Sunday, Lazarote, Canary Islands

Left the ship about 9:30 AM after checking with the Destination Expert re: getting a taxi to tour the Northern part of the island. We had been here about 5 years ago and loved the tour to the national park which contained lots of volcanoes. 95 € for a taxi to take 4 of us to two resort towns on the coast ( Playa del Carmen and Cabrera) and into the park. Quite a deal as the cruise line tour was $99 per person for 3 1/2 hours!

We left in just a few minutes on surprising good roads. The island is very clean - no litter, sidewalks swept clean ( in one place using a palm frond as a broom), and whitewashed buildings. Playa Del Carmen had streets lined with shops and restaurants and a lovely beach (bathing suit tops optional). Perfect photo op spot ... Then on our way to Cabrera, also on the water and with a large marina filled with sailboats, waterbuses, and chartered boats taking people around the coastal area. Menus posted outside of restaurants had very reasonable prices. Lots of tourists from Greece, Germany and Sweden according to our daily info sheet. Back In the taxi and off to the Timanfaya Naional Park (the terrain looks like it did after the last major volcanic eruptions in the 18th and 19 th centuries). The island has 100 volcanoes and is 70 miles off the coast of Africa - the most easterly of the Canary Islands.

Car and bus traffic is monitored into the park...due to limited parking. We paid 8 €/ person for a 45 minutes bus tour of the park and its amazing scenery. Will post links to pictures later. Then off we went to briefly visi a Wine Bodega and souvenir shop and explore a bit of downtown Arrecife, the town near our dock. We paid our very nice driver who with minimal English managed to tell us a bit about each of the places where we stopped. Art finally found a pair of shorts....he had forgotten to pack any and the weather is getting warmer! Now he is set for our stop tomorrow at another of the 7 Canary Islands..

Back at the ship, we relaxed until time to dress for dinner ... Tonight at one of the specialty restaurants - Jacques - with Marilyn and Wally and Ann and Steve. Food was good with, as always, lots of choices and good service. Although we are really enjoying the many dining options and open seating on Oceania, we are missing some of our favorite things from Celebrity! Especially the evening cocktail hour for Elite level Captain's Club members and the specialty restaurants ( even though they entail an extra charge and are free on Oceania) clearly each line has its own best features.

Off to bed early since we weren't interested in listening to the Violinist who was the featured artist tonight!

 

Posted with Blogsy