Spirit of Discovery blog

An overnight hop south at a relatively swift speed brought us to the Canary archipelago. Passing the dry looking, mountainous north-eastern tip of Tenerife at early-riser’s breakfast time afforded those on the starboard side of the ship a good view of Punta de Antequera, a mile or so distant as the sun prepared to rise.

Our local pilot hopped on just before we swung the ship at the harbour breakwater tip, and backed up to be alongside and ready to allow everyone off by 08:30. It looked to be another fine day, weather-wise, with a breeze from the northeast adding only a tinge of freshness to an otherwise sunny, warm day.

There were two German cruise ships docked in port with us today, and being German of course they had got in ahead of us (although had not necessarily bagged the best berths…). One of these ships was clearly hosting some sort of beer-fest party, with cheerful singalong music blasting off the top deck and hundreds of silhouettes bouncing along in time, gigantic beer glasses firmly clasped in hands…

In an effort to shift my focus from that of Germany, I studied the tours brochure for today at my desk. “Tea at the Orchid Gardens” one was entitled. Well that sounded delightful, and would surely steer clear of anything under Angela Merkel’s recent care. So you can imagine my shock upon reading that the tour was due to visit Humboldt viewpoint, before driving through Mercedes Forest…

My thoughts turned to Spain again, upon noticing one of the off-duty port officials napping, slumped against the harbour wall in the shade, at which time I decided to pop off for some tapas myself…

Kind Regards
Captain Kim Tanner