We arrived in La Palma on November 12. This was a parent port for the students so parents were allowed to come visit and there isn’t any port programming so they have time to hang out with their families. This was also my port off. I rented an Airbnb for 3 nights and rejoiced in the quiet. I also got to miss a few days of the GI outbreak that was going on on-board. Since before Madeira a few people at a time have been getting sick but it really took off after Morocco. We put extra people on to cleaning all the doorknobs and constantly pestered everyone to wash their hands but it’s a tough concept for many to grasp even when it’s directly related to their own health. Most people seemed to get better after 24 hours so that’s a relief.

I rented a car with a few coworkers and I was the driver because they only have standard transmission available here. I let them know that it wouldn’t be a smooth ride as I was pretty rusty on driving standard but they were ok with that. We drove up to the peaks and went hiking. There are areas with lush rainforest and super dry rocky pine forest areas.

The dragon tree is a special Canary Islands tree that only blooms every 15 years.

The Canaries are volcanic and there are some pretty cool rocks.

We drove up to the observatory to the highest peak in order to be above the clouds but we were in the clouds and it was super cold and misty so we took one group photo and drove down

I got to go running a few times. It was great to be feeling good enough to go. It’d been a month since I felt well enough in port to run.

Black sand beaches are everywhere.

We drove to a place called Charco Azul which was a lovely place to swim.

I’m in the middle of the above photo about to jump off the ledge. The water was fantastic!

I’ve barely been swimming on this voyage. The school part of Class Afloat takes up so much time and sadly doesn’t allow for many swim calls.

There are some excellent drinks in La Palma.

Craft beer

And this crazy coffee

And Ensalada tropical, a delicious mix of fruit and vegetables.

La Palma was awesome! I hope to come back and do some more hiking, it’s beautiful!