Time went back an hour last night for the Canary Islands. It was nice to be able to sleep in again this morning.  Of course, everyone else on the ship had the same idea.  We thought we would try and eat at the dining room this morning, but so did everyone else.  We went to the buffet per usual. 

We did not have a tour today so we got off the ship around 10am.  It is Sunday today so pretty much everything is closed.  My husband found a salt museum that was about ten miles away.  We asked at the port if we could use a credit card for the bus and they said we could. We walked up to the bus stop and found out that they would not take a credit card!  We finally found a taxi and she said it would cost 35 euro to get there.  We didn’t have anything else to do, so we took the taxi.  She drove quite fast and knew the words to every song that played on the radio.  When we got there, I asked if there were any taxis and she said no, just the bus, but she looked up the taxi number for us before we got out.  

The salt museum cost only 6 euro each person. They asked us if we wanted to buy a combo ticket for two other museums, one of which was for goat cheese, and although they sounded very interesting, we had no way to get there. We asked the man at the desk if he could call a taxi for us when it was time to leave and he said no problem.  He told us the bus was always an issue and sometimes did not even stop there at all.  

The museum had a small exhibition inside and then you could walk outside and view the whole operation. It only takes place during the hottest months (April through October), therefore it was dormant while we were there. The inside museum explained the whole process and had some furniture examples from a salt worker’s house and the tools they would use.  They also had a short video and examples of different salts.  This was a neat place because it’s all done naturally and by hand. They are trying to restore the place to bring up the production to 700 tons a year.  The inside of the museum was quite hot.  The outside was nicer with a cool breeze. 

We walked over to the “saltadero”, which is where the waves naturally splash up onto the shore and since there is a small hill, the water stays on one side and then follows canals into the three salt pools.  The water goes through each pool until it reaches the desired temperature.  It is then moved into the smaller crystallization pools.  This is where the workers need to rake the salt up to dry when it is ready.  They then put the salt into the warehouse.  There was also a lime kiln on site and a fin whale skeleton.  She was 19 meters long and died of starvation because her head was stuck in ropes.  

It was a very interesting visit.  I don’t know where else I’m going to find an area where they naturally produce salt.  We bought a bag of it to bring home.  We took the taxi back to Puerto de Rosario.  We walked to the city center and found a store that was open.  I bought a t-shirt and magnet for a good price.  I don’t usually buy tshirts in Europe because the quality is quite thin, but this one felt substantial.  We walked over to the church and then down to have a bite to eat at a tapas bar.  The waitress was speaking to us in both English and Spanish and totally misunderstood our orders.  The taxi driver also refused to speak to me in Spanish, which I just find odd.  If they want to practice their English, I understand, but I know they understand me. 

Today was quite hot, but the breeze helped keep things pleasant.  I think the next few days will be cooler.  We didn’t expect 80s in November!