The sun was shining while we ate breakfast and hurriedly made plans to visit Siam Park. As the self-proclaimed no 1 water park in Europe, its awesome water rides really do live up to the title. 

We decided to walk to the park rather than take the free shuttle bus, as the park was only 30 minutes up the road, and we thought the walk would help our breakfast go down.

The biggest obstacle we faced on our commute to the waterpark was the TR-1 motorway. As Tenerife’s only motorway, the TR-1 runs a part loop from about 8 o’clock around the south coast, up to the capital and around the narrowest part of the island stopping about 12 o’clock. Luckily for us, the main route from the resorts up to the park also needed to cross the TR-1, and our walking route ended at the bridge a short distance from the entrance to the park. 

We rode a lot of rides and had a great time. In a strange turn of events, we searched out the sunny parts of the queue line, or the route to the next ride. Whereas last time we were there it was well into the summer and we were hating the sunny areas and looking forward to the shaded sections.

Due to the fact that visitor numbers aren’t high enough currently, many of the rides were closed for part of the day. Where there were two neighbouring rides, one was open in the morning and the other in the afternoon. 

In compliance with section 10 of the internationally agreed guidelines for riding water rides with inflatables, I leant back, and where possible pulled on a raft handle here and there in an attempt to adhere to the racing line! When Char and I rode a four-person ride with another couple the other guy must have also been familiar with the guidelines. He leant back and added his weight to the boat. We climbed so high up the sides of the ride walls both women had no choice but to express their pleasure and enjoyment with screams punctuated with a sharp intake of breath. Damn, they had fun! On a three-person ride in a giant round boat, I managed to sit in the middle facing forward. Yeah, baby. Game on! I held the raft straps as tight as I could, engaged my leg muscles and the boat kind of folded in half up as the water pushed us high up the ride walls. At one point Liz said, “I can see your arm muscles, I know what you’re doing”. Knowing she doesn’t always say what she means, what I thought she meant was, “honey, I’m loving the way you’re making this a thrilling ride, keep going”.

We knew that the wind was due to make an appearance around 1pm, and right on schedule the sun retreated as the wind blew clouds inland. I could feel the temperature dropping slowly as I was standing in a queue line waiting for a ride that neither of my partners in crime wanted to go on. Once I reached the top I was pretty cold, my chattering teeth communicating that our time in the park was nearly over. 

Being a single rider, on a ride for two I had to wait for a three-person team to reach the head of the queue line. I’m not sure the young woman who rode the from of my two-person dinghy knew what she was in for. Figuring it was my last ride and I like it fast, without thinking I leant back as we descended the first hill. We gathered speed and then large jets of chilly water propelled us uphill. This didn’t cool my determination to end on a high and I continued to steer our little ship as much as possible, our last drop down into the pool achieving enough speed to propel us to the end of the pool. Apparently, she had quite a surprised look on her face when she got out!

We walked quite briskly back to the hotel to warm ourselves up, looking forward to a hot drink around the pool bar. By 5pm we retreated inside where the breeze couldn’t follow us and sat in the lobby lounge playing cards.

The theme for the restaurant was Mexican, but not the kind of Mexican we’re used to. It was popular with the other diners but I opted for chicken fajita and salad, not liking the look of the other dishes and avoiding fried foods – a personal rule when I’m all-inclusive. 

Afterwards we took a ninety minute circuit walk along the seafront towards Los Christianos and back inland.

Overall a fun day, made all the better by the laughter and quality banter.

Goodnight.