[Public-List] Canaries, Part 1

[Jim Davis]

As I have already reported the Portugal leg of the trip was very interesting.  We spent three days in Lisbon and did a lot of walking along with using the subway and busses.  We rented a car and drove to Lagos where we visited Sagres, site of Henry, the Navigator's school where the Portuguese explorers, naval architects and cartographers worked to develop the ability to expand Europe's knowledge of the world.  There is no direct evidence that Henry ever ventured out of sight of land, but his visionary thinking lead the Portuguese thinking and exploration.  After a couple days we linked up with the boat we were sailing to the Canaries on.

After arriving in Las Palmas it became apparent he wanted me to devote all my time to preparing the boat for its Atlantic crossing.  Once in Las Palmas Sandy and I were supposed to use the boat as a hotel while we played tourist.  We got over this difficulty by getting a hotel room and doing what we had planned to do.  If I had been on payroll it would have been a different story. Grand Canary is a volcanic island with a rugged interior.  We drove most of the way around the island and across the center.  This later road is for the most part just wide enough for two cars to pass (very slowly) - meeting a bus is exciting.  The highest point on the island is at about 1800 meters and the road has more hairpin turns than I want to remember.  Most of the time the road is cut into the face of a cliff with several hundred meters of sheer wall on each side.  At one point we could see the next town about 2000 meters ahead and 500 meters below us, but the road sign told us we had 6000 meters to go.  On another trip we took a camel tour of a large area of sand dunes.  Las Palmas is a friendly city, lot of historic places to go, good restaurants and numerous plazas where people sit and read, play cards and playgrounds for the children.  The Canaries are a favorite vacation spot for Europeans, mostly from Northern Europe.

We enjoyed both countries and would recommend them to our friends.

Jim Davis
S/V Isa Lei
CT 35

No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session

Mark Twain