Cruise to the Canaries 2025

A winter cruise to the Canaries via Spain on the way there and on the way back. The weather was pleasant throughout but not as good as the previous year, but we had a very hot day on a catamaran watching pilot whales.

It was lovely to have the opportunity to go on alternative trips in ports we had visited before.

La Coruna

Monumento á Virxe do Carme. (Virgin of Carmel)

This monument/fountain was a short walk from the pier and is a significant religious monument, celebrating the deep connection between Galicia and the sea.

Santa Anton

The castle of San Antón is a 16th Century castle that was part, together with the Castle of Santa Cruz and the Castle of San Diego, of a strategic network of castles and batteries to defend the city of La Coruña.

The Maritime Control Tower (Torre de Salvamento Marítimo)

The maritime control tower, designed by architect Luis Serrano Castañer includes the Harbour Master's Office in the lower part of the building.

Breogán

This sculpture near the Tower of Hercules represents Breogán, a legendary figure closely tied to Galician identity.

The Tower of Hercules

The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium.

Rosa dos Ventos. A wind rose just in front of the Tower.

The view from the tower of the estuary.

A bronze statue of Charon by the Orense artist Ramón Conde, of whom there are many other statues throughout the city.

A Black Redstart.

The sea front. Quite interesting lamp posts ...

... and interesting street art, a mural of Hercules and Neptune ,,,

... and peculiar statues. A statue of a Roman Soldier by Fernando Botero

Seagulls are very laid back.

Finally the surfer's fountain and ...

... the "Monumento a Don Bosco" (Monument to Don Bosco) refers to various statues and memorials honouring Saint John Bosco, the founder of the Salesians, found globally in places like Italy, Spain (Malaga, Utrera), and Argentina, often depicting him with children, symbolizing his life's work of educating disadvantaged youth. These monuments, some featuring intricate designs or located in prominent spots like roundabouts, serve to remember his legacy of spiritual guidance and vocational training, with the first erected in his hometown in 1898.

Continuing the theme of statues, a couple at the cruise terminal.

The Fountain of the Sun, Fame, and Angel, as it is known, is dedicated to the sun, the goddess of fortune, and the mystical cherub who announces good news.

Madeira

Madeira is an island with two climates divided by the mountain range. In the north of the island the vegetation is very green and almost damp. The forests are crossed with many "Lavadas" open water channels with a very gentle gradient and walking trails that run alongside. The walking trails are very popular given their negligible gradient. The ever so gently sloping water channels collect rain water and bring it to large storage tanks lower down the mountain.

This is a little chapel at the Ribeiro Frio café on the Levada Furado where there is also a souvenir shop and the Posto Aquícola do Ribeiro Frio, a trout hatchery.

Next stop the rum factory at Alagoa, "Rum 970".

The factory is still in use and is stem powered.

The beach at Alagoa.

We found a cat, that found some bark that is now his.

A lovely tiled image on the post office.

More tiles, at the car park.

This is the view from Miradouro de Machico looking towards Ilheu da Cevada or "Barley Islet."

This is Manchico and its beach.

In Canico on the outskirts of Funchal there is a statue of Christ the Redeemer set on a cliff top.

This is Funchal seen from the base of the statue. Arcadia is the cruise ship with the blue funnel.

A walk through Funchal.

There are numerous statues and monuments all along the green spaces of the "Aviendo do Mar" or Sea Avenue which is quite wide with many bars and kiosks.

Ricardo Jorge's 1989 mermaid statue in the marina.

A fountain on the "Aviendo do Mar"

The monument to the emigrants from Madeira.

"Do Outro Lado do Oceano" or "On the Other Side of the Ocean".

The "Monument to Madeiran Business People".

Monument to the "Football Player", not any specific one; he crops up later.

Fortress of Sao Tiago

The Christmas decorations were just being put up; another week and Funchal is a riot of coloured lights.

Lurking behind the Cathedral is a statue of Dr. Francisco Fulgencio Andrade (1899-1970) who was born on Madeira and worked as a teacher at the seminary in Funchal after study in Rome. He was also a broadcaster, writer and journalist for the Jornal da Madeira. The bust is on the south side of Funchal Cathedral in Funchal on Rua da Sé. It is the work of sculptors Soares Branco and José Simão Castelo Branco from 1998.

The Cathedral (Our Lady Of Assumption) of Funchal.

Some footballer, apparently quite good. Appears to be popular with the ladies and the children who like to hold his hand.

The square and statue of autonomy is a beautiful thing. It represents geology as well society. A strong muscular lady on erupting lava. Made by Brazilian artist it represents Madeira.

A trip on the top deck of the Hop On Hop Off bus to Cabo Lobos from the port at Funchal.

The parish church of Sao Martinho.

A mural in Cabo Lobos.

Cabo Lobos

The coast between Cabo Lobos and Funchal. Lots of development in the past but development is now quite limited.

Almost every slope is terraced and small farms are everywhere.

The roads are narrow and quite steep in places but there are serried ranks of banana palms on the terraced slopes.

Tenerife

The hottest day of the cruise spent on the water lounging in a catamaran looking for Whales and Dolphins. A coach ride to Puerto Colon in the South West corner of Tenerife brought us to the catamaran that was to be our transport for the trip.

A pod of Pilot Whales resting just of the coast.

We cruised further along the cliffs to find a pod of Dolphins.

Some of the cruising boats were a little strange. I am not sure that the Vikings ever visited Tenerife but you never know.

La Palma

Here we took a leisurely coach trip to a number of sights in La Palma.

This is a Custard Apple tree.

La Palma is famous for its volcanos and this is part of the caldera of the largest one.

Tazacorte is a charming seaside hamlet.

This is a bus stop!

There was an opportunity to try some of the local wine and this mural was on the wall of the bodega.

A local lizard basking in the sun and then scurrying off at great speed.

Another mural.

Gran Canaria

We visited the Cathedral again (we visited the last time we were in Gran Canaria on a cruise) stopping at the gardens of the Santa Catalina Hotel enroute.

The hotel gardens had an interesting fountain.

Just by chance we looked at the ornamental pond and saw a number of fast flying butterflies. The Monarch Butterfly.

The Cathedral has interesting stained glass windows that appear to cast coloured light on the interior rather than depict a scene.

Arrecife de Lanzarote

A trip to Teguise and then La Casa de los Volcanes at Jameos del Agua.

This is the whitewashed village of Teguise. Buildings in Lanzarote are painted white and blue following the intervention of the artist, Cesar Manrique who was born on the island and is somewhat the hero leading the island to become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1993.

"Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" translates to "Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe" in English, referring to a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary as she appeared in Guadalupe, Mexico, a significant religious and cultural figure for Mexico and the Americas, often called the patron saint.

Teguise's "Blood Alley" (Callejón de La Sangre) is a historic, narrow cobbled street in the old town named for brutal pirate attacks where blood reportedly flowed down the stones, memorializing fierce battles between islanders and invaders in the 16th century.

In the Barbary pirate attack of 1571, the Marquis of Herrera managed to rally the residents and killed a large number of the attackers. In 1586, the opposite happened, and several residents died.

The numerous crosses in Teguise are a result of a long-standing Christian tradition, where the fourteen crosses scattered throughout the historic centre represent the Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis).

The Castillo Santa Barbara sits high up on Mount Guanapay overlooking Teguise, the old capital and the island of Lanzarote. King Felipe II ordered the castle to be built by Don Sanco de Herrera in the 16th Century as a watch tower to help protect the islanders from pirates and privateers such as Sir Francis Drake who was known as El Draque (The Dragon) to the Spanish.

Jameos del Agua is one of César Manrique’s most iconic artistic interventions, where nature and art merge in a unique volcanic environment. It is part of the lava tunnel formed by the eruption of the Volcán de la Corona, just like the Cueva de los Verdes. Its name comes from the interior lake created by seawater filtration, forming a unique ecosystem that is home to the blind albino crab (Munidopsis polymorpha), an endemic species of Lanzarote.

The entrance to the cavern leads down to a platform of rock and a thoughtfully placed café.

This is the view from the small window in gents facility, it is the back wall of the cavern delightfully lit.

This is the pool with the albino crabs seen from the entrance looking toward the platform at the other end of the cavern with a thoughtfully placed café.

The crabs are tiny.

Really, really tiny.

Looking back at the way in.

The cavern is only lit by the entrance and exit.

This is the way down to the pool seen from the exit end of the pool.

This is the man-made pool at the exit of the cavern with yet another thoughtfully placed café at the top of the stairs to the right.

The planting even in December is vibrant.

The view back over the man-made pool from the thoughtfully placed café showing the varied planting.

The flowering plants attract butterflies.

Cadiz

An excursion to Medina-Sidonia which is a Spanish-Moorish town about 20 miles from Cadiz, a quaint roadside taverna for a drink and then Conil de la Frontera, a beach town for lunch.

Medina-Sidonia is a historic hill-top town, known as a "white village" with extensive Roman and Moorish history, famous for its ducal seat, the powerful House of Medina Sidonia.

This is the Puerta Del Sol

Parish Church Matriz of Santa Maria La Mayor La Coronada, under repair.

This is the front door to the Jesus, Mary and Joseph Convent and closed order of nuns who sell sweets to the public. Your order and cash is placed inside the door and passed through to the nuns who pass the sweets back without either party ever seeing or speaking to the other.

The tavern was rustic as was the wine.

Conil de la Frontera, is a beach resort south of Cadiz which given that it was the end of November was mostly shut. We found a café for lunch and then sat near this curious installation and watched the sea.