Gran Canaria

It is hard to believe we have been here in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria for 2 weeks already.  I have shared driving a rental car with another crew member to do some sightseeing on my days off and that has been quite an adventure.  The car is a stick shift (thank you for all those years on the farm) and many here do not drive a stick shift or on the right side of the road so I got elected to drive by default.  One can drive around the island in an entire day and see beaches, sand dunes, and mountains as well as many delightful villages.  The mountainous roads are one lane with unbelievable switchbacks that never allow you to get out of 1st gear.  You honk the horn when you go around a bend to let anyone coming the other way know to wait.  At the worst, you have to back up to a space wide enough for 2 cars to pass.  At the best, you try to not be annoyed at the local drivers who come flying around the bend (in the middle of the road.) Ah, the excitement!  It is absolutely beautiful here.

                                           There are sand dunes at the south end of the island

                                          One of many quaint villages with beautiful villas

yes, this is indeed the road 

 View from the road on the northwest side of the island

 Flowers abound

 Got any lunch to share?

A cactus garden

 look closely, there are multiple caves

 The outside of the cathedral in  the "old town"

 The inside of the same cathedral

 A second story flower garden 

 We were above the clouds!

 "The mountains are calling and I must go" said John Muir

The water is so blue. . .

Goodbye Guinea

This is our third day to sail north from Guinea toward the Canary Islands. It was quite an emotional departure.  The tugboats escorted us a long way out of the harbor and the dockworkers stood and waved goodbye to us for a long time.I will miss Guinea.
The sea has been calm.  Lying in bed at night is a bit like being rocked in a cradle! Since the hospital is closed I am now working in the galley, preparing food for the meals to be served for 300 of us still on board the ship.  Mostly I am chopping, cutting and slicing anything you can possibly imagine would need to be made into smaller pieces.  It is quite strenuous to be on your feet for hours at a time but we have great fun listening to music and singing.  During the sail we are privileged to work every other day so on our days off we can sit on the bow and watch for dolphins and whales or read.  I love the sea. It is fun to track our progress up the coast of Africa on a marine tracking app that shows where we are.  At the moment we are parallel to Cape Verde and we have passed Dakar.  I am in a part of the world I never dreamed I would see. Once we arrive in the Canaries we will work our regular schedule in the galley of 2 days on, 2 days off then every other weekend of 3 days on or off.  I am hoping to get some sightseeing in of the wonders of the Canaries.  We spend 3 weeks in Grand Canaria and then move to Tenerife. There are 7 islands there and we will see 2 of them for certain. Life is oh so good!

                                                      The engine room

                                                     More of the Engine room

                                           Preparing to sail; loading the gangway

                                           A last view of the dock

                                           The tugboat escort out of the harbor

                                          First sunset of the sail at sea

                                              Guinea streets

                                              Fire drill

                                            Saying goodbye to our day workers