CANARY ISLANDS NATURE TOUR, Part 2: Guest Post by Susan Kean

 

View from the top of crater over to Las Palmas. Canary Islands.

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George recently toured the Canary Islands on a nature tour. I thank her for sharing her impressions and terrific photos with The Intrepid Tourist.

Today’s adventure in the Gran Canaria was learning about their indigenous people and checking out the main volcanic crater on the island. Relevant to today’s times, the Canary Island folks were very grateful to the CIA who gave them a heads up in 1971 about an impending earthquake. In those days Spain had no earthquake prediction systems and the CIA were in the Atlantic and observed some activity. This early warning helped save lives.

Cave. (Note tiny cars on lower right for scale.)

It is believed that the earliest people came to Gran Canaria in the 3rd Century. They were from North Africa, similar to the Berbers in Morocco. It is not known how they got there but they may have been brought by the Romans. 

Skeleton.

The early people came prepared--bringing seeds, animals, everything they needed for existence. They lived in caves, similar to those of some indigenous people in the North America.

We had a Tapas lunch in a cave restaurant. Our restaurant was in a cave dug into the hillside.

Center statue is a model of an indigenous statue found on a hillside.

The last day of our Nature Trek trip to Gran Canaria was spent near our hotel at Valley Agaete Necropolis where we learned how the indigenous people buried their dead in raised stone tombs because it was impossible to dig graves in the lava rock. This was during 7th to 11th century.

Stone tomb.

We also had a wonderful time wine tasting and lunch at Finca La Laja farm where they grow coffee, grapes, all kinds of citrus, bananas and every fruit you can think of--almost. The climate is a bit cooler than California and has more rain.

Winery at Finca La Laia.

Opuntia.

Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) was imported from America to grow the cochineal insect to produce red coloring. The cactus is everywhere now.

Feral cats.

Ferry approaching the pier in small harbor near our hotel. I found the lava cliffs coming down to the ocean spooky. 

Part 1 of Susan's trip to the Canary Islands posted last week, May 26, 2025. Part 3 will post next week, June 9, 2025.

GREECE: Pelion and Thessaloniki, Guest Post by Lucas Gutierrez-Arnold

We rented a four-person bike to pedal along the waterfront in Thessaloniki.

In May, my grandson Lucas spent two weeks in Greece and Turkey with his family—my daughter Jennifer, her husband Humberto, and my granddaughter Alessandra. During the trip Lucas kept a log of some of their activities as part of his school assignment. I am delighted that he has agreed to share some of his posts with The Intrepid Tourist. Lucas just finished fifth grade. The trip was organized around a professional conference Jennifer was attending in Thessaloniki.

Kayak trip in Pelion, from Damouchari beach to Fakistra beach.

Day 4: Pelion

I woke up, had breakfast, and went for what was meant to end up as a walk.  But later on in the walk we passed by a place that gave kayak tours, and so we went on one. Our first stop was in a cove where Greek women and children hid during WW II while their husbands and fathers were in the Resistance. We saw engravings in the limestone, the latest from 1936 when the war started. Next we went to see a couple of sea caves.  One of them was the biggest sea cave on that side of Pelion. In that cave I saw some stalactites almost 70 cm long. Later, after we got home from kayaking, we went to see a 1000 year old tree that was pretty short and stubby but very wide!

The White Tower in Thessaloniki.

Day 6 : Thessaloniki

I woke up very early so my mom could get bright and early to her conference. After my mom left, my dad and my sister and I went to see the White Tower. There was a very interesting little red panel outside. It said that the White Tower used to be called the Red Tower because executions took place on the White Tower’s top and the executioners let the blood run down the sides. The reason it is called the White Tower now is because  a convict white-washed the whole entire tower in exchange for his freedom.  Once we got inside the tower you had to go up a winding tunnel to get to the top. At the top of the tower you had a great view of the port, which  gave the Thessalonians  control over the port because of the high vantage point.

View of Thessaloniki at night.