As the most famous of all the Canary Islands,

this island provides a diverse landscape from a snowcapped

mountain of Pico de Teide (noted as Spain's highest) to mile-

long beaches of Playa de las Americas. It may only take a day

to drive around this island, but it will require many days to see

all its treasures. The southern beaches are a favorite

destination for Europeans where they spend their days sunbathing

under colorful umbrellas and their evenings dining and clubbing

along the beachfront promenade.

Don't miss our interview with Thor Heyerdahl!

Photos from Tenerife


After driving primarily in first gear straight up hill for an hour, we arrived at El Teide National Park which provided some of the most spectacular sights on the island.	The pool at Hotel Estefania - "Boy, a nice swim would have felt good after a long hike" - but for us a wet suit would have been needed.


'Dog's Bar' the sign says ~ not limited to dogs as we found at this quaint restaurant that allows farm animals to roam freely throughout the grounds and under dining tables.	This well-stocked tapas bar in Puerto de la Cruz, Casa Miranda, provided a variety of cured hams and sausages, friendly waiters and great local wines.


Our crowning moment was a day at the Piramides de Guimar where we spent an hour with Dr. Thor Heyerdahl discussing his project on Tenerife and other locations around the world.	The Piramides de Guimar represent a civilization that existed thousands of years prior to Spanish rule and resemble those that are found in other locations around the world such as Peru, Mexico, the South Pacific and Mesopotamia.

Taking the "Good" with the "Bad": During our travels to these

islands, we recorded each island's good and bad points. Of course,

these are our observations and opinions to share with you as a quick

overview of the island.

The "Good"	The "Bad"
Great weather day and evening (and no biting bugs) - we avoided the rainy periods that they had for three weeks prior to our arrival	Free of invisible biting bugs, but plenty of pesky flies during the day
Diverse landscape from green forests to arid dry deserts and always blue skies	Some claim that the brown cloud that hangs around the island is sand blown from Africa - may be some of it could be from the half million cars and trunks that are constantly buzzing around on the highways
Our hike through the Valley of Las Canadas at El Teide was magical and serene - "thank goodness, no cars"	Immigrant Africans peddling anything and everything at your dinner table along the promenade in Los Cristanos - "no gracias means... NO and go away"
Again, finding excellent Canarian dishes at a local tapas bar near our hotel, marinated olives and octopus, homegrown almonds, salt-soaked potatoes with Canary sauces and local wines	Some out of the way local restaurants cater to the all-day patrons - their Sunday event - no fast food service here! "Did we look that American?"

A SPECIAL THANKS: We appreciate the "tourist

assistance" of Orlando Gleixner of Hotel Monopol in Puerto

de la Cruz, Tenerife. Most notably, our visit to Tenerife

would not have been as successful without Luigi De-Giorgi

at IDA International - who knew how to show us all the

island's beauty in such little time. Luigi can help make

accommodation arrangements for you on all of the islands;

contact him via e-mail at idaint@yahoo.com or check out

his web site at www.canary-holiday.com

An interview with Dr.Thor Heyerdahl: During our visit, we had

the pleasure to spend one fascinating hour with the world-renown

anthropologist, who has devoted his life's work in studying primitive

watercraft and aboriginal navigation across oceans. In 1947, Heyerdahl

and six othes sailed an authentic, native-built balsa wood raft from Peru to

Polynesia to prove his theory that pre-Inca Indians in South America

may have been the first humans to inhabit the islands of the eastern

Pacific. This voyage of the “Kon-Tiki” became the best selling book

after the Bible, and still holds the world record of being translated

into 67 different languages.

With the support of Heyerdahl and his

team, excavations on a group of step

pyramids started on Tenerife in 1997.

The discovery of an extensive cave under

one of the pyramids has revealed that it

was used as a native commune before the

arrival of the Spaniards in the fifteenth

century.

In 1999, the Ethnographic Park of the Pyramids of Guimar opened to

the public with a display of impressive exhibits with cultural traces from

the Old to the New Worlds. The focal points of the park are full-size

Peruvian-built replicas of papyrus reed boats, similar to “Ra II”, the native

raft used by Heyerdahl in 1970 on his voyage from Africa across the

Atlantic to Barbados.

We want to thank Brigitte Gypen, Director of the Piramides de Guimar,

for arranging the opportunity for us to explore the Old World with those

who make it their life. Check out their web site for more information on

the pyramides and Dr. Heyerdahl's work at ~> www.piramidesdeguimar.net