Laurel forests and more volcanoes

On Monday April 22nd we landed on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands, along with Madeira and the Azores, have a Mediterranean climate but did not get covered with glaciers in the Ice Age. They retain species that did not survive in Europe, particularly species of laurel trees as well as other plants and flowers. We hiked through an ancient Laurel forest in one of three protected areas on the island.  We also visited the original capital (La Laguna) and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of this 17th century city. Most of the older buildings in the center have been maintained or restored, including magnificent doors and balconies. Many of the newer buildings have echoed these design patterns. 

On April 23 we toured La Palma, the farthest west of the Canary Islands. Here the volcanic history of the island is obvious. The harbor is flanked by a giant cliff, the eroded side of an ancient volcano. On a bus tour of the southern half of the island, we visited the site of the 2021 eruption. The volcanos on La Palma are of a type that only erupt once in their lifetimes, so the initial plume of ash and steam come from a nondescript piece of landscape. In 2021, Tajogaite erupted for 85 days and destroyed 4 villages, creating a new mountain in the process. The volcano is still giving off Sulfur dioxide (blue) and steam (white). While we had seen the devastation after a volcanic eruption on Fogo last week, this time we were able to see photos and video footage of the eruption itself, which gave a much better understanding of the phenomenon. We hiked along the edge of the 1677 volcano and crossed lava fields from the 1949 and 1977 eruptions.  We also saw proof of the importance of bananas to the local economy; our guide estimated that 1 in 3 Palmerans are involved in the raising or exporting of bananas. 

Everywhere we went in the Canary Islands, we saw the impact of tourism, for positive and negative. Tourism is vital to the economy of the islands. Many islands see more tourists in a year than they have residents. For some islands like La Palma, where the harbor is too small to have many cruise ships at a time, the tourism takes a form that benefits the local shops and businesses. For other islands life Tenerife, the large number is cruise ships simultaneously strains their resources and (depending on the tour company) brings little revenue to the locals. It is this imbalance and a desire for a more sustainable model that has been the source of recent protests— not an aversion to the tourism itself. 

Pictures: La Palma lizard (endemic), Tajogaite, Find-the-cricket, La Laguna facade