Very Special Visitors!

 

After much anticipation and months of planning we finally welcomed my (Jodie) Mum and Dad on board the Africa Mercy while it was docked in Tenerife. There is something very special about having family on board and being able to give them a portal into this crazy life we lead. Above Jessica stands outside Mum and Dad's guest cabin on deck five of the Africa Mercy. It has long been a tradition on Mercy Ships to decorate the doors of new long term crew, returning short term crew, crew returning from leave and personal guests. When we first arrived in South Africa our door was decked out in various welcome signs and also when we came back from our leave back to Australia.

Mum and Dad's cabin door sign.

Take a peek into a two berth guest cabin. To the left are cupboards and behind the camera is a kitchenette. To the right is the bathroom. Crew couple cabins are larger than this with a double bed, a lounge area and more cupboard space. As personal guest of the Africa Mercy Mum and Dad got the nice fluffy towels and tea and coffee making facilities. It is much like a small hotel room.

Taking Mum and Dad on a tour of the ship with Jessica (Andy was at work). Up on deck 8 overlooking the mountains of Tenerife.

Mum and Dad's first 50 cent frappe at Starbucks Cafe in Town Square which is in the middle of the ship on deck five.

Ok so I mentioned that Tenerife was a lot about the food. Check out these cakes-the most expensive was about $2.00 AUD.

Here we are at Monkey Park, a little zoo filled with all kinds of animals but specialising in all kinds of exotic monkeys. There are enclosed areas where you can walk freely amongst giant turtles, lemurs and very large and scary looking lizards. It was fantastic to be so up close and personal!

Jess feeding some of the monkeys leaves from outside their enclosure that they really had a taste for. I wonder what kind of leaves they were????

Mum and Dad's tapas-true Spanish fare from a lovely place at Los Cristianos.



Andrew giving Mum and Dad (and me) and engine room tour. We all have ear plugs because it is very loud down in the bowels of the ship. It is amazing what is down there-who knew??

Cool part of the tour-walking up the stairs through the Africa Mercy's funnel. There were a lot of stairs!!

We took Mum and Dad on a day trip to spectacular Mt Teide, a still active volcano in the centre of the island of Tenerife. Mt Teide is Spain's highest mountain towering at 3,718 metres and is the third highest volcano in the world! Mt Teide is located in Tiede National Park, one of the world's most visited national parks with a total of 2.8 million visitors per year. The landscape ranged from  glorious pine trees and lush vegetation at a relatively chilly 17 degrees to sparse, volcanic lunar rocks at the baking temperature of close to forty degrees. It was breathtaking!

Andrew always likes to have a photo of the rental car.

Jess and Mum (below) on some of the rocky outcrops that were prominent as we went towards the volcano summit. The only way to access the peak of Tiede is to walk or to catch the overpriced cable car. Needless to say, we didn't make the summit!

 

The landscape around Mt Teide reminded me of the Grand Canyon and the deserts of California and Arizona. Rock alone can be ugly and boring but a huge rock perched at such a precarious angle seemingly defying gravity becomes a thing of beauty at this most famous of lookouts at Mt Tiede-Roques de Garcia. In winter the peak of Mt Teide is covered in snow despite the warmer temperatures below. 

Mum and Jess have such a special bond!

My  Dad who climbed rather high at the Roques de Garcia  lookout in order to claim this shot!

Another fun fact about Tenerife are the tidal pools and the crazy Spaniards who swim in and around them. This one was located at Peurto de la Cruz. The waves crash over the top of the retainer walls and there are jagged rocks everywhere but the Spaniards take it all in their stride and jump on in anyway.

Take a good look at this photo of the beautiful coastline of Peurto de la Cruz. Inside that rock wall is a restaurant. The food wasn't crash hot but it was worth it to just about feel the ocean spray on your face! We sat in the third window along. Photo below taken with camera resting on the ledge of the window.

 

Mum and Jess pose on one of the disused cannons in Peurto de la Cruz that were once used to help defend the Tenerife coastline.

Another natural phenomena of the Canary Islands as well as tidal pools, a volcano and sand dunes...black sand beaches. You can only imagine how hot black sand gets at around 35 degrees! Ouch. Mum and Jess have a paddle. One look at the condition of the kids and their bathers was enough for me to stop Jess going for a swim. She wasn't too fussed about turning from white to back either.

Mum and Jessica's feet after about ten minutes on the black sand beach.

The mother of all trees-the ever popular 1000 year old dragon tree located at the quaint town of Icod. Check it out on Google Earth!

C'mon Aussies, have you ever seen a lamb shank like this??? And at half the price you would pay in Oz!! I cannot say how mouthwatering this was after not having any lamb for six months and the thought of no lamb for the next ten months ahead. I was in lambie heaven!!

Each time the Africa Mercy goes into dry dock in Tenerife, the islands of the Canaries make generous concessions to Mercy Ships. Above Mum and Jess at Loro Park, similar to Seaworld but without the rides and many more animals, who donated heavily discounted tickets to Mercy Ships crew for us to enjoy some down time.

 Car parking and picnic spots are somewhat lacking in the Canary Islands so here we are enjoying a concrete picnic at a small harbour in Los Gigantes participating in the European way of meat and cheese in a baguette. What you don't see is that we are sitting at the base of the spectacular Los Gigantes Cliffs, Acantilados de Los Gigantes, that rise from the sea to a height of 500-800 metres.

 

We loved having my parents on board a showing them a little of the weird and wonderful life we live and we enjoyed the Canary Islands very much from the kitchy souvenir shops to the soaring mountains, the cobbled streets to the amazing cakes, the temperate climate to the rocky tidal pools and the baguettes to the beaches! See you again next year! (We hope!!)