LANZAROTE TO LAS PALMAS, CANARY ISLANDS

LANZAROTE

LANZAROTE

Lanzarote, a Spanish Island, is the most eastern of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 125 km off the coast of Morroco, Africa  has a volcanic origin and a desert-like climate.
For those of you who are Doctor Who fans 2 episodes were filmed here, (1984) Planet of Fire and (2014) Kill the Moon.
We arrived in Lanzarote Halloween, October 31,2014. in the new and stylish, modern, very trendy marina with upscale shops, many restaurants from Chinese and Indian, to Sushi and Italian.
To our great delight we met up with Martha and Bob once more and spent several very pleasant evenings enjoying the food and bars.
The only way to see the island is in a car, so set off to see the island's main attraction Timanfaya National Park which consists entirely of volcanic soil.  Public access to the park is strictly regulated to protect the delicate flora and fauna.  We were able to take a 45 min. bus tour thru the park. Although the landscape looks dry and brown I was fascinated by the sheer beauty.

The following day we visited the Jardin de Cactus in the village of Guatize the most spectacular garden I've ever seen with 1400  types of cacti and over 1000 different species from America, Madagascar ant the Canary Islands.  I was awe struck from the very first moment we entered this magical place.

JARDIN DE CACTUS

I took 50 pictures of just cacti and I love every one of them, so hopefully these five will give you some idea of how beautiful this garden is.
A few days later we arrived in Las Palmas, green and lush with vegetation.



















Las Palms is the capital of Gran Canaria and the "home port" or starting point for the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers).  An annual event every November since 1986, it is the deparature point for boats crossing the Atlantic from Europe to the Caribbean.

The start of the ARC is something very special because more than 200 boats of all sizes set off across the Atlantic.  Start day begins with the local brass band marching around the marina, serenading the boats as they make final preparations and say goodbye.

While Wolfgang made his final preparations for the 3 week crossing and waited for his crew (brother, Erik and nephew, Christian) to arrive, I made flight  arrangements for Toronto.

BEFORE CROSSING

DURING CROSSING

AFTER CROSSING

The Captain had installed special equipment in order to send and receive emails, so we kept in touch almost daily.  I was also able to follow their progress via an ARC app that detailed all boat's positions and distance covered.

My time in Canada is best described in pictures.........