Spelunking in Tenerife

Above photos by Nestor Rial

In recent weeks aboard the ship, we have had several debates with some of our friends here as to whether "spelunking" is an actual word or not. So, for those English friends of ours who may have no idea what the title of this blog entry means, I've found a very nice web site that gives a good history of how this apparently American word came to be: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-spe3.htm

Not long after we arrived in Tenerife, our family was out shopping at a very popular shopping spot for "Mercy Shipers" (I really don't care at all for this term for referring to Mercy Ships volunteers, but it fits here and I thought I would share it with you). We stepped into the sporting goods store to look at shoes and fishing gear. I wanted to ask some questions about fishing rods so, as had become my custom, sort of as a disclaimer or warning that the conversation to follow may require more effort than usual, I started out by saying "No hablo Espanol" to the fellow behind the counter. The reply came in very good English: "That's okay, at least you tried." As it turned out, Nestor and I had a lot in common and a lot to talk about. For one, we are both photographers. That was the first of several conversations with Nestor over the following weeks. In one of our conversations at the sporting goods shop, Nestor had said that he works as a guide as well and would be happy to take our family to do something that most tourists don't usually do in Tenerife. Because we were so busy with so many things while in Tenerife, it took me a while to take him up on his very kind offer, but I finally did. And I am very glad that I did! As a result, David, Joey and I went spelunking with some experienced, local cavers, in some caves left by underground lava flows on the north side of the island (Bethany had decided to go with Jenny to an English-speaking church that morning where Jenny was to share during the service about a Liberian patient who had a nose reconstructed on the ship). Cho Luis was the other guide who came along. He took David under his wing and the two of them led the way though the caves by the light of an acetylene (carbide) head lamp. Cho Luis spoke to David only in Spanish and David listened intently. (In fact, English was seldom spoken at all, only when Nestor needed to translate for us - it was great fun!) David was really feeling like a big boy too, and I enjoyed watching him. Nestor and I took lots of photos:

Above photos by Nestor Rial

We later went to the old town of Garachico where we sat in the square and where Nestor's girlfriend Marta introduced me to a very nice, Canarian coffee drink called a "barraquito" (espresso, milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and lemon zest). Marta had asked the waiter to be sure to make the drink properly, but mine came without the lemon zest. So Marta later asked why the lemon zest was left out. A very boisterous and intense conversation ensued, seasoned with quite a bit of laughter. Apparently, there was a tourist who had ordered a barraquito there and had mistaken the lemon for a caterpillar, causing her to lose her appetite and her stomach contents! So I didn't get lemon zest in my barraquito, but I enjoyed it anyway, and I would have missed out on a lot of fun if there had been nothing for Marta to take the proprietor to task about! What fun! Later that day, Nestor and Marta came back to the ship with us and were able to participate in an organized tour of the ship. I must say that day was one of the very best in Tenerife! Thank you to all our Spanish spelunking companions!!

John