Cruise Buzz

Port Buzz: Canary Islands visit to Fire Mountains via Silversea 

Port: Arrecife in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, Spain

Silver Spirit made the first of three port calls in the Canary Islands to complete our 9-night Spain and Canary Island voyage that started 7 days ago in Barcelona.

Our journey has taken a turn (a pitch and a roll)

Silver Spirit headed south to the Canary Islands after a week of port calls to Spain and one to Morocco for a quick visit to Casablanca.  After a long sea day that had a lot of guests hugging their pillows hoping the current and movement of the swells would go away, we arrived to Arrecife for the day.

Fire on the Mountain

My shore leave was spent on a four-hour excursion to Montana de Fuego (Fire Mountains) in the Timanfaya National Park.

Our motor coach took a scenic trip to the coastal resort town of Puerto del Carmen before heading to Timanfaya National Park where we learned about the history of the island and the role the volcanoes (plural, there are many).

 

The brochure promised bizarre scenery

The whole area presents a bizarre scenery reminiscent of a lunar landscape covered with cinder and slag.

 

 

Lanzarote’s  mountain range emerged in 1730 as the result of massive volcanic eruptions. The eruptions lasted for six years, and cruise visitors on this tour will be treated to a windy-twisty well-manicured pathway showcasing the landscape.

 

Our tour made a stop to the park’s headquarters where we were shuffled through a demonstration showing the violent forces beneath the earth’s crust. We got to touch volcanic rocks that were warm to the touch; we watched a demonstration of a burning bush, and watched steam spout from having water pored into a specialized hole.

 

The whole area is reminiscent of a sci-fi back-lot in Hollywood. The highlight of my day was riding a one-humped camel in the volcano national park.

 

Bucket List – Dromedary Ride

 

After learning about Montana de Fuego, we stopped at the camel station where the camels transported us across the terrain. Silversea guests on tour rode in a camel-train over the volcanic dunes, which lie at the entrance to the Timanfaya National Park.

Did someone say wine?

The last part of the tour was a visit to a winery in the La Geria region.

 

The wine was actually good and it was inspiring to see how farmers were able to adapt their growing methods to the region. La Geria is the main agricultural area on Lanzaraote. There are interesting uses of volcanic rock that shield crops from the elements.