I slept great and was surprised to see it’s six am when I woke. We don’t arrive at our port, Arrecife, until 10 am so no need to rush today. Arrecife is a town on the island of Lanzarote which is one of the Canary Islands.
I got dressed and slipped out with my Tervis cup and ipad to journal. It’s not too cold outside but the wind really whipped up my hair when I filled my mug. Sometime after bedtime last night I had a WhatsApp message from our tour guide, Lanzarote Guides, with information on how to find them today including an image. Very nice touch!
Sister T and I had breakfast in the buffet. I had a ham and cheese omelette with country potatoes.
Tried a chocolate croissant for the first time and it was tasty. I didn’t care for the cinnamon roll.
Lanzarote
Once it was daylight, we could see the island and watched us get nearer and nearer.
I took photos of the coastline.
There was one ship in port already,; it was an Aida cruise ship. The Epic was cleared at 10 but we didn’t need to meet our tour until 11:15. We got off and followed the directions and found our guide right past the port checkpoint. She checked our names off and told us where the bus was parked and the number (3).
It was a double decker (not open) and we went upstairs and found seats. The bus eventually filled up. Once we got going, we learned it held 92 people. Unfortunately we sat in the middle upstairs which meant we were the last to get off taking a precious 5 or more minutes off each short stop.
We had booked the South Shore tour which had four stops in five hours for 30 euros each. Once we took off, the bus headed towards the wine valley of La Geria.
I was immediately struck by the lack of vegetation. It was interesting to see how plants and grape vines were protected by rocks.
Winery Stop
The first stop was at a winery. There were many wineries in the area and our stop was at Bodegas Barreto. I took advantage of the free samples (if I recall correctly three types). Then spent the rest of the 15 minutes in line for the ladies room. You can see the lines off to the left of the photo above.
Before boarding, I took a quick snap of sister T. Unfortunately, other passengers weren’t as considerate and we waited 10 more minutes while they shopped.
Green Lake
Second stop was the green lake (not so impressive as you see).
I found the seashore more beautiful.
I had enough time here to grab a half tomato and cheese sandwich after photos.
Camel Ride
Third stop was for the camel ride. It’s an extra 6 euros per person and well worth it for the 20 minute ride on these creatures.
The bus pulled up to a group of camels waiting for riders.
We waited by the camels until they were ready to be loaded up.
They were higher up than I realized.
Our camel seemed younger and wanted to go to the side and see where he/she was going constantly.
His head was always near one of the people on the camel ahead of us.
The scenery was amazing and it was a wonderful experience.
We had to get right back on the bus after; no time for restroom.
National Park
Last stop was in the national park where we had demonstrations. First was feeling the heat of the rocks from one area.
Very hot; you could hold them for a while only by changing hands.
Second they demonstrated a pit where if you put straw down there, it would catch on fire.
Last demonstration was to pour water down a vent and it shot back up in 3 seconds as a big plume of steam.
We then had time for quick restroom stop although some did shop; I didn’t even see the gift shop. The picture below is of Delores in the steam vent area before water was poured down it telling people to move away.
The next parts of the park we drove through were fascinating scenery. In the photo below you can see five or six craters.
We got pretty close to this crater.
We got back to the port and onboard about 5 pm (all aboard was 5:30). Our guide, Delores, was great at corralling the large group and telling us about what we were seeing so. I did tip her for a great job. However, I wouldn’t recommend or take the tour again solely because of the group size.
I took a quick shower before we headed to Shanghai’s getting there about 5 minutes before they opened.
Shanghai’s Noodle Bar
We decided to sit at at the noodle bar. My starter was shrimp dumplings.
Sister T had fried spring rolls and shared half of one with me (yum to both). Since we really hadn’t had a lunch, we were both quite hungry.
I ordered the Singapore noodles and combination fried rice.
Those noodles are spicy! Sister T. Had the beef noodles and chicken fried rice.
For dessert I had the chocolate cake.
Sister T. had the tropical fruit salad.
We left satisfied but not too full. Then we split up for the night. I went to Shakers and had a couple of cocktails before heading to the theater for the 7:30 show. It was a female singer but since I misplaced the Freestyle Daily don’t remember the name.
We have to meet our tour at 8:15 am tomorrow so I went back to the cabin and read a while before lights out.
Steps today were 8,815 for 3.1 miles.
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