Tenerife, Canary Islands

With extremely low expectations of this particular port and lingering frustrations about not being able to go to Morocco, I woke up early the morning of September 30 in Tenerife to catch the last of the sunrise. From then on out, I knew I would have a better time than I thought. It was just that beautiful.

A bit later Ashley, Shelby, Haley, Brett, and I set out to find a good place to hike. There’s a super popular volcano that I’m pretty sure half the ship was trying to climb. However, docking on a Sunday means that everything is closed and public transportation is extremely limited. We settled for the mountain-lined coast of the north end of the island.

While others paid upwards of 50 euro to get to the volcano, we paid a mere 1.05 for the 45 minute, breathtaking bus ride to Benijo. We picked up a new SAS friend along the way, Jack, a triathlon runner from the University of Iowa. Needless to say, he sets a mean hiking pace.

We walked and wandered and wandered and walked, and when hunger set in prior to finding the trails, we stopped in at the cutest bar looking over the coast. We had cervesas, pan y ensalada, one of which is probably the worst thing to consume before hiking.

Eventually we found the trails and headed upwards, way way upwards. It was pretty intense but totally totally worth it. We even spotted a rain cloud out over the ocean.

We wrapped up the day with a swim on the black sand beaches. The waves were HUGE, and the current was the strongest I’ve ever felt. But the water was warm, and it was just an all around incredible day. We hung around to watch the sunset and then grabbed the last bus back to Santa Cruz.

Being exhausted from the day before, the next day we did a lot of laying horizontally on the white sand beaches. Almost as beautiful as the black but a bit more tourist-y.  The weather was absolutely perfect. We drank pina coladas and then headed back to the ship.

It was no Morocco, but the hiking, the rest, and the relaxation I accomplished in Tenerife was much appreciated. This particular island is actually more of the Canary’s industrial/business center rather than a real tourist destination. I’ve learned that if you surround yourself with the right people, you can have the best time anywhere.

SO EXCITED FOR GHANA!