Birdless in the Canary Islands

Today’s port stop was the town of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria is part of the Spanish island cluster called the Canary Islands. Las Palmas is the islands’ largest city and is co-capital with another town on a different island (Santa Cruz on Tenerife).

Yeah, I didn’t know that level of detail either until about 24 hours ago.

The Canary Islands are just off the northwestern tip of Africa. It is a collection of 8 main islands. We only saw Gran Canaria, which is a rather round island that would take about 8 hours to drive completely around. It has a busy port on the top right (northeast). The tourists – we were told they are mostly white and predominantly British – hang out on the southern and western parts. The tourist spots are apparently very resorty and expensive and not terribly representative of Real Life. And hardly any locals live there.

A local beach in Agaete, not touristy at all.
Also, observation suggests bikini tops are optional.

Las Palmas was very cloudy and reportedly stays
that way most days. The south and west part of
Gran Canaria get the sun. And therefore the tourists.

Today we took a tour to the top left (northwestern) part of Gran Canaria. We never did get to see the Fancypants parts of the island. Nor did we see any canaries. Nope, no adorable little yellow birds anywhere to be found.

Some of the mountains reminded me
of Kauai, but MUCH drier and browner.

Turns out the Canary Islands are NOT named for the bird. The bird is actually named for the islands, despite being conspicuously absent today. The name “canary” supposedly comes from the closest approximation for the Latin word for “dog” – especially the loud, barking variety. 

What?  

Yep. Local lore says that early Roman explorers (the Latin speakers) noted a preponderance of loud, barking dogs on the islands, and they named their conquest accordingly. Except that there isn’t a history of dogs being on the islands back then. But…they did have lots of monk seals. And seals make a lot of noise, sort of like dogs barking. So, it is widely thought that the Canary Islands were named after noisy seals.

Isn’t travel fun?!?

Our tour today was a 45-minute drive around the northern part of the island to a winery. Yep, news to me, too – I had no idea wine is made on the Canary Islands.

Along the way we got to see lots of banana farms, and we learned how none of the locals can afford to buy Canary Island bananas. We also learned that although the Canary Islands are part of Spain, the Canarians only embrace their Spanish-hood when Spain is playing in the World Cup (like, right now). Otherwise, with a long history of various nations assuming ownership, the folks in the Canary Islands are fiercely proud of their island heritage and residency and concede to their Spanish roots only when necessary.

This is a banana field!
I desperately wanted to try a Canary Island banana.
However, our guide told us that almost all of them 
are exported. The local bananas are so expensive, 
the ones in the grocery stores are mostly from 
South America. Bummer!

The winery tour portion of our day was amusingly bizarre.

Offered by a family who seemed pretty new to the tour game, we received very little information about the wine, the family, winemaking, what grapes grow on the islands, anything winey, really. They didn’t even tell us how much a bottle of their wine costs (20 Euros – we had to ask in the gift shop. Spoiler alert: we didn't buy any). Like I said, tour novices by all appearances.

Instead, we sampled some particularly sweet wines after we learned how coffee is made. As you do.

This is the winery's only coffee roaster.
To be fair, the lightly roasted Arabica
coffee was some of the best I've ever
had, but I didn't trust her promise that
the caffeine was mild and wouldn't
keep me awake. $ure thing.

We sat at tables of six cruisers with a variety of snacks to share. We assumed they were for pairing with our wines but no instructions were ever provided. There was a glass full of forks but plates were never offered. We improvised with napkins and serving platters.

Photo taken while awaiting directions.
Still waiting...

As wine made from grapes we had never heard of was being poured, we were – naturally – told what to mix in a bowl to make a condiment of some sort (our tour description suggested it was a mojo – our “tour guide” never said). Cumin, paprika, oil, and “the sour one” (vinegar) were involved. Why were we doing this? We have no idea.

Rob smashed up a fantastic mojo!
I ate most of it, surprising nobody.

We were then given a plate of hot, egg-sized, boiled potatoes. Of course! Our table decided the potatoes were for the paprika sauce. We actually have no idea.  

My one souvenir from the Canary Islands.
The recipes look simple enough – except
for instructions like "1 nyora pepper to thicken"
and "1 coffee cup of olive oil." I'm pretty
sure they don't mean American coffee cups...

Our Funhouse Maze of a tour was – so predictably – capped off with some hand lotion dolloped on willing hands. We were assured it could be purchased in the nearby gift shop, for reasons that remain unknown.

Little of our visit to Finca La Laja & Bodega Los Berrazales made sense. And while I learned more about Canary Island wines from Google and by staring at a wine shelf in a portside grocery store, I absolutely got my excursion money’s worth in head-scratching entertainment!

The Basics of Canary Islands Wine:
Both reds and whites are made, there
are only a few producers, and they are
apparently known for reflecting the
minerals of the volcanic soil that
comprises the islands.

Rob and I agreed that despite the Spanish stew of a tour we found ourselves on, we enjoyed the Canary Islands more than Cape Verde. The mountains were beautiful, and I loved seeing all the banana plants. The locals seemed pretty chill, too. We agreed that while we won’t make any special efforts to return to the Canary Islands (Hawaii is MUCH closer), we wouldn’t be sad if a future cruise included a stop. We just might choose a more…conventional…tour. Or not!

Next stop: Casablanca/Marrakesh, Morocco!

The water was beautifully clear! And the breeze
was refreshing. I can imagine why tourists
flock here for sun and sand!