This past weekend, we took a trip to Tenerife, and Island within the Spanish Territory of the Canary Islands. The purpose of this trip was to see a fog collection project that was similar to the project we have the opportunity to see in Sidi Ifini, led by Dar Si Hmad, the organization we’re working with in Agadir. We arrived to the Canaries on Thursday evening, after a late night of saying goodbye to our host families in Marrakech. Despite a mixups at customs and security that caused us to miss our initial flight, we made it to our hostel in La Laguna in no time. We spent the first night relaxing and settling in, as our next morning was to be an early one. Friday we spent the day hiking around Montana Grande, looking at the diverse variations of flora that were present due to the nature of the coastal fog. This gave us a baseline understanding of the importance that fog places in the biodiversity of the Island.
In addition to academic excursions, we also got to spend some time exploring ourselves. I was lucky enough to turn 20 while we were in the Canaries. We initially had an academic excursion planned, but because the weather turn on us -it rained almost the entire time we were there- we ended up having a relatively free day, on my birthday! I celebrated with tacos at a taqueria around the corner form our hostel (Mexican food.. in Spain..?) with some friends, as well as a walk around the town on my own. One of the best parts of this visit, aside from the delicious food, beautiful architecture and friendly hosts, was our ability to walk around comfortably. As a group of mostly women, the privilege of wandering around, especially at night, is simply not there for us in Morocco. We rarely knew where we were going, or what exactly we wanted to do, but it didn’t matter! Just the sheer opportunity to wander, alone, at night, was a treat to say the least.