At some point even the most beautiful time once nears its end. Today we have agreed the last for us dives on La Palma with Ronni. On Tuesday, we will then throw off the lines and sail in the direction of Madeira.

I wanted to use the morning to shop. I had seen the market Hall of Santa Cruz only from the outside, and now the opportunity was there, to change. For next week I wanted to fruit and vegetable bunkers like today but the shopping in Santa Cruz could not really convince me. The market hall was nice to look at, but it rather cute small. The goods not so fresh, as I had hoped and the prices higher, als ich gedacht hatte 🙁 Trotzdem werden wir in der nächsten Woche sicher nicht verhungern 🙂

When Caro then took us down to two at the Harbour entrance with car, had I stowed everything well and safely. I wanted to cook out for the trip to Madeira but only on Monday.

At the base we met yet Raphael and Johanna and together we went then with Ronni five Malpique. Two dives were scheduled for today. One “Normal” in the afternoon and a fluorescence-dive with blue light lamps in the evening.

But what exactly is fluorescence dive?

The term “Fluorescence” the influence of blue or ultraviolet light is the glow of many sea creatures. A tiny protein called GFP is responsible for the fluorescence for “Green fluorescent protein”. Fluorescence dives are night dives, with a lamp, radiates the light in the blue and ultraviolet region, be performed. Many living things, especially coral, reflect light with a longer wavelength (visible light) If she with blue to UV light (invisible light) be lit up. The resulting colours is a completely new experience and yet not fully explored.

Bekanntlich kommt ja das Beste immer zu Schluss 🙂 Wir wollten uns gern überraschen lassen 🙂

Already the afternoon dive was a special highlight. We were still not entirely submerged, as we did on the first Skate “stumbled upon”.

Also the seahorses were today for a photo shoot available.

Today I was on the road the first time with the camera and I didn't, was ich zuerst fotografieren sollte 🙂

A marble torpedo

One of the two moray eels

The Balloonfish “Emil”

After this dive, I was not sad, that I in the next round would be because there was only 4 Sets for fluorescence diving. Dann überließ ich das mal besser den alten Hasen 🙂

We use the time until sunset to the “Hamburguesa” – Food. During the whole time, Dietmar struggled with his sad fate, to rise again in the wet wetsuit. Er tat uns allen wirklich leid 🙂

Back at the dive site in the new equipment have been given. This included not only the blue light lamp, but also a yellow filter, He with a headgear before the diving mask was attached. Shortly before the dark, the four are maschierten down to the beach and I remained alone in the car.

As also the last rays of the Sun had disappeared, again and again I saw signs of light in the sea. Das sah schon echt verrückt aus 🙂 aber ich konnte so ganz bequem den Weg der Gruppe unter Wasser verfolgen. After an hour, then again, I heard voices on the beach and a short time later all had climbed the steep road up to the parking lot. Everywhere I saw happy faces- The dive was a resounding success with new impressions.

Moving and storage the equipment is a challenge in the dark. Since already a hand must hold the flashlight mostly a free hand for other things is missing, die man eigentlich gerade erledigen will 🙂 Außerdem kann es leicht passieren, that you light things, die nicht beleuchtet werden wollen 🙂 “Hey!! Nicht in die Damenumkleide leuchten rief Johanna als Dietmar im Auto sein Handtuch suchen wollte 🙂 !!!”At some point, but everything in the car was stored and tired and satisfied we headed back towards Santa Cruz.

Today was the last day with the car and I had put me in the head, in the morning the volcano “San Antonio” to visit. Two times we had stood before closed gates. So, today was my last chance.

Dietmar had enough of land and people first, and so I made me at nine o'clock alone on the way. Spontaneously, I decided, to make a detour to the parking area of the past, to make at least some reasonable pictures.

Then I drove along the coast towards Fuencaliente, the resort on the southern tip of La Palma. Fuencaliente translates “hot spring”. As but in the most recent outbreak of the 657 Meters high Vulkan San Antonio at the turn of the year 1677/1678 the hot and Holy spring of the city was buried, they renamed the place in Los Canarios. Today, both names are commonly used. The age of the volcano San Antonio is only on about 3000 Years appreciated. A small visitors center with exhibition spaces are about geological details.

Today, the Vulkan San Antonio showed but rather by its dark side, but at least I never faced closed doors.

Just in time by one I picked up Dietmar Harbour and we rode together in the dive center. This afternoon it should along with Raphael to “La Bahita” go, directly below the airport. This dive site is picturesquely located in a small fishing village and has a special feature: Under water, there is a cleaning station, the rays and other large fish from so-called cleaner shrimp “cleaned”, d.h. be free of pesky parasites. Not always is there something going on, But today we were lucky and a rays and a moray eel themselves the beauty care. Wieder einmal ein toller Tauchgang 🙂

According to weather forecast, the Sun should shine today all day and we wanted to finally drive in the North of the island. On a tiny street you can ride up along on the crater rim of the Caldera de Taburiente to the Observatory. Even if the weather forecast once again slightly in addition was, could we see much of the Green and bizarre landscape.

Thanks to the clear sky, the Canary Islands are ideal for observation of outer space. The Observatory of the “Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias” is on La Palma since 1985.

Unser Auto parkten wir sehr angemessen auf einem der Hubschrauberlandeplätze 🙂

On the way back we passed la Zarza, where one archaeological finds from the time of the Benahoares (Natives of La Palma) can visit. The petroglyphs (Spirals, Circles and meander) have survived up to the present time and were following the discovery 1941 an archaeological sensation. Their importance is but still completely unclear.

For the evening Ronni had come up with something special for us: a night dive. Dietmar had already tried the night diving on Madeira and was excited. I was still somewhat suspicious, but I try it anyway.

So we stood against nine o'clock in the evening in full gear on the dark Beach. Each equipped with two flashlights. It was already a funny feeling, to get into the dark water. Somehow the whole underwater world seemed much more closely than in daylight. Very creepy, I found the many sea urchins, When night her rock crevices, leave and go wandering. But not only the sea-urchins are nocturnal, so we saw a large, Red Octopus, a feisty, small stingrays, a large Burrfish and many other sea creatures. After an hour we were again full and with full gear on the beach. I had not expected that, aber das machen wir bestimmt bald wieder 🙂

On the way back to the base we have scared sure a few walkers to death. On the day, you will often astonished look look, If you with the complete diving equipment on foot in the direction of water are. At night it is but again much more extreme if the “Neoprene Monster” durch die Straßen schleichen 🙂

We had arranged our first dive for Sunday morning and we met about ten o'clock at the diving base. From here we wanted to Divemaster Steffi with our together at the house reef “To the claw” dive, a particularly striking rock formation, the (amazingly) what looks like a giant claw.

After we had prepared our equipment and assembled, We marched down to the beach. After the long break of the diving, the unusually high weight of equipment pushed hard on our shoulders. It comes up quick with bottle and weights 30 Kilogram. But when they finally made it into the water, the weight is easily vergessen...bis it then after the dive back uphill to the dive goes :-).

The island of La Palma offers really beautiful and interesting dive sites with lots of different fish and other living things. Unfortunately, the water temperature is still quite sporty in the moment with 17-18 ° for my circumstances. The first steps in the water are the worst, wenn sich das kalte Nass den Weg in den Neoprenanzug sucht und findet 🙁

But the underwater world compensated us rich: A somewhat shy Burrfish (Emil), We have seen two beautiful moray eels and many other animals. Back on the beach, we found another one “Physalia”. Good, that we had not taken under water, This type of jellyfish caused the unpleasant and very painful nettle foundations.

It declined after the dive and the cleaning of the equipment for the first time on our SUMMER, denn Tauchen macht hungrig 🙂 Obwohl es sicher eine der wenigen Sportarten ist, When it freezes rather than sweating.

In the afternoon I was again alone in the city, We don't so much had considered by. On this gloomy afternoon, the shopping streets and squares were extinct as.

Everywhere in the streets, the posters already hung, them to the “Bajada de la Virgen de las Nieves” (the descent of the Virgin of the snow) pointed. This Festival is celebrated every five years on La Palma. 2015 was it again.

To the history:

1676 the island was ravaged by a drought. In that year the wore Palm Eros the portrait of Marie of Las Nieves in the city down, to implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The religious zeal of the population saw the Bishop Bartolomé García Ximenéz, He ordered, that the procession off 1680 to repeat every five years.

On the last Sunday in June pilgrims in traditional costume wearing down the parts of the two-ton Silberthrones of the statue in the Church El Salvador, where the Virgin resides during their stay in the city. It begins with the Bajada of the throne in Santa Cruz Semana Chica, the small week, also a night parade is one of the, colorful at the children accompanied by a band and colorful lanterns through the darkened city wear.

On the second Sunday in July starts Semana Grande with the move of the mascarones, the Giants and convince, the well-known fairy-tale characters and cartoon characters represent. Since 1945 focuses on the Wednesday the Minuett, on Thursday, the indisputable highlight is on the agenda: La Danza de los Enanos, the famous dance of the dwarf.

The origin of this dance goes back on the Corpus Christi celebrations, the oldest known mention of dwarf dance of Santa Cruz de La Palma dating back to the year 1833. Don Manuel Díaz (1774-1863), Pastor of the Church of El Salvador, for his era a liberal-minded man and lover of the arts, made for the dance masks from paper mache. 1905 introduced the Miguel Salazar charge in that year for the dwarf dance, the transformation of people dwarfs. In the first part, the dancers occur first in an any Panel (as monks, Sailors, Japanese, Greeks, Astronomers, Pilgrim, Old, Students). In just a few seconds, the dancers are transformed into Dwarves and begin to dance the quick and rousing polka in the same moment, the since 1925 is played unchanged. Plaza de Santo Domingo from the pull the Dwarves and their Entourage through the crowd-lined streets of Santa Cruz, where they continue to dance throughout the night, seem to the rays of the rising sun on the masts of the vessel of the Virgin at the Plaza de la Alameda, the last scene of the dance to in 5 Years.

On the next day, Friday, in the performance of the Carro Alegórico (Car of the allegories) staged various Marie themes.

The Virgin of snow embarks on Saturday then, a terracotta figure from the 14. Century, from their about six kilometres away sanctuary in the city down. It appears ready to go in her litter and done with the most beautiful robes after pilgrims mass in the Renaissance portal of the Church in Las Nieves. On the Royal Road of El planto, the train first leads up to the Church of la Encarnación at the City entrance, where the flock of the faithful the night rests and celebrates, to continue the journey in the El Salvador Church in the city centre on Sunday.

Even before the Virgin of snow reached the city, the procession makes a stop in the Barranco de las Nieves, where the dialogue between El Castillo (the fortress) and la nave (the ship) takes place. The fortress rises above, on the left side of the Gorge, the ship of the Blessed Virgin (a replica of the Caravel of Columbus directed 1940) below is located in the Plaza de Alameda and the permanent symbol of the celebrations.

At the 5. August the Virgin in a pompous parade is brought back again until the next time in 5 Years.

It would have been definitely interesting, aber wir haben ja für den Juli bereits andere Pläne 🙂

On the Monday we agreed us first in the afternoon in the South of the island for scuba diving. On our way there, We visited yet the Cueva de Belmaco, a cave with engravings of the Guanches.

Arrived in Las Cabras we encountered Caro and Ronny of La Palma diving and also on the two other divers, that had made a dive in the morning. Johanna from Passau and guy from Belgium. We had decided against two dives a day, because it is really uncomfortable, to rise again after the break in the jerk and ice-cold wetsuit. It does so on the quantity, sondern auf die Qualität an 🙂

The dive itself was a pleasure again, only the one- and exit over the stony Beach was pretty tricky and slippery. Diving from the beach one has after whatever the problem, the sand, He sticks to the entire equipment, rid of them again. Since we rinse our equipment on the bridge before the boat with fresh water and then dry on the buzzer, is this sand Dietmar a particular thorn in the flesh. The when it comes to our SUMMER, ist Dietmar wirklich sehr penibel 🙂

At the end of the day, we drove together to the best "Hamburguesta"-Bude of La Palma and talked a little while before we let cozy bar.