On the Atlantic

Greetings from the Atlantic Ocean.
Now I ask you, how are you ever going to cross the Atlantic Ocean? By plane, naw done all the time and you mostly never even see it. By sail boat or row boat---I don't think so!! Don't have that kind of cash, skill or endurance. Besides that would no doubt cause me to write my name in my shorts multiple times out of sheer fright. I think this is the  way to do it and visit multiple fascinating countries and cities enroute.

Since we last wrote we have visited the beautiful city of Cartagena in Spain, which you might recall was a vassal city state of Carthage back in the days of old Hannibal the worst enemy of very early Rome. Too much to tell you about but the recently excavated Roman amphitheater was outstanding. Gibraltar, one of the Pillars of Hercules was fascinating particularly for me with my interest in the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Not much imagination was required to conjure up images of the ships of commerce and war over the centuries in this largely unchanged harbour. Loved it.

We then sailed through the Pillars of Hercules into the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the Spainish territory called the Canary Islands. These islands are further south than most people realize - about 70 miles off the cast of Morocco - close to the Western Sahara. I was here about 25 years ago on - ahem - business - more about that later.

While both islands were an absolute delight to visit and both (like the Canary archipelago) are born of volcanic activity, they are seemingly as different as night and day. Lanzarote, very arid and possessed of a volcanic landscape at every turn is a tough piece of real estate to make a living. Tenerife on the other hand is higher and it's elevation tends to capture more water leaving it more lush and cooler. These islands are not unlike ice bergs with monstrous bases created by volcanic activity right from the sea floor pyramiding up to the tiny bit showing above the surface of the Atlantic.

M and I hired local guides with incredible knowledge of their islands and the truly unique things about them. It all centres on the volcanos and how the people have learned to adapt to their always threatening presence. Wow!

If you ever manage to get here do not miss Timonfaya National Park on Lanzarote. It is a volcano Park and nothing else - a moonscape of lava, caldera with their sides blown off and an artists palate of colour in the rock. You can't hike it - it would shred a pair of good boots in the first kilometre assuming you could stay upright. The only way is by roads plowed through the lava. These roads wind throughout  the park and along the lips of the dormant volcanos allowing you to peer into its gullet. Yeesh! Absolutely completely and utterly amazing. Lots more to tell you, but better still, check it out yourself.

We have left the Canary Islands and are now enroute to Cape Verde. It is a 2 day sail south along the western coast of Africa. We are presently off the coast of the African nation of Mauritania.

Best Wishes,
M&H

If I haven't bored you to tears and/or put you to sleep you might get a chuckle out of this.

RE: " --ahem - business - more about that later"

The business was sail boards and I doubt I ever made a penny in it but man could they choose places to have sales meetings - Canary Islands, Maui etc. The amusing part was that myself and another rep from the Maritimes who like me, sailed like a bag of hammers, initially had an instructor. But you see most of the beaches in the Canaries are topless - so he was challenged to keep our attention. You couldn't take it all in if your head was built on a 360 degree swivel. Quite frankly it was hopeless and he soon gave up leaving Roger and I to our near fate. We were pretty good at sailing downwind but couldn't turn to save our souls let alone sail upwind. Soon we were perilously far out and while I managed to get turned around and headed back to the beach, poor Roger was well on his way to Africa soon to become an illegal immigrant to Morocco. Not only that but he had entered the food chain! I managed to get the beach patrol to go get him in their Zodiac and I could tell by the animated discussion in the boat as they approached that Roger was getting the ears chewed off him. To shorten a long story, that put us both in the bar. Roger was an appreciator of cognac - I became one that evening.