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nDidnyou know that one of the “autonomous communities” of Spain is angroup of islands quite close to Morocco, in Africa?
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nThenCanary Islands is a group of eight inhabited islands. These volcanicnislands form an archipelago. Back in the days of exploration andncolonization, Spanish galleons on the way to the “New World”nwould stop at the Canaries for fresh food and water—and mostly sonthat they could catch the prevailing trade winds. Being such annimportant stopover spot brought great wealth to some of the Spaniardsnliving on the islands. n
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nOfncourse, being in a good spot for European ships was not so good fornthe original inhabitants of the islands. The various peoples livingnon the islands were either fought against and killed or converted andnassimilated. The native peoples of two islands surrendered to thenSpaniards quite quickly, but the other islanders resisted forndecades – in some cases, for almost a century!
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nAnfew elements of the original cultures still survive today. Oneninteresting element is Silbo, a whistled language that was spoken onnfour of the islands before the Spaniards arrived. Silbo was adaptednto Spanish and is still used today in some cases.
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nApparentlynthe whistling could be used to communicate across deep ravines andnnarrow valleys of the islands – up to five kilometers (threenmiles)! So it is often used to announce events and to advise or warnnthe public. Check it out!
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nThesendays, the beaches and sunny weather attract a lot of tourists. Inguess you can see that there are some beautiful things to see in thenCanaries:
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| Famara Beach, on Lanzarote, above Garajonay National Park, in La Gomera, below |
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| Las Palmas, on Gran Canaria, above Mount Teide, on Tenerife, below |
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| Rocky shore on Lanzarote, above Sand dunes on Gran Canaria, below |
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| There are such clear skies that there are three international observatories on the islands. Below, Lanzarote has an underwater sculpture museum. |
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nAlsonon this date:
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nIndiannArrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago
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nArbornDay in Honduras
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nMother’snDay in Nicaragua
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nAnniversarynof the eruption of Mount Lassen
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nAnniversary of the discovery of krypton
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nAstronomernand mathematician Georg von Peuerbach’s birthday
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nPlannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJunen holidays
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nJunen birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in June
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