trip's start

We start off our first full day in Gran Canaria with an old favorite: a trip to near-by Maspalomas. Here we are on the Global Bus zipping through the ten-minute trip from Playa del Inglés to Playa Maspalomas.

The Maspalomas nature preserve looks healther than ever. We see fish, several kids of birds, and more lush plants than ever. This is the water outlet just before fresh water from the mountains hits the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean at Maspalomas.

Rose, Isaac, and Lila are cheery with anticipation as we walk ten minutes to the dunes. (In the background you can see the faro (lighthouse) in the middle of Maspalomas.

There's a gentle way of getting down a sand-dune and ways not so gentle. The kids are content with running, falling, or swimming down the steep sand. Then they egg me on to try Hapkido rolls all the way down. Oh, I'm dizzy!

We're hot from all that climbing (and descending) so we head into the surf. The air is hot, the water is reasonable, and we're finally in the water. The travel part of our trip is complete; we're here!

One of the nice things about Maspalomas are the tide pools. I'm showing Lila some sea urchins. (I stepped on some urchin spines, from an urchin which was recently a meal for something, but luckily my body took care of the irritation in a day or so.)

Here's a close-up of a tiny crab that scuttled over my toes. No wildlife was harmed in the making of this 'blog, BTW.

Lila takes a turn carefully holding the crab (in some water).

Isaac takes a turn as well. I like his facial expressions.

This is turning out to be quite the wildlife day: we come across what I think is a big nudibranc, an underwater snail sans shell. This is what it looks like from above the water.

One of the reasons I bought a Pentax Optio W20 is for moments like this: here's the nudibranc as seen underwater!

From the jumble of rocks of the tide-pools, between the sand beaches, Isaac salvages the fin from a surfboard. It's big, it's red, it's great for digging through the sand, and it was received as an offering from the sea gods. What could be better for a little kid?

Lila and Rose take a turn exploring the rocks. This is such a varied beach, it's so much fun for all of us.

Somewhat posed: Isaac was digging himself into a hole, and Lila was supervising with hands on hips, so Rose jumped into the picture to add another layer of management. Life in my family :-)

When I was a kid we'd lie down in the newly-fallen snow and wiggle our arms and legs to make "snow angels". Following that thinking it seems that Isaac must be making "sand angels". He's giggling with pleasure; what a tactile rush!

As we head off the beach to get a snack we pass a girl arranging her collection of ponies and unicorns in the sand. Lila wanted a picture.