1 Feb 2019: Canaries in the Canaries?

The small Fiat I rented at Tenerife Airport came as a shock, it had right-hand steering and I suddenly realised I had to drive on the right-hand side of the road. After a nerve-racking drive to the city centre, and a near head-to-head with a very upset Spanish driver, I thought I was getting the hang of it. I was wrong.

Driving lessons

Tenerife has a parking problem. You drive for kilometres in anorexic streets to find a parking spot as big as a shoebox. What is more, the right-hand curb tends to jump at you around every corner. I scraped a wheelrim, thumped a few mirrors of parked cars, said a few prayers, and uttered many more expletives. My Spanish is even getting better, I am learning all the swearwords pretty fast.

Which reminds me of a colleague in the Chaplain Service who learnt his Afrikaans on the streets of Soweto from the South African Police. The very first Afrikaans words he learnt was: “Vang hom!” (Catch him!)

At nightfall I found a parking space on the outskirts of the city and nearly had to catch a taxi back to my Air B&B. The only birds I had seen were some Rock Doves roving the narrow streets. I wonder… are there any Canaries in the Canaries?