For our last day in Tenerife, we decided on something a bit different; different for us, anyway.
We drove the short distance to Puerto de la Cruz and spent the day at Loro Parque, an animal park whose main attractions are parrots, sea-lions, orcas and dolphins. As is typical for this kind of place, there are periodic shows, with the animals performing a multitude of anthropomorphic acts to the glee of the onlooking public.
I just can’t help sounding cynical, can I? Well, in spite of the moral dilemma raised by such an endeavour, I actually had a really good time. In fact, we all did, except possibly Lukie, who remained oblivious to most of what went on around him.
We hadn’t told Eloïse we were going to the park. As we pulled into the car-park, I told her we were just going to a supermarket.
Once inside, however, she realised that something funny was going on. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that she loved every minute of it. She absolutely lapped it up, especially the shows.
We went to the sea-lion show, the parrot show, the orca show and even twice to the dolphin show. Not only was it great fun for me, too, but it was also the ideal opportunity to put my recently purchased Canon EF 70-200 mm F4L IS USM lens through its paces. It performed brilliantly, and with a fast shutter speed, I managed to freeze some great action, including dolphins mid-air, jumping through hula hoops. Expect to see these and the rest of our holiday snaps uploaded in the next few days.
We stayed the entire day. In fact, there was only one other car left in the car park when we made our way out, just before seven o’clock. I’d say we got our money’s worth.
After dinner in Puerto de la Cruz (at La Rosa Di Bari, a nice Italian restaurant), we drove back to La Orotava in the pouring rain.
And that’s basically the end of this two week jaunt. This time tomorrow, we’ll be back in Amsterdam.
As always, it’s been good fun, but as is typical for me nowadays, I’m also looking forward to getting back to our own home and bed. Eloïse, too, is ready to go home and back to peuterspeelzaal.