We had two days of sailing to get from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands. Again, we had very calm seas, sometimes it was totally flat and smooth. Thankfully as we are getting further north it has started to cool off a bit, especially at night so I can have my balcony door open to listen to the ocean as we sail along.

The Canary Islands belong to Spain, so not a new country for me as I have been to Barcelona many years ago. The islands are like Hawaii with a volcanic origin and a progression of ages – from old to very young. They are a very popular vacation destination, especially for Europeans.

In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the southernmost region of Spain, and the largest and most populous archipelago of Macaronesia. Because of their location, the Canary Islands have historically been considered a link between the four continents of Africa, North America, South America, and Europe. During the Age of Sail, the islands were the main stopover for Spanish galleons during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, which sailed that far south in order to catch the prevailing northeasterly trade winds.

The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin name Canariae Insulae, meaning "Islands of the Dogs", perhaps because monk seals or sea dogs were abundant, a name that was evidently generalized from the ancient name of one of these islands, Canaria – presumably Gran Canaria. According to the historian Pliny the Elder, the island Canaria contained "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size". The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms. The name of the islands is not derived from the canary bird; rather, the birds are named after the islands.

Our first island to visit was Gran Canaria at the port of Las Palmas.   In 1492, Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón) anchored in the port of Las Palmas for a repair of the rudder of his ship Pinta and spent some time on the neighbor island on his first trip to the Americas.

I took a tour called “Essence of Gran Canaria”. Our first stop was in the town of Arucas where we took pictures of the Neogothic temple, popularly known as "Arucas' Cathedral". No time to go inside and there was a fee.

So, we walked through the town that was getting ready for some kind of flower festival.

We then went to the 'Marquesa's Garden' - a beautiful botanical garden

 We learned about the local kind of banana that is a big export for the islands,

And, about coffee that is also grown on the islands

 There were also a lot of peacocks who were busy trying to impress the peahens.

And a beautiful rooster

We then drove to the quaint city of Teror. It had lots of ornate balconies

And a beautiful church.

Next stop in the Canaries - La Gomera