As I'm sure you've guessed we spent a lot of time at the beach. The boys loved playing in the sand and swimming in the sea. The water was warm and sometimes there were perfect kid-sized waves for them to jump over. Daniel greeted the ocean like an old friend and for the first time Nicholas was really at home in the sea. Watching them having so much fun in the water really made it worthwhile!
When we weren't swimming we were building sand castles, checking out boats and getting a pedicure with a difference. They call it a royal fish spa. It was kind of weird feeling the little fish nibbling at our feet. Nicholas was a real clown and put a fine performance on for all the people that stopped to take a look!
The advertising raves about Loro Parque and since we have kids that love animals we thought we'd check it out. It was very impressive indeed. We saw penguins, seals, dolphins and orcas not to mention tigers, jaguars, gorillas, chimps, parrots and iguanas. As if that wasn't enough they ended it all off with a fantastic aquarium. Our favourite part was definitely the orca show!
A highlight for all of us was an expedition up the volcano that dominates the centre of the island. The scenery in the Mount Teide National Park was really spectacular so I couldn't resist adding a few scenery shots. Nicholas is very interested in volcanoes (they are associated with dinosaurs after all) so he loved exploring the different lava fields and catching the cable car to the top (almost - we didn't climb the last 200m). It made the perfect topic for his show and tell this week!
We also drove up the west coast to check out the beaches but there wasn't much until we reached Los Gigantes where we found a black beach (caused by the volcano) and a sparkling marine pool (with the magnificent cliffs as a backdrop). Both proved to be quite a novelty. It was a quaint little village compared to the rest of the places we saw so I'm glad we stumbled across it!
We couldn't resist going on a boat trip. There were so many different kinds of boats, and after much deliberation we chose a pirate ship. As if the whole experience wasn't exciting enough we saw dolphins and also a few pilot whales. The boys were in top form and loved every minute of it!
Oh and don't forget the food. I'm not sure if us or the boys enjoyed feasting on the great selection on offer more. It pleases me no end that we can share our food with our kids. They'll happily try anything we present to them and tapas were no exception. Here they are devouring some deep fried baby squid and little fishies amongst other things. Meal times were always filled with fun and games!
When we had enough of everything else we retreated to the pool at our apartment. It was very calm and relaxing there and, as expected, we had a lot of fun in the water. The big pool was a bit on the chilly side but the kids pool was lovely and warm. It was awesome being able to swim every single day for a whole week!
And then sadly it was time to say good-bye to sea, sand and sun!Hope we see you soon again!
