Exploring the nature by the surface of the sea

La Palma’s nature gives a lot opportunities to different adventures were canoeing is one of them. This day have learned me that this spectacular island can been seen from various views and have very much to offer, even a long the coast.

Today was the last day in La Palma and it couldn’t have been any better, in my opinion. The day started like every other day here on board, with a morning formation. And after that me and a group of five friends hurried away from the boat to take a taxi to the other side of the island. The previous days here on La Palma have been great and we all have been exploring the fantastic nature of this island from the high mountains tops. We all have enjoyed hikes where we have been able to experience the views of powerful vulcans and craters. On this last day we had planned an activity to explore this islands beautiful nature in a totally different way; we were about to go canoeing.

After a 45 minutes drive in the mountains we arrived to the destination of a little fishing-village. The small houses and steep cliffs created a new landscape than what we earlier have seen on this island. When we arrived to the canoeing-center we met our instructor who showed us the canoes we were about to use. We got paired and got off in the water. It was a perfect day for canoeing, the sun was out and the wind was light. Despite the suitable weather we all struggled in the beginning. We realized very quickly that team work was the key to get the canoe in a straight direction. After a while we figured out the technique of the paddling very well and our earlier zick-zacking ceased.

To explore the nature by the surface of the sea was fantastic. We got the ability to see the mountains from a new perspective where we at the same time could see turtles and fishes close up. But the best of all was when the instructor led us through a cave and learned us to follow the waves in one of the many caves along the coast. It was an extraordinary experience, but also a bit scary to surf on the power of the waves. Inside the cave the environment was incredible and unforgettable.

After a couples of hours we got back to Gunilla and all of us was feeling both pleased and exhausted after our adventure. We all agreed we couldn’t have spent the day in a better way.

Wilma Berg, starboard