One Man in Europe

Did you know that the Canary Islands, of which Tenerife is one of seven,  way out there in the Atlantic somewhere off the coast of North Africa is actually a province of Spain.  I had visited Spain for a month in July and August way back in 1970 as a guest of the Spanish Air Force under the regime of General Franco. This was the first "International Air Cadet" visit to the country and gave an insight to a county where civil rather than international war had moulded recent history, a fact wasted on us youths as we were more overawed by the scenery and the romance of the place.

My time here in Tenerife has drawn to an end, my bags are packed it's time to go.  An evening out with Jose-Luis,Teresa and Yaiza in Santa Cruz, a sad farewell to an island and friends I have come to love, then an early 'plane from Tenerife North to Madrid. British Airways will then fly me to Port Elizabeth, South Africa via London and Johannesburg. 36 hours in the air would take me to my next adventure at   onemaninsouthafrica.blogspot.com

I accepted voluntary redundancy at the end of August 2011 and used the small payout to purchase a good laptop, a reasonable digital (DSLR) camera and a Kindle with GPS. I hadn't taken photos for years and as I was about to move around I had decided that the Kindle would replace my collection of books I was always going to read. The next question was "What to do next?" A friend of mine had been telling me to visit Tenerife for years so I thought why not! Easyjet provided a cheap ticket and a browse around the websites provided a nice little apartment in Los Abrigos. On arrival, after signing the paperwork I was asked if I was interested in hiring a car? Being on a limited budget and seeing how busy the island's roads were I had already decided that I was going to travel by bus. It turned out that Titsa, Tenerife's state bus company provide a 'BonoBus' ticket for either 12 or 30 Euros and the former can be purchased at most supermarkets. This ticket g...