Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife.

Strange Lights in Tenerife’s Sky
According to scientific reports, a recent experiment conducted between the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma and the Observatorio del Teide here on Tenerife may have looked to onlookers as though the two Canary Islands were involved in an epic Jedi battle. Over the course of two weeks,  luminescent green lasers were beamed across the 144 kilometres between the two islands as part of an experiment into using ultra-modern technology to track greenhouse gasses in order to better understand the Earth’s atmosphere.
The two observatories were chosen by scientists from Graz in Austria, York and Manchester because there are very few places on Earth where there are two peaks of sufficient height with the necessary facilities and with no obstructions in between.

Reports suggest the green lasers in the sky looked like scenes from Star Wars. However, despite having clear views of the sky between Tenerife and La Palma, the experiment went…well, you could say over our heads.

Ghostly La Laguna & the British Mediums
English speaking mediums seem to be in vogue in Spain at the moment. The bizarre Spanish TV programme Más Allá de la Vida features British medium Anne Germain conveying messages on air from the dead to members of their family. She does this in English which is translated into Spanish by the presenter. Presumably English is not only the business language of the world but also the universal language of the dead as well.

A British medium on Tenerife, Angie Freeland caused a bit of a stir this week by describing in detail the death of Catalina Justiniani at the Casa Lercaro Museum of History and Anthropology in La Laguna. In the 16th century, the young Catalina took her own life after being forced to marry against her will. Because she committed suicide, the Church refused her a burial and she was placed in a well inside the house where her unhappy ghostly figure still wanders the corridors. Allegedly without prior knowledge, Tenerife’s medium Angie Freeland described not only how Catalina died, but also where her body was laid to rest. The first you can easily find out by ‘Googling’, the second is only known to a few people – spooky.

Getting Back to Nature
Nice to hear that in the last year 1200 Cory’s Shearwaters were nursed back to health and returned to the wild thanks to the efforts of the Tenerife Government’s La Tahinilla wildlife recovery centre near La Esperanza. Anyone who spots injured birds on their travels around Tenerife should call 922 445 777 or even 112.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…The Case of the Tres Reyes
You can put postal prices up and tell the people that prices have gone down, you can even ban smoking in bars and the result might be a few grumbles before subservience is resumed…but what you can’t do is mess with the Tres Reyes (the Three Kings) on Tenerife.

This week the Tenerife Government announced that due to the economic crisis, the Tres Reyes would not be arriving, as has been the tradition for years, at CD Tenerife’s Heliodoro football stadium in Santa Cruz. They might as well have lit the blue touch paper and stood back.

Outrage and uproar ensued in the capital and even the promise that some of the money saved (around €40,000) would be put to a new Christmas event, a lavish parade full of surprises, was not enough to quell the discontent.

What followed was a few days of emergency meetings before it was announced on Monday that the necessary financial support had been found and the children (whatever their age) of Santa Cruz would not be denied their traditional Christmas treat.

They won’t arrive by helicopter and it’s unclear whether the entrance fee will still be 1 Euro but the chicharreros can worry about that closer to the time – all that’s important for now is that the Tres Reyes gig at the Heliodoro is back on. Christmas in the capital has not been cancelled.

Who says scientists don’t have a sense of humour? The headquarters of the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics shines bright with 400 of the sharpest minds but their chosen address, Milky Way Road (Calle Via Lactea), had me chuckling. Once inside though it’s cutting edge technology all the way to drive their aim of pure research into the mysteries of the universe.

The glamorous face of the IAC (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias) can be found at the observatories in Izaña, Tenerife and Roque de Los Muchachos in La Palma but Head Of Research Professor Johan Knapen prefers to push scientific boundaries from the La Laguna HQ. Within a few minutes of starting our tour I was staring up at Quijote, a telescope equipped with a microwave frequency receiver to be added to the  Teide observatory next year. Rotating on its axis every four seconds puts immense strain on the mechanism, just one of many practical problems overcome by the mechanics and engineering staff.

Many working satellites and deep space probes owe their smooth running to the IAC. Model duplicates help to check fitting and compatibility of  intricate attachments before they are added in space, there’s no popping back for spares such a long way from home. Other working problems include extremely low pressure and temperatures down to minus 253 celsius, the instruments are assembled  in special clean rooms, more sterile than any hospital could imagine.

GTC  (Gran Telescopio Canarias) 2,400 metres up in La Palma is the most famous of the IAC telescopes, with  the biggest (10.4m diameter) primary mirror in the world. It went live two years ago. The Canary Islands clear sky played a big part in the founding of the IAC here 30 years ago and the 1988 Canarian Law of the Sky limited artificial glare from industrial and street lighting safeguarding the future for the Grantecan and other star gazers.

Professor Johan from the Netherlands has been at the IAC for five years after studying and working around the world, including a spell at the University of Hertfordshire. After completing his PHD in Tenerife he was drawn to the pure research discipline of La Laguna whose library displays thick volumes of formulae and equations produced monthly. The  400 scientific papers produced a year at the IAC are gratefully devoured by the leading world journals and science magazines

So what does Johan rate as the biggest leaps in recent years?

“The discovery of 600 exo planets circling other stars is very exciting and takes us closer to finding life out there.  La Palma or the COROT satellite pick up potential new exoplanets and the Teide observatory then tests and confirms their status.Scientists are just starting to measure their chemical signatures, and finding signs of oxygen and water is an important future goal.”

Dark energy is another discovery that has stood science on its head. “The universe is expanding faster and faster. We always expected it to slow down like a stone thrown in the air reaching its limit before dropping. Dark energy is the force that defies that theory so we are now trying to understand it.”

The IAC is constantly expanding its own reach and the European Solar Telescope is the next big piece of kit they are working on. It should be ready in 10 years time. The IAC has just ben recognised by the Spanish government as one of the eight best research institutes across all areas of science in Spain. Next time you marvel at the clear night sky above Tenerife, be assured that the truth really is out there and the IAC have all the tools and dedication to unlock the oldest mysteries.

1. Fair weather friend
Well of course the weather’s the number one reason for throwing the bikini and factor 15 into a suitcase, perusing the Net for cheap flights to Tenerife and waving goodbye to the snowman.
Just four or so flying hours from the UK, who wouldn’t want to wiggle their toes in the warm sand, settle down beneath a palm tree with a good book and a long cocktail and exchange that milk bottle look for a healthy olive glow? It’s the single most common reason why millions of people choose  to holiday in Tenerife – and who are we to argue with them?

2. One island, many holidays
Tenerife is such a microcosm of landscapes that it’s like visiting a dozen different holiday resorts in one. From beaches to picturesque villages, theme parks to green parks and sandy shores to mountain highs you can find every type of holiday experience in less than 800 square miles of tropical paradise.

3. Swing into Action
On Tenerife you can pretty much guarantee that there’ll be at least one championship golf course basking in sunshine every single day of the year, and what’s more, there won’t be any earache from the other half. Golf widows can retire to the beaches of Playa de Las Américas, Costa Adeje and Las Galletas or indulge themselves in top notch hotels while their other halves pander to their favourite obsession.

4. A Taste of the Good Life
Eating out on Tenerife is still an affordable luxury and although blackboards advertising All Day British Breakfast still abound in some resorts, those with a more refined palate may be gastronomically surprised. From chic city dining to bijou resort bistros and five star hotel restaurants to gourmet secret gems – Tenerife restaurants are today’s special.

5. Holiday on another planet
There aren’t many places in the world where you can travel from snow topped mountain to sunbathing on the beach in less than two hours but Tenerife is one of them. Not just the icon of the archipelago and pride of  Spain, Teide National Park is also the most amazing landscape you’re likely to encounter this side of a long weekend on the moon.

6. Party Dude
Ask anyone who lives here, one of the things the Tinerfeños do better than most is they know how to have a good time. From bar hopping in your resort to subjecting your senses to an all out assault at Europe’s biggest carnival, for those who enjoy the hedonistic pleasures of life, almost every night is party night on Tenerife.

7. Rural retreats
Tenerife can be many things to many people and while thrill seekers find pleasure in the theme parks and nightlife of the resorts, nature lovers can escape the noise and bustle of the world in Tenerife’s idyllic rural interior. Whether you’re a walker, a tent pitcher or an away-from-it-all junkie, there’s a rustic retreat with your name on it.

8. Sail away
Tenerife is a stepping stone to the Western Canary Islands of La Gomera, La Palma (above) and El Hierro, all of which are just a short sail and a million miles away from the tourism centres of Tenerife. For the price of one flight to Tenerife and a ferry ride, you can experience half an archipelago.

9. Dive in
Centuries of volcanic eruptions have formed a mysterious underwater world of basalt columns and silent caves – all of which are teeming with marine wildlife. Warm, deep waters close to shore provide some of Europe’s best diving for those with a penchant for rubber and air tanks.

10. Thar She Blows (Photo courtesy of Atlantic Whale Foundation)
Personally, I prefer my air supply limitless and am happy to watch the amazing creatures of the deep from the deck of a sailing ship. Bottle nosed dolphins, minke and sperm whale occupy and pass through the warm waters between Tenerife’s west coast and neighbouring La Gomera making Tenerife one of the best places in the world to watch them in their natural habitat.

With seven alternate tropical universes, why confine yourself to just one Canary Island?
There are less than 230 kilometres and an entire universe of difference between La Palma in the west and Fuerteventura in the east and in between, there are five islands as disparate as any in the Greek archipelago.

So why isn’t island hopping in the Canaries more popular?

Tenerife Magazine decided to find out why.

The Booking Experience.
Armed with a calendar, a notebook and web addresses, I set about planning and booking a Canaries island-hopping trip, taking in some of the smaller islands as well as Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
I began with the traditional island hopping mode –
The Ferry.
For the Western Islands, I decided to use The Fred Olsen Express as it’s quicker than Naviera Armas.
It wasn’t long before I was running aground…the online booking site wouldn’t let me buy my tickets if I had the ‘schedules’ window open. Fine if you’re just planning a single crossing, but very frustrating if you’re trying to plan several trips. I had to keep switching views to check out which days ferries operated between the smaller islands and then going back to online sales to check times and prices.
Next I tried Naviera Armas to get around the eastern Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote as Fred Olsen doesn’t sail to them. At least they have a neat little map which shows exactly where they sail from and to but again, I had to constantly switch between ‘destination times’ and ‘passenger sales’ views making multiple bookings a very convoluted affair.

The Airlines
With some ferry crossings taking a whole day and limited sailings between smaller islands, I decided to check out the inter-island air services. On Binter Airlines’ website the flight schedules were easy to search, there were lots of flights to choose from and they gave me loads of options around my travel dates which made for easy planning. Although the Islas Airways services are restricted to the bigger islands, I actually found their site to be the easiest and most user-friendly of all for online booking.

Costs and journey times
The rule is simple; the faster you get there, the more it costs you; so flying is the fastest and most expensive way to connect the islands.
Ferries are cheaper but then they’re also considerably slower and in the case of Naviera Armas, so slow as to not be a viable option on some journeys, like Tenerife to El Hierro which takes a staggering 8hr and 30 mins and is generally the domain of farmers and their goats – both of whom are better sailors than I am.

Using Tenerife to Gran Canaria (one way) as my example, I discovered substantial differences between prices and journey times:

Naviera Armas     €30.41     2½ hours
Fred Olsen         €47.63    1 hour
Binter Canarias     €60.85     30 mins
Islas Airways     €64.35    30 mins

All the journeys I checked out had similar time/cost differences where all four carriers operate.
But services are restricted between some islands, which incidentally, I only found out by trying to book certain routes and being shown the blank ‘done’ screen.
For example, Fred Olsen doesn’t operate between Gran Canaria and Lanzarote or Fuerteventura.
Binter Airlines don’t fly direct between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura or between La Gomera and La Palma or El Hierro; and Islas Airways only operate between Tenerife, La Palma, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
It’s all very confusing, means endless internet searching and no easy way to hop between islands.

So – Why Isn’t Island Hopping in the Canaries a Popular Option?

None of the carriers, either sea or air, offer discounts for multiple trips. There are special offers running from time to time but they usually only apply to residents who already enjoy substantial discounts on travel. As the bus services on all the islands offer a multiple trip card with substantial discounts, why can’t the ferries and airlines do the same?

For anyone planning to visit several islands, online booking either from home or while on the move is the most sensible option, but I found ferry online booking sites to be cumbersome and definitely not user-friendly for island hoppers. Why can’t the ferries offer multiple trip planning and booking?

Although both Fred Olsen and Naviera Armas operate free ferry buses between capital city and ports on Tenerife, (Fred Olsen also operates ferry buses on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote), the bus doesn’t pick up or drop off at the airports.

The end result is this: As a tourist, the costs of visiting multiple islands is either prohibitively expensive if you choose to do it by air; tiresomely slow if you opt for the more cost-effective ferries or painfully unconnected if you choose to mix and match.

Until the inter-island services wake up to the possibilities of island hopping and offer discounts on multiple trips; better connectivity between ports, bus stations and airports; and online booking services that allow users to plan multiple trips, I guess island hopping in the Canaries will remain about as popular as the norovirus.

The words “shame”, “wasted” and “opportunity” come to mind.