Madeira and the Canary Islands

Our first four port days were spent in Madeira, an autonomous nation of Portugal, and a few of the Canary Islands: La Palma, Tenerife and Gran Canaria. 

Madeira was our first port of call and a welcome venture for someone who isn't used to staying in one small space for days at a time. Although there are hints of the tourist industry creeping in, as in most Islands with a tropical-esk climate, it has not yet completely taken over. Whether pottering around the more central area or exploring a little further out, you could really get the authentic Portuguese flavour of the region. New builds are sandwiched between older constructions and it is easy to wander from one of the bright and spacious main squares into the higgledy-piggledy maze of winding side streets, giving the whole place a rather homey feel, as opposed to the common clinical and uniform feeling that is slowly encroaching on many major cities.

I just love this pic :)

The fish market that Stephen insisted on visiting... ew ew ewwwwwww!

Chilling with the Aurora.

My favourite street was a little way out, on which each resident had painted their front door with various different images. It seemed to be in celebration of something, since they were all signed and dated around the same time, but unfortunately we couldn't work out what it was. Here are my top three...

Oh and I don't know if you were watching the news around 15th August, but Madeira was actually on fire on that day we visited. It was kinda crazy actually, I couldn't help worrying about the locals as we watched the flames growing and spreading throughout the day.

Pretty scary eh?

The siblings, Grandad and I spent very little time on shore in La Palma because we're massive wimps and just couldn't take the intense 38 degree heat. All we could manage was a little while on a volcanic beach with BLACK sand (which was kinda cool but extremely hot underfoot!) before heading back to the ship to cool off in the pool. Dad and Stephen did report that it was quite a lovely little place, less touristy than the other Canaries and insanely cheap. I also got told off by a good friend for not exploring the volcanoes in the area at all, apparently they make for some really interesting excursions.

My one picture from the beach in La Palma, not too shabby really.

My absolute favourite day of the entire holiday was the day that we spent at the Siam Water Park in Tenerife. I'm a big fan of water and swimming anyway, but this park was just fantastic. There was absolutely no stone left un-turned when it came to attention to detail and the slides were perfect for an adrenaline junkie such as myself. There was even one where you went under a shark tank in a dingy! And the wave pool was EPIC. My only complaint was that we didn't get long enough there, which really isn't much of a complaint at all.

Aren't we just the coolest?

It was SO BIG. That slide in the background was literally like 40ft high!

I think I'm correct in saying that Gran Canaria is my Dad's favourite place in the world. It's where he and Stephen want to retire to and I can see why. It wouldn't be my first choice, it's a perfect spot for people who just want to chill out in the day and party at night. Plus although the new part of town isn't particularly unique or exciting, the old bit really is beautiful and the weather is apparently fab all year round.

We went to visit the Cathedral and paid just €2.50 to climb to the top of the tower. The view of the city was pretty incredible and really colourful. I like me a good view, so we spent quite a while up top taking pictures, though the top of the tower was rather a tight squeeze, so maybe plan your visit before a meal time ;)

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea.

'Let's do a silly one!'

After that we strolled around a few of the shops, spending a little too long in a children's toy shop because the air conditioning was just that good. Us Brits really aren't built for extreme heat. Honestly, I found myself praying for rain at this point, much to my Dad's disapproval. I don't even burn like my ginger relatives - heh heh heh - I'm just not a big fan of skimpy clothing (see above) which makes for some difficult compromises on extra warm days.

I rather enjoyed all these taster sessions, it gives me an idea of where I'd like to revisit in the future. On to another sea day before the day I am most anticipating... our final stop in Lisbon!

SURFING

Aside from the 5 hour bus ride on Wednesday, the majority of the last four days has been spent chilling out on various beaches.

Arica was really lovely, we had such a good time there relaxing (I'm beginning to learn the difference between relaxation and lazyness) and swimming in the pacific. It's such a nice place to swim, even if it is freezing. We also took a few beach pics in an attempt to make everyone at home jealous. I hope it works.

The bus to Iquique was pretty horrible, for some reason Chileans like to close the windows to make the bus even more stuffy and ROASTING HOT. Evie and I also got taken off the bus by three policemen and were questioned about whether we were smuggling drugs inside of us... It was so scary. We were so relieved when we finally arrived at the hostel. Which is SO CHEAP and about half a minute from the BEEEEEEEACH (which is even nicer here than in Arica) :D

It's such a nice city to explore. There is loads of colonial architecture and the main square has a beautiful memorial with fountains around it.

We explored the markets a little and invested in a few bits of jewellery, before having a lovely wander along the beach. We've also discovered this awesome german cafe just around the corner from the hostel that does incredible burgers and cake. And I do love german cake <3 Yesterday I had my first SURFING LESSON and it was EPIC. I had so much fun, I forgot just how much I love watersports. I managed to stand up on the board too, I was rather proud of myself. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the experience, but if i get a chance to have another lesson I'll try and get some then! The rest of the day we spent on the beach. It may seem that we're doing very little at the moment, but we're just making the most of our last few beach days since we're heading in land to San Pedro de Atacama on Sunday. Wandering down the beach we came across some cool graffiti.

Pretty impressive eh?

And then we watched the sunset... it was so beautiful!

Face Plant #3

This one was slightly less epic than my others as there were very few witnesses, just the two guys who work here. I was literally just walking this time, no where special just around the hostel half asleep this morning. I managed to stub my toe on one of the floor tiles whilst falling, but managed to swiftly pick myself up again, thinking nothing of it. However once I sat down I noticed I'd sliced my big toe open and was dripping blood everywhere. Lovely.

One of the guys who works at the hostel helped me to make a makeshift plaster for it until I could get upstairs to my first aid kit (Maris Mercer, you life saver!) as he quite understandably didn't want me to get blood everywhere. It's not too bad at the moment, I just can't put it on the floor but that's not too much hassle. I'm quite impressed with myself for going so long without a fall to be honest and I could have done something so much worse. Health and safety isn't exactly South America's forte.

Heading to the beach soon to join in with some labour day celebrations. And apparently salt water is good for open wounds? I'll just have to try my best to not get sand in it.

I'm in Miami GIRL

Miami has definitely been the right place to spend our last few days, because we can just chill out and relax, after constantly rushing around for the past three weeks.

Yesterday morning was spent at the beach, where I watched (from the safety of the ocean) Aimée getting attacked by seagulls and subsequently have a glaring contest with a father who had allowed his six year old to run around with an open tube of pringles, taunting the seagulls. VERY amusing to watch.

In the afternoon we headed to McDonalds for lunch and ordered extra drinks with our meals because it was properly roasting. We also had kids meals but still got six chicken nuggets, which to me defeats the idea of kids meals as they are practically the same size as an adults, but you get a toy. I got a really cool Green Lantern one that shoots out green disks and I intend to use it to wake Aimée up this morn :p

After pottering around the shops for a few hours, we headed back to the hostel to get ready to go out for tea. We found a road called Española Way, with loads of cute little restaurants on. We had an amazing meal of mussels and mushroom pasta (it was super yummy!).

So all in all a lovely day, even if Aimée did burn her face. :p (I also burned my chest a TINY bit but that doesn't really count).