October 11 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Anthem docked on schedule at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. There were dark rain clouds nearby, but we had a clear view of the full moon in the morning sky. The temperature was 21°C with just a bit of wind. The geographical location for Las Palmas is 28°08.59’N & 15°25.45’W. The buffet in Silk Restaurant on Deck 4 was our choice for breakfast this morning. We could watch the final docking maneuver as we ate our breakfast. There were two Spanish naval ship at a nearby pier which we later found out was the Spanish naval docks. The predicted weather today was a temperature high of 24°C and a chance of showers, both of which came true. We ventured out to Deck 5 promenade as we headed to the Royal Theatre to meet our group and there was a light mist in the air. The distance mountain tops were covered by dark clouds. The clouds hover about 600 to 1,000 meters above sea level.
We had chosen, several months ago, the Hiking on Hidden Valley and Wines Tour which was cancelled due to path damage from Tropical Storm Hermine in September. On Embarkation Day, we switched to the Agaete, Valley and Finca tour with a 15% discount, for the inconvenience.
The tour travelled due west on Gran Canaria’s north coast to the Agaete Valley. Gran Canaria is another volcanic island but it has plenty of water that falls primarily in the north where the capital, Las Palmas, is located. Las Palmas has a population of about 400,000. The southern part of Gran Canaria is much drier, sunnier and warmer. Again today, we were reminded that it is Spanish law to wear face masks on public busses, which most of the 56 people in our group did.
Our guide was José Maria but his nickname is Pepoh since there are so many Josés in Spain. The driver was Julio. If we ever return to the Canary Islands, we will explore the Old Town to see the house where Christopher Columbus and his family lived before 1492.
We drove from the port to the expressway, parts of it run in tunnels under the city, which seems to be typical of the volcanic islands. The rural areas produce fruit that is exported to Europe. There were villages surrounded by banana plants. Banana plants cannot be grown above 200 feet above sea level. Just before our first stop the ocean was visible and rising about the clouds was a volcano over 100 miles away on the island of Tenerife Our first stop was Puerto Las Nieves for a look at the beach, Playa de Nieves, and part of the town including the site of the first chapel built during the Spanish conquest where the Chapel of Las Nieves now stands. Towering above the beach was a box shaped lava cliff. As we continued the drive, we saw lots of Cacti along the way besides the banana plants and citrus trees.
Before 1478 the Canary Islands were inhabited but from that time to 1485 the Spanish were at war with the people. When the war ended, 95% of the islanders were dead and Spain claimed the Canary Islands. On the way to Finca la Laya Coffee Planation and Wine Cellar, we passed an ancient cemetery, over 1,300 years old, of the original islanders. In it were 700 tombs with round lava stone walls.
We travelled to the Valle of Agaete where there is only one road in and another road out. At Finca la Laya Coffee Planation and Wine Cellar the group climbed a curving lane and were shown the variety of fruit that is grown for local consumption. Under the long trellis of grape vines covering the lane they grow coffee plants that need the shade of the vines. In the orchard were mango trees, orange trees, guava trees, avocado trees, lime trees and apricot trees with coffee plants growing under them. There were two types of banana plants, smaller red bananas and sweet yellow Canary bananas. The coffee plant is part of the jasmine family. Only Arabica coffee is grown on the plantation. Once planted it is two to three years before the “cherry” is produced. The cherry usually contains two coffee beans. By six or seven years the plant is considered mature. The plants the we saw were 12 to 15 years old. The coffee is harvested by hand from March to June, then roasted and only sold at the plantation for €18 (about $24 Canadian) per 250 grams of beans. It takes 15 kilograms of coffee cherries to yield one kilogram of coffee beans.
The grapes are harvested at night or early morning as they are the sweetest when picked overnight. The white and red wines are aged in American or French Oak barrels for seven months. The annul production of 40,000 bottles of wine is only for sale at the winery. The Rosé wine was priced at €12; White wine and Red wine at €18 and Vermouth was priced at €25.
We next gathered to sample the local spring mineral water used at the plantation. It had a mineral taste that was a bit salty and not to everyone’s palate. Then we entered the restaurant for a wine tasting. Each table had a plate of mild goat and cow milk Canarian cheese, a small dish of mango jam, a plate of toasted dry bread, baguette slices spread with a chorizo sausage spread, and Canarian cake known as Kay-kay. Each sample of wine was about 100 ml. First the rosé wine, then the white was served with a quarter slice of sweet green orange, followed by the red wine. Once everyone was finished sampling the wine, we were served a demitasse cup of their strong coffee. As the group started their walk down the lane to the bus, there was a drizzle which turned into a light rain for the first ten minutes of the drive back to Las Palmas. Along the way, when slowing for a traffic roundabout, there was a cactus plant with purple fruit pods which was different from the yellow orange fruit pods we usually see. José mentioned that many Canarians emigrated to Cuba and Venezuela and some have returned. The lifestyle of the Canary Islands makes the immigrants returning to the homeland from Cuba and Venezuela comfortable since they are similar.
There are volcanoes on Gran Canaria and today many were topped with clouds. We could see the ocean as the road followed the coast. The waves looked to be just one meter high. The temperature was about 23°C when we returned to the ship.
In our stateroom was a plate of five pieces of different kinds of cake, a snack for Crown & Anchor Loyalty status Diamond members or higher tier. We grabbed our laptops and left the ship for the shopping mall just 400 meters away to connect to the mall Wi-Fi. Larry posted over 100 photos from the past few days while I downloaded my GPS device. While busy on our laptops, our dining room waiter stopped to say hello. He had a few hours of time off in the port. When we returned we stopped at the Diamond Club to get cappuccinos to take back to our stateroom and enjoy our snack on the balcony.
We met Sue and John for dinner at our usual table. In between courses, our waiter, Sivakumar, showed all of us photos of his wife and five year old son in India. I don’t remember their names. They live on the family farm with Sivakumar’s mother. Sivakumar’s wife is a seamstress. His mother makes jasmine flower necklaces for festival days.
After dinner the show performer was Pete Matthews, a juggler. Later we went to the Two70° lounge for a quiet drink. As we were leaving there was an announcement that the aerial performers for the Spectra’s Cabaret would be rehearsing in a few minutes. The two dozen guests had the option of staying to watch. When we saw Spectra’s Cabaret show last night there were no aerial performers. It could have been determined that the ship was too rocky for safety, but we did not notice the ship rocking during last night’s performance.
Total steps 14,374
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