Shore excursions - Canary Islands

[ninkb]

DH and I are on a transatlantic this fall and I'm disappointed in HAL's excursions.

 

We're interested in nature - plants, animals, fish . . . Is there anyone who has arranged his own tours and has something to suggest to us? I've not had much luck with google.

 

Ports are Lanzarote, Santa Cruz (Tenerife), and Funchal (Portugal).

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

:):):) ninkb

[obriendan]

We visited Lanzarote on a QM2 cruise in April, 2004. We took the ship's shuttle to downtown and spent about two hours on the shopping street and the surronding area. We then took a taxi to the Cesar Manrique house and after an hour's visit, returned to the ship by taxi. The visit to Cesar Manrque's house turned out to be an unexpected highlight of our trip. Cesar Manrique was (is?) Lanzarote's most famous artist. The house is surronded by gardens on the volcanic rock, with pieces of his art everywhere. The house itself was designed by Cesar and contains much art of his and others. The house was designed by him and makes use of lava tubes in its construction! Each of the taxi rides were less than $10 and the house required a reasonable entrance fee. I would strongly recommend a visit to this small museum.

[tjcox9]

We were there on the Prinsendam crossing last year and did the Fire Mountain and camel ride trip. It was spectacular!! Bob had been there and done it before and said it was a must do.

 

It can only be done with a ship's tour as beyond a certain point, only approved tour vehicles are allowed.

 

Here is a link to some of the photos from the Cruise Critic photo gallery from our tour. http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=18524

[willy paul]

In Lanzarote you can also take a wine tour, yes wine on that arid island.

 

We found it very interesting and purchased a few bottles of some rather good wine last November. the climate was very temperate at that time.

[arzz]

We were in Lanzarote in December on a Celebrity ship and half of our complement took the Fire Mountain trip with the camel ride, the other half without the camel ride. I assume, but do not know for a fact, that HAL would probably offer essentially the same trip. After the camel ride (or before depending on how your bus does it) the trips are the same and as said before -- spectacular. This is nature, geology (active volcano complete with an incredible source of heat that is not so underground) and absolutely stunning scapes -- full of color and formation -- many reminiscent of the moon. What you see there is very different as the island is mostly volcanic rock. The towns are composed of white buildings on a black or orange lava rock background and how they grow their grapes or any crops at all is unique and something to be seen -- you will not see it elsewhere. We found Lanzarote to be a pleasant surprise.

 

We did not do either of your other ports so that I cannot comment, but Lanzarote has much to offer.