It seems museums should be small in the relatively small Canary Islands. But the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is not tiny. And its exhibit is by no means ordinary. Suffice it to say; there are mummies on display. Going to Egypt or the British Museum is unnecessary — it is enough to plan an intelligent family holiday in Tenerife.
Note that the museum contains mummies not of Egyptian pharaohs but of the Guanches — the island's indigenous inhabitants. The Anthropology of Ancient Civilisations department contains a lot of other exciting exhibits. They help you imagine how people lived in the Canaries thousands of years ago.
A large section of the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre is devoted to the history of the Canary Islands. On the screen, you can see how seven islands rose from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the wake of volcanic eruptions. Admire the model volcano and listen to the boiling magma and rumbling red-hot rocks erupt. A visit to the slopes of Mount Teide after the museum is a much more emotional experience.
The museum is well illustrated with the flora and fauna of Tenerife. Amongst other things is a giant stuffed rat with a body length of over 1 metre along with its tail. The rats are extinct millions of years ago, and so are giant lizards. The skeletal remains of a large fossil animal are on display in the street — kids are often tempted to use them as an element of play.
Santa Cruz is home to two other museums in Tenerife — the Museum of Science and Space and History and Anthropology.
