Canary Islands: Tenerife

The Canary Islands are part African, part Spanish with a lot of Atlantic thrown in. The islands were inhabited by a mysterious people called Guanches.

They were tall, blond and light skinned, but no one seems to know their origins. They lived in small round houses, as well as caves and cliffs.


A sculpture showing human sacrifice

They had elaborate burial procedures. We visited stepped pyramids that were a far reminder of the Egyptian pyramid of Saqquara or the Aztec pyramid of Mexico.

The Step Pyramid of Gui Mar in Tenerife

To explain the presence of similar pyramids in these distant sites, historians assumed that people from Egypt or the Canary Islands were able to cross the Atlantic Ocean on these types of canoes and made it safely by fair weather.

The name Tenerife means 'snow-capped mountain' in Guanche. The island is dominated by the impressive Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, over 12,000ft in altitude.



 The south of the mountain is arid while the northern slopes are lush and green with flowers and banana trees.


I forgot the name of this unusual tree.

The city of Santa Cruz is a lovely, fan-shaped capital city, with houses and street converging to the port.

The pretty Church of La Conception lies near the heart of the old city. It displays some fine baroque artwork and reminders from the islands' history.

On the Church plaza, lining the boardwalk, is a series of bronze statues representing knights, peasants, kings,..

Because of the mountain volcanic nature, the beaches have black sand.

Stay tune for a visit to the third island of the Canaries, Madeira. Meanwhile visit this site

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9394-osiris-missing-part.aspx

 OSIRIS MISSING PART.

Seth, the evil god of storm, killed his brother Osiris, chopped him into fourteen pieces and flung them all over Egypt. Isis, goddess of family, has always loved Osiris and reassembles thirteen of his body parts. Since she couldn’t find his supernatural male member where his godly power is stored, she reattaches a human one to make him whole.

Osiris, the charming god of labor Egyptians revere is now a mortal without power, anxious to recover both his own magical organ and his godly status. Guided by oracles Isis utters during their lovemaking, they search for his missing organ and fight Seth until they find Osiris’s magical manhood and he recovers his godly attributes. Osiris has fallen in love with Isis but will the sins of his past catch up with him in the present and interfere with their future?

I wrote this story after visiting Egypt and cruising along the Nile River in April 2010, and I brought back a large collection of pictures and brochures of the ancient monuments.