Visiting the Canary Islands

Published March 12th, 2008

We stumbled upon a holiday to the Canary Islands quite by accident. I was to visit my husband for 2 weeks while he was studying in England. While online he discovered that the Canaries are a popular and very inexpensive last-minute tourist destination for those in Western Europe (kind of like us Canadians going down to Cuba, the Dominican, and Mexico), so we got a great deal and went!

The Canary Islands are technically a part Spain, but actually located off the West coast of Africa! We stayed on the largest island called Tenerife. There are 2 airports, one in the South, and one in the North–make sure you fly into the one that is closest to your hotel! We didn’t know this until right before we left. Thankfully, we did a web search and found the efficient and inexpensive public transport bus system in Tenerife called TITSA, their site is www.titsa.com Here is a link to a colour map of the island with all of the routes, you can zoom in on this map to get a closer look. We stayed at a hotel in Callao salvaje on the Southwest coast. The hotel was clean, but nothing special (we weren’t complaining since we only spent $300 a person for 4 nights including flight and taxes), and we mostly just went there to sleep.

During the day we did a lot of walking: Many of the little towns and resort areas blend together as you walk along the coast. This geographical area is known for its volcanic rock, so the natural beaches have black sand. For the tourists, they’ve trucked in a lot of white sand and you can find these “blue flag” beaches that are European approved for the lie-in-the-sun types. There is a big flea market we checked out, but nothing we were interested in buying.

I definitely recommend enjoying some local cuisine while in the Canaries. Much of the food is similar to what is eaten in Spain, such as paella or Spanish tortilla, but mojo sauces and Canarian potatoes are unique to these islands and must be tried! Some of the dishes we enjoyed were pan fried Manchego cheese in a mojo verde, “Puchero canario”, a delicious thick chick pea stew, and “Pappas arugadas”, small potatoes boiled in salt water then baked and served with a mojo sauce. The Canarians also enjoy seafood as well as beef dishes, and cook using delicious green peppercorns, a lot of garlic, and olive oil.

We are not big drinkers, but really enjoyed the Canarian wine, often made with the Malvasia grape. It’s inexpensive and can be found in little markets and shops all over the island. It has a really mellow flavour, and is not too sweet. One night we got some take-out, picked up a bottle of wine for 2 euros on the way home, and had one of our most memorable meals on our balcony.

A popular tourist destination in Tenerife is Mount Teide, a dormant volcano towards the middle of the island. There are tours that go out that way, or you could take the public transport buses. You will likely have to take a transfer if you do this, so it’s really important to plan your route and timing before going out there.

Our splurge on the trip was a guided tour of the near by island of La Gomera. For 55 euros each a coach picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel, we got a ferry ride to and from the island, a guided tour with ample stops, and a delicious lunch at a beautiful resort on the island. It ended up being a pretty good deal considering the ferry alone charged 30 euros per person return. We really enjoyed this day, we would never have seen so much of the island had we attempted to come on our own, let alone navigate the windy narrow mountain roads full of tour buses!

On the return trip through Madrid I stopped at the McDonald’s in the airport and stocked up on these boxes of to-die-for double dark chocolate mini cookies I’ve not seen in North America. I say stocked up, but I had eaten them all before returning to Canada a week later!

Writing about this trip has brought back a lot of good memories. If you get a chance to visit this wonderful place, may you enjoy the delicious food and wine, beautiful scenery, and great people!

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