Day 09 - Mon - 11/10/2025 - Arrecife, Anzarote, Canary Islands

 Today was our last stop in the Canary Islands.  Each of the islands are so different and this one turned out to be the most different in that it is truly a desert.   There are literally dozens of volcanoes or cinder cones plainly viewable.  Virtually all of the ground apart from the buildings is volcanic ash.  In fact, they use a technique of covering the soil with a very thin layer of ash which insulates the soil during the day from the sun, collects the dew and deposits it into the soil at night.  But I get ahead of myself.


We arrived in port at 7am in the dark.  Our tour was scheduled to meet at 9am in the Princess Theater, so we ate a small breakfast and then joined our friends, JoAnn & Gary so we'd be assigned the same bus. The tour took us about 30 kilometers or 18 miles outside the city of Arrecife and made 4 stops:  a viewpoint at the top of a volcano, a lava tube, a cactus garden, and an art gallery.  The tour was about 4 hours long and gave us a good lay of the land. The specific names of the stops in the order we visited them are:


1. Mirador del Rio

2. Jameos del Agua

3. Cactus Garden

4. Castillo de San Jose









On the drive into town, we spotted an IKEA, but we had no time to visit it.  Because of the desert climate, all of the houses are painted white to reflect the sun.  


We would normally walk into the town, but once again at this port it was a long walk in.  We later learned that the walk into town from the ship was about 45 minutes.  At the end of the tour, they wouldn't let us walk back to the ship as the tour operator was responsible for us to be deposited at the terminal door.  So after reaching the terminal we walked a short distance from the terminal back to the marina to visit a grocery store and found a little cafe where we enjoyed a crab sandwich and a Coke Zero.  We then walked back to the ship and were back on board a little before 2:15pm.  


Our all aboard time was 3:30pm, and the Captain came on the PA system with his departure announcement shortly after that indicating we would have a 3 day voyage to Southampton, our turnaround port.  This will require an average speed of 17.75 knots. I ended up watching the sail away from our balcony as the terminal was on our side of the ship.  Around 3:45pm, the LOVE BOAT theme was  played on the ship's horn and the thrusters moved us away from the dock.  Propellors were engaged and we headed out to sea making a sweeping left hand turn to head north.  I watched the port leave us behind and enjoyed conversation with Gaz, our next door neighbor who's from the UK.  He indicated that he and his wife and flying back to Tenerife for the Christmas holiday and will be there for a month.  With the ship underway, the sea breeze was quite comfortable.  


Showtime tonight was Sam Bailey, winner of the X Factor TV show.  She was quite a good singer and talked about her life journey and winning the show.  Afterwards we attended the game show, "What's on the Box?" It was a game show about vintage TV shows (mainly British).  There was a spirited competition between the two sides of the room.  Most of the shows, I had no clue about, but many in the audience were very familiar with them.  Afterwards I tried to see the Sam Bailey show again, but it was totally full.  So we went to the Magically Bones magic show in the Vista Lounge.  We saw him on our last voyage, but he was fun to watch.  


Angela did her normal late night karaoke and I returned to the stateroom.


Tomorrow is Veterans Day or Remembrance Day.  It will be celebrated with a service at 9am and throughout the ship 2 minutes of silence will be celebrated at 11am.


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