Day 10 - Arrecife

It's Day 10 and today marked the last of the visits to the Canary Islands with our call in Arrecife, capital of Lanzarote.  During the night, the ship sailed north-easterly, and through the seven mile wide straight between the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. We arrived at the cruise terminal in Arrecife around 0900.

 

Initial impressions of Lanzarote are of a rugged, relatively low-lying volcanic landscape.  Along with the rest of the Canary archipelago, the island was formed around 15 million years ago, although volcanic activity was recorded as recently as the year 1730.  Today, everything is quiet from a geological perspective although several volcanic peaks can clearly be seen on arrival in Arrecife.  Lanzarote has a desert climate, which when combined with the volcanic landscape, gives the whole island a parched and arid appearance.  There is virtually no plant life visible at first glance, although cacti, olive and date palm trees can all be found.

 

We took the shuttle bus from the cruise terminal into the centre of Arrecife – it's about a three kilometre walk which at times traverses busy main roads that aren't really suitable for pedestrians.  Shuttle buses have been a feature of several previous cruise calls – they are simply a fleet of locally chartered coaches which run at 15-20 minute internals from the ship to the town or city centre.  The price is £4 each way per person, and this simply charged to your on-board account if you want to use the service.

 

Arrecife is not a big city with only 55,000 inhabitants, and it's quite easy to walk round the old town and harbour area.  The harbour area is particularly attractive, lined with its many white-washed buildings. It is Sunday so almost all of the shops are closed, with only cafes and restaurants, and the occasional souvenir shop remaining open for business.  We stayed in the town for about two hours before returning back to the ship.

 

Departure was delayed tonight due to a technical fault on the ship.  Moisture had been detected in one of Britannia's electrical switchboards, and her electrical team spent several hours investigating the cause and removing any condensation from the equipment.  There was no disruption to any on-board facilities although an early evening bingo session, originally planned to take place at sea, had to be cancelled to comply with local gambling regulations!  Britannia eventually set sail shortly after 2300, and despite the late departure, the delay is not expected to affect our arrival into Lisbon on Tuesday.