Day 217 to Day 224 - Back to School: The Sequel

Puerto De La Cruz - Best Semiramis Hotel

Day 217: A "rest day" before K goes back to school for more Spanish lessons, so we spent some time walking to town. The info we'd read about our hotel said there was an ocean pool, however when we went down to check it out it looked like it hadn't been used for ages .... false advertising? Town was a combination of a black rocky beach (with a surprisingly high number of people sunbaking - too uncomfortable for us!), a pool area nearby, and a mix of outdoor restaurants and locals selling necklaces and fake handbags. We finished the day with a nice paella - with enough food for four people.

Day 218: Just as you would with a child heading off to school for the first day, M escorted K into school, with a promise to meet her afterwards at 1pm. While K sat in her first class for the week, M walked around town to get a feel for the area. It was pretty quiet at 9am, few shops were open that early. After school we didn't do much, a walk back to our hotel, lazing by the pool for the afternoon, and dinner at one of the many German style restaurants in the area.

Day 219: We are really getting lazy, K has been at school in the mornings, but M really has no excuse! Today was very similar to yesterday, perhaps a little warmer, which was a good excuse for spending more time by the pool.

Day 220: A change of pace this afternoon - after K finished school we decided to visit Loro Park, a marine park in Puerto De La Cruz. We caught the free shuttle bus from town, and after avoiding the photo they try to get you to sit for on the way in (and pay for on the way out), we headed for the various animal shows and displays. The orca show was lots of fun, though a little on the cheesy side, while the emperor penguin display was very impressive with snow falling from the ceiling and penguins darting through the water in front of us. The gorilla display was a little depressing after having seen them in the wild back in Rwanda, and the bird show was just plain embarrassing. On the whole though it was definitely worth a visit.

Day 221: Back to lazy mode today. While K was in school, M arranged a rental car for the weekend (which took all of five minutes ....), and another afternoon was spent lazing by the pool.

Day 222: K's last day of school, so after farewelling her classmates we went for a drive to the centre of the island, intending to head up to the top of Mount Teide, the still active volcano that dominates the island. However as the afternoon progressed cloud gathered around the peak, and when combined with K's dislike of extremely steep and windy roads, we decided it would be best to turn back.

Day 223: Time to explore the rest of the island, so we drove around to the more popular south side of the island. Because of the volcano, it's easier to drive all the way around the outside rather than through the middle. We lunched at Los Cristianos, then spent some time walking along the beach. These were the first beaches we'd seen on the island with white sand, which apparently been imported from the Sahara. We took a whale watching cruise later in the afternoon, which guaranteed that we'd see some whales, with the chance of dolphins. We managed to see some pilot whales, which were a lot smaller than we expected. We weren't so lucky with the dolphins, though K did see one in the distance.

Day 224: Another theme park today, this time we went to Siam Park, a Thai themed (why?) water park on the south side of the island. The weather was overcast and a bit on the windy side, but as it turned out this wasn't an issue, in fact it kept the crowds down and the queues short. We had lots of fun on the various slides, finishing the day trying to catch a wave in the wave pool.
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