point, but the remainder of the crater is quite clear. You can pick out other segments of the crater wall in that photo and the others we took here at the dock. Click on the thumbnail images below to see the other good pictures we took here at the dock:

An Orientation to La Palma

Isla de La Palma (known in English as "La Palma"), is a Spanish volcanic ocean island- one of the seven major Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off of the west coast of Africa. The name "Isla de La Palma" means "The Island of Palms," or "Palm Island." La Palma has an area of 400 square miles making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands. The total population is about 85,000, of which 18,000 live in the capital, Santa Cruz de la Palma, where our ship docked.

La Palma, like the other islands of the Canary Island archipelago, is a volcanic ocean island. The volcano rises almost 4 miles above the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Proportional to its size, it is alleged to be the steepest island in the world. The summit of the island is some 7500 feet; on the summit is an outcrop of rocks called Los Muchachos ("The Lads"), and also the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, one of the world's premier astronomical observatories.

La Palma's geography is a result of the volcanic formation of the island. The northern part of La Palma is dominated by the Caldera de Taburiente, with a width of 5 miles and a depth of 4500 feet, surrounded by a ring of mountains averaging 6000 feet in height. Only the deep Barranco de las Angustias ("Valley of Fear") canyon leads into the inner area of the caldera which is a national park. It can be reached only by hiking. The outer slopes are cut by numerous gorges which run from down to the sea; today, only few of these carry water due to the many water tunnels that have been cut into the islands structure.

In 1815, the German geologist Leopold von Buch visited the Canary Islands. It was as a result of his visit to La Palma and Tenerife where he visited the Las Caņadas and Taburiente calderas, that the Spanish word for bowl - "Caldera" - was introduced into the geological vocabulary. From the Caldera de Taburiente to the south runs the ridge Cumbre Nueva. The southern part of La Palma is dominated by the Cumbre Vieja, a volcanic ridge formed by numerous volcanic cones built of lava and scoria. The Cumbre Vieja is active - but dormant, with the last eruption occurring in 1971 at the Teneguia vent which is located at the southern end of the Cumbre Vieja - Punta de Fuencaliente, (The Point of the Hot Fountain). We will be hiking down to Teneguia from the San Antonio volcano cone above it.

La Palma is dominated by the colours blue, green and black. Blue represents the surrounding ocean, green represents the abundant plant life (which is the most diverse in the Canary Islands) and black comes from the volcanic rocks that form the landscape and the numerous playas (beaches) of black sand. Santa Cruz de La Palma (the island's main port) retains many elegant 17th and 18th century houses, and produces high quality hand-made cigars made from locally grown tobacco.

As I said, we've signed up for a hiking trip at the southern tip of the island. The tour guide will take us by bus to the Visitor Center for the San Antonio and Teneguia craters. From there, we will get to see both volcanoes and also the lighthouses at the extreme southern tip of La Palma.

The San Antonio Volcano

Driving to the San Antonio Volcano

There were about twenty people on our tour today, and we all piled into a large tour bus that had been brought to the dock. Here are Jason, Barry and Fred on the bus. (Behind Jason and Barry is a friend we'd made on the cruise; he was traveling with his father. You may see him in some other pictures today and around the ship.) The bus headed off south, following the main highway that I have marked on the map.

The trip to the San Antonio Volcano Visitor Center took about 45 minutes. Along the way, both Fred and I tried to take some pictures out the window. The bus was moving rapidly and the road was narrow and winding, so many of them were blurred beyond use. But I have put thumbnail images below for eight of the best pictures, and you can click on the images to view them:

At the San Antonio Volcano

When we arrived at the Visitor Center, we went inside to take a look at some of the exhibits.

One exhibit that I think might be helpful was the relief diagram shown at left. It shows where we are (at Fuencaliente at the top of the diagram) and it also shows the eruption path from Teneguia in 1971 (the lava covered the area shown in red). We will be hiking down to that volcano crater once we have gone to the top of the San Antonio crater.

From the visitor center, our group walked up the fairly steep path to the top of the San Antonio volcano crater. On the way up and back down there were excellent views in all directions, particularly looking up the western shoreline of the island. About halfway up, Fred snapped a picture of me with the path down to the visitor center in the background, and you can look at that picture here.

From the overlook, we had unobstructed views in all directions; we could see the route we would be following down to the shoreline, and you can see it too in this picture of me with Teneguia in the background. By the time we decided to take a group picture, everyone but the five of us had headed down the trail, so we had to settle for four out of five of us in this group picture that Fred took.

Back at the visitor center, some folks got a drink or a snack, and then our tour guide herded us outside to the trailhead for the long trail down to Teneguia and the lighthouses at the shore.

We took quite a few good pictures here at San Antonio volcano, and you've just seen a few of them. We've put thumbnails images below for the rest of the good pictures we took, and if you will click on those thumbnail images you can have a look at San Antonio volcano yourself:

There was a lot of wind noise at the crater edge, but I did take one movie that turned out OK:

Although the volcano crater didn't seem all that big, the view of it and the view around it was well worth a movie panorama. Watch as we survey the crater and the landscape around it. There is some wind noise, but the view is worth it.

The Teneguia Volcano

We started down the trail which was a series of switchbacks going down the western side of San Antonio volcano (see aerial view at left). On the way down, we got more good views of the western coast of the island, and you can see a couple of these views here, here and at the bottom of the switchback trail, here.

At the bottom of the trail, our route turned into an unpaved road which we followed for a while, eventually turning off onto another trail that led down the hillside to what appeared to be a pile of unremarkable rocks. But they were fenced off and it turned out that some of the rocks had petroglyphs on them, and were fenced off so that folks would know not to climb on them or deface them. (In the large group of pictures below, you can see the petroglyph rocks and the unusual method our guide had of making the carvings more visible.)

Just after we left the petroglyphs, the trail turned into a well-marked and bordered path, and as we walked along it, we could turn around and see not only San Antonio peak, but also most of the route we'd followed to get to this point. Take a look at this view here. Looking down the hillside towards the seashore, our guide pointed out a large banana plantation- apparently, the fruit grows well in the volcanic soil found here. It is the main cash crop, exported mainly to Spain. La Palma bananas face stiff competition from those grown in Central and South America; there, they are grown in much larger volume and consequently can be sold more cheaply. But the banana cooperatives on La Palma seem to do well enough. Bananas need to be protected from the wind when young, and that is why many of the fields you see are covered in plastic.

After a short distance, our trail came to what looked like a serpentine sidewalk but which was actually a covered aqueduct. This was the first time we'd seen this structure (although we would now spot it frequently, especially on our way back to Santa Cruz de la Palma), and it was quite interesting. It brings water from the natural island springs all the way down the coastline, branching to the various banana plantations. Here is a picture of me on the aqueduct. We were able to walk along it just like a sidewalk for the better part of a quarter mile before we turned off again to follow the trail down to Teneguia.

When we got to the Teneguia Crater, our guide gathered us together and said that those who wanted to could take the trail to the top of the peak, but he cautioned that parts of the trail had steep drop-offs on either side, and those with a fear of heights might consider waiting at a small nearby crater for those who wanted to to hike to the top. Over half the group decided not to try the hike to the top. The four of us decided to do so, and set out on the trail, but when we got to a particularly unnerving part, Fred decided that he'd remain where he was while Jason, Barry and I went on to the top. From his vantage point below, Fred took some pictures of us while we took some pictures along the trail and at the top. Some of these pictures are immediately below, and others are in the larger section of pictures that follows. In the section below, the first four were taken while we were together on the trail and just after we went on ahead of Fred; the other four were taken at the top of Teneguia Peak. Click on the thumbnail images in the section below to see these two sets of pictures:

To sum up the hike down from San Antonio and to the top of Teneguia, we've put thumbnail images for the best of the pictures we took along the way in the section below. We hope you will click on all of them and have a look:

Below is the best movie that I made during this part of our hike.

Panorama from Peak of Teneguia Volcano The climb to the top of the peak was not difficult, but there were a couple of places where there was not much but "down" on either side of the trail; Fred would not have liked it. But again, the views from the top of the cone were quite spectacular, even with the overcast weather, as I think this movie will make clear.

Hiking to the Lighthouse

When we'd descended from Teneguia, we collected Fred and met up with the rest of the group who had been waiting in a small crater nearby. Then we headed off down the trail through the black lava landscape towards the lighthouses. The landscape was unrelenting- a vast expanse of black and gray, punctuated only occasionally with something green trying to get established.

As we descended, we crossed the serpentine highway that led down to the lighthouses and both a banana plantation and a sea salt facility nearby. When we got closer to the shore, we saw there was a black sand beach and, amazingly enough, a natural arch formed along the shore by the action of weather.

We got a number of interesting pictures along our hike from Teneguia down to the shore and also around the two lighthouses; if you will click on the thumbnail images below you can have a look at them:

Lighthouse Point Well, we have finally made it all the way down to the lighthouses. It was only about halfway down our hike when I overheard someone say that the bus had driven down here to meet us; I'd been thinking we'd have to hike back up! Before we left, I wanted to make a movie of the lighthouses and the shoreline to give you an idea of what it was like. The movie would have been better had the day been nicer.

Returning to Santa Cruz de la Palma

We had a chance to observe the sea salt facility, although there were no tours. Then we boarded the bus for the long ride back up the twisty road to the highway, and then back to Santa Cruz de la Palma. When we got to the highway, we could look back and see the southernmost point of the island of La Palma and the lighthouses we had just visited. Then the bus began the 45-minute drive back to Santa Cruz. In addition to the pictures you'll see below, here are a couple more of typical houses that are nestled on the lush mountainside on the eastern side of the island- take a look at them here and here.

We got back to the dock and most of the tour group went on aboard ship, but we planned to walk into the city to see what it was like. Before we leave the dock, here is a view of another ship docked ahead of us and here is a picture of Fred on the dock.

Here are some more of the pictures that we took along the way back to the harbor; click on the thumbnail images below to have a look at them:

Exploring Santa Cruz de la Palma

When we got back to the ship, we happened to meet Tim and David at the dock, and we took a few pictures of each other. Since it was still early, and we had a couple of hours before the ship sailed, we thought we would go walk into Santa Cruz de la Palma to see what it looked like. We walked with Tim and David to the beginning of the dock, and then we separated. Fred and I walked along some downtown streets for a while, and then found a stairway up the rocky cliff face that is very close to the water. Along our route, we snapped some interesting shots of buildings and scenery that you might like to see. If you will click on each of the black-on-white labels on the aerial view of Santa Cruz de la Palma below, the appropriate picture will pop up:

Buildings have been built right up against the cliff, and, of course, on top of it. There was an area at the top of the stairs where we could look out over the harbor, and we took some pictures from there, too. Then it was time to head back to the ship. It felt a little funny getting on the ship that afternoon; we wouldn't be walking on dry land for over a week. Anyway, click on the thumbnail images below to see the rest of the pictures that we took in Santa Cruz de la Palma:

I made a movie while we were out on our walk, too:

Santa Cruz de la Palma Well, we have walked around town for a while, and climbed the first cliff to get some views, and now are heading back to the ship. On the way, we've stopped at a memorial fountain, and I've taken the time to film a sweeping view of the town of Santa Cruz de la Palma.

When we returned to the dock, it was about an hour before sailing time. We hung out near the ship for a while, and took a few more pictures of the ship itself, some of which I'll be including later. Then, we boarded the Celebrity Century, leaving dry land for the last time on our cruise. For the next week, we'll be steaming across the Atlantic, not to set foot on land again until we reach Miami.

You can use the links below to go to another photo album page.

	December 8-15, 2008: Our Transatlantic Crossing
	December 6, 2008: Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
	Return to the Europe/Cruise Trip Index