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esort a single Lido swimming pool area had nowbeen superseded by a series of artificial volcanicringed lagoons complete with waterfalls, largefountains for bathers to overcome the lack ofnatural beaches and in the resorts, yellow Saharasand had been shipped in to improve 'MotherNature'.I was not to be disappointed. Cocos nuciferawas now planted everywhere at sea level, as wereHowea forsteriana Caryota species, Syagrusromanzoffiana, Archontophoenixcunninghamiana and Roystonea palms. Thegeneral effect in some resort areas, like Puerto deLa Cruz is that of a mini Caribbean or Hawaii.Two specific sites are of particular interest toplant fanciers, viz. The Botanic Gardens at Puertoand the Loro Parque Theme Park. The BotanicGardens, and indeed the surrounding suburbs,called El Boltanico, are a must with Flame Trees,ornamental ponds and tropical trees of immensesize with trunk-like aerial roots. The collectionof palms and tree ferns in this 200 year old garden,is immense with everything from the WestAfrican Oil Palm, Elaieis guineensis, through tothe Trachycarpus species. The entire length ofone side of the garden is taken up with plantedout individual specimens of palms, each onerepresenting a different type to its neighbour, withvarious members of the same family planted inproximity, allowing contrasts to be readily made.One further surprise was the Loro ParqueZoological/Botanical Theme Park situated nearthe coast on the other side of Puerto de La Cruz.The park was founded by the German naturalistWolfgang Kiessling in late 1972 to house acollection of rare parrots. Today it has beenexpanded to an area ten times its original sizeand now houses more than 800 species and subspeciesof the parrot family, plus many mammals,including chimpanzees, tigers, gorillas, plusdolphins and reptiles etc. The viewing areas,laboratories, restaurants and transport facilitiesare all extremely modern and clean and woulddo credit to the most successful U.S. Theme Park.A large botanical collection is featured,including a line of rapidly grown Roystoneas atthe entrance by the Thai Pavilion, complete withthree elephant shaped topiary displays. Manypalms including fruiting coconuts, can also beseen. However, the most spectacular part of thegarden is undoubtedly the Kentia Palm Grovecontaining some 750 Howeia Forsteriana palms,most with green trucks, amongst which strollCrowned Cranes to add to the spectacle. All ofthis just four hours flight time away from thesouth of England!The Cretan Date Palm...continued from page 7impossible to see the individual trunks. Themost fascinating thing for me was the light greento slightly blue colouring, and the extremestiffness, of the leaves. I have got a very livelyimpression of the spiny nature of these leaves asI hurt myself on the head when I was collectingsome seeds. After 2km the palms grew smallerand finally disappeared, and the canyon endedat a waterfall.On the way back, I waded through the riverto get some further impressions. Back on thebeach, I met my friends and we stayed until thesun disappeared behind the mountains. Deeplyimpressed with pockets full of palm seeds, wemade our way back.page 14Above: Roystonea palms and Elephant Topiary bushes at the entrance to Lono Parque >Below: Coconuts by the Lido area of Puerto de la Cruz >