[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Today’s port is one that we visited on last year’s world cruise.
Last year, we had no excursion and just walked around. This year we had the morning free. We knew from previous experience that we could walk instead of taking the shuttle bus. We went back to the market, where this time we bought some empanadas as a snack.
In the afternoon, Gail was assigned to escort an excursion: “Pyramids & Esperanza Forest.” A bus ride took her to the “Bosque de la Esperanza” (Esperanza Forest), a forest of cypresses, eucalyptus trees and interesting plants. It is located in a zone where trade wind clouds hover, so it is unusually moist and green. Sadly, there was a forest fire in recent years, and the land still bears the scars.
Another bus ride took Gail to the “Pyramids of Güímar Ethnographic Park.” Here there are six terraced pyramids, from 12 to 36 feet high. (There were originally nine pyramids, but only six survive.) They are built from lava stone without any mortar. The origin of the pyramids is unknown, but there are several theories:
The park was founded by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. The nearby museum has an almost full-sized replica of his reed ship “Ra II.”
While Gail went off ship, Russell continued to work on lectures. He has a lecture tomorrow and a lecture he is trying to write. Between now and London we have a dozen solid port days, so our working time is getting precious.
