Leaving the Canaries

View Larger Map

We had a lazy morning and had a little lie in before packing and having breakfast. We were in no way ready to leave yet and go back to the grey and cold of England. After packing and relaxing a bit we drove out to the dunes and beaches to have a last walk. We took some photos and then headed to the airport and caught our flight back to London via Madrid.

The Canaries are an amazingly diverse set of islands and are very photogenic. We would like to come back here and are probably going to next year sometime.

Revisting the South

View Larger Map

As usual, we got up for sunset and headed out to the dunes. The sunset was pretty good, bathing the dunes in warm light, giving them great shape and bring out all the patterns in them. After breakfast we headed back down to the south again to Sotavento the beach we'd been to before. The weather was clear all the way down but the moment we got to the beach, it clouded over, much to our luck. We headed down to the town of Morro Jable for lunch. The town turned out to be a great place and we went to a lovely restaurant for lunch with great soups. The beach here was a lovely pale yellow with stunning clear water.

The rain clouds followed us here but I managed to get some great moody photos over the water. We headed back to Sotavento beach and found a great view overlooking the beach which, by this time was sunny. We eventually got to the beach and it was sunny for a bit while I got some photos. It then clouded over and in the distance looking like a great storm was brewing. We had a lovely walk on the beach and it was more beautiful than we'd previously thought with lots of sand bars on the edge of the beach and almost a lake in the middle of it it and mountains in the distance.

We then decided to drive over to the west coast which is supposed to be barren and rugged. We went to a little town called La Pared which had a spectacular coastline and beach with cliffs and mountains in the distance. We watched the sunset which was amazing and our last. This was probably the best sunset we'd seen at ground level. After the drama of that, we headed home for our last dinner which was rabbit and a great meal to finish the holiday with.

Relaxing

View Larger Map

After a day mostly spent in the car we decided to spend today mostly on the beach. In the morning I got up for sunrise which, again, was nothing spectacular. We headed to the beach in ElCotillo and spent the whole morning and some of the afternoon, swimming, sunbathing and eating good food. This is the most relaxing day of the holiday and was great. We then headed to another beach nearer to our apartment. We relaxed here for a little while before taking a walk on some other beaches we hadn't explored yet.

We hadn't had any real, Spanish mainland tapas here so far so we headed out to find some. Unfortunately we couldn't so we settled for a nice seafood dinner in the harbour.

Driving, Driving, Driving

View Larger Map

We got up for sunrise over the dunes and beach this morning. The sunrise was good but nothing spectacular, however, we still managed to get good pictures. We had breakfast in the apartment and then decided to head down to the south which is supposed to have some amazing beaches. We drove via the centre which is barren and desolate which had a moon landscape feel to it. On the way we stopped off at a very pretty village called Betancuria which has a lovely monastery and pretty whitewashed houses. Fuerteventura doesn't get much rain but just our luck it started chucking it down so we had a quick lunch and headed further south.

The rain clouds followed us all the way and the main beach called Sotavento we got to after lots of driving was windswept and grey but we could still see the beauty in it and had a bit of a walk. The weather did not look like it would get any better so headed back up to Corralejo.

In the evening we had quite a few drinks before heading to another restaurant in Corralejo which was supposed to have good Andalusian food. The food was absolutely excellent and we had our best dinner of the holiday. Drunkenly, I left the waitress almost a twenty euro tip before we staggered back to our beds.

Sun, Sand and Sea

View Larger Map

After a rubbish sleep we got up and drove out to the sand dunes for the first time. The dunes are blindingly bright and softly and undulating in comparison to somewhere like the Sahara but are still beautiful in their own right. We saw the beautiful sea and beaches here for the first time as well. We quickly drove back to the apartment, had breakfast in Corralejo and headed back out to the beach.

The first beach we went to had lovely white sand the the sea was a pretty blue aquamarine. The water was very clear and we had a nice swim which was refreshing but not freezing cold. We then drove to another town called El Cotillo which is reputed to have a lovely beach. The beach was a beautiful crescent of white sand with clear water which wouldn't look out of place in the Caribbean if it had Palm trees. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach and had great goats cheese and had a small boozy lunch which was great. The sun shone for the whole time we were at lunch but the moment we left, clouds rolled in. We stayeduntil sunset which was ok before heading back to Corralejo.

Corralejo is a tourist town with a lack of character in places (mainly the new part) but the main harbour is quite cute and has some lovely restaurants, one of which we went to had the best chorizo we've ever had and the tuna stuffed onions was excellent.

Getting to Fuerteventura

View Larger Map

The flight passed with nothing of interest. We had a few problems getting the car as there was a error with the booking but this was quickly sorted. We headed to the northern town of Corralejo. We got to our apartments late and there were no keys left out for us as we hadn't told them how late we would be due to the flight. We called the manager and eventually got our keys. While this was happening Colin and I saw quite a few cockroaches in the street and he freaked out a bit but I managed to calm him down.

Revisiting Anaga and Leaving Tenerife

View Larger Map

We had another resonably lazy morning before heading to the Anaga coast again for Colin to see. The weather was pretty good and we stopped at lots of viewpoints before heading down to the coast. It was as spectacular as I remember and Colin loved it as much as I did. We had lunch by the beach and then went for a walk in the Laurel forest before heading to the airport.

We got to the airport and our flight had been put back by 2 hours without them telling us so we headed to the nearest town to do emails and have drinks before heading back to the airport and getting our flight to Fuerteventura.

Tenerife's an amazing island with such a variety of landscapes and environments, most of these being in the north as the south is tourist hell.

Barranco del Infierno and Masca

View Larger Map

We had a lazy morning getting up late and having breakfast before heading to Barranco del Infierno (Hell's Gorge). This is supposed to be Tenerife's deepest gorge. The walk itself was quite pleasant, walking along the gorge with large drop offs. The walk slowly descended from a desert landscape into trees and mini forest with a stream and finally a waterfall which was slightly dissapointing. Once we had got here we headed back stopping off to take photos along the way before heading to a famous village and gorge called Masca.

The drive to Masca was certainly precarious with huge cliffs and mountains and difficulty passing any other cars on the road. Along the way we met a bus which was almost impossible to get around and I had to reverse on a mountain which was pretty scary. Once we'd got to Masca the gorge being pretty spectacular and the village was lovely. We had a late lunch here before having a little walk around and taking photos. After this we climbed back up the mountains taking photos before heading down to the Los Gigantes (Giant Cliffs). Unfortunately the road had been closed so we had to settle for a little lava beach for sunset. We then headed back and had our last dinner in Tenerife before getting a little drunk.

Leaving Teide

View Larger Map

As usual we got up to see the sunrise over Teide. On driving through the national park under the full moon we noticed and saw our first moon rainbow which was quite strange. It looks very strange and tried to take a photo but it was gone by the time I'd set the camera up. The sunrise wasn't as good as the previous but still managed to get some great photos.

After eating a huge breakfast we left the hotel and left Canadas del Teide National Park. We decided to do a walk on the way down to an area called Paisaje Lunar (Lunar Landscape). We found the main road to get there was a nasty dirt track and couldn't take the car on it for fear of damage or another flat tyre which would not have been good. Instead, we decided to walk it not knowing what we'd gotten ourselves into. 8km later and tired legs and feet already, we reached the starting point of the walk. The guide book was pretty vague so along the way we took a couple of wrong turns but managed to get there in the end. The columns or chimneys are really stunning and wouldn't look out of place in Bryce Canyon or something. The sun had been hidden for most of the day and came out just as we entered the area which was nice. We stayed for a while and then started to head back with our feet aching already. The walk back was pretty strenous and our legs and feet were hurting quite a bit. The end was in sight though and we managed to make it back to the car. Six hours and around 20km later with feet and legs barely intact. Was it worth it? We probably wouldn't do it again but it was an adventure but took up the whole day.

We then headed down the mountain and to a nice village called Garachico on the north coast. This is probably one of the nicest villages we'd been in so far and our pension room was almost elegant and had lots of original features. We headed out for a celebratory dinner and got quite drunk for this first time.

Teide Part 2

View Larger Map



The morning was spent at the Roques de Garcia for sunrise. It was spectacular and worth getting up early. Afterwards we had a nice breakfast and then headed up the cable car that takes you near to the top of Teide. It was pretty cold at this level which was 3500 metres up. Once we got off the cable car we could feel the lack of oxygen at this level which is almost 50% less than at ground level so walking up was made more difficult. We ascended Teide which is the highest mountain in Spain at 3700 metres. The way up was quite difficult due to the lack of oxygen and we had to stop a lot to catch our breath. Near the top there was lots of sulphur vents which added to the difficulty breathing. We finally reached the summit which was very windy and cold with wind speeds of 80 km/hr and a temperature of -20oC with the wind chill factor so we didn't stay long and headed back down and to the hotel.

After relaxing for a while we headed to the other side of the national park and down to a town called La Orotava. On the way we passed through so many different landscapes; pine forest, desert, scrub, clouds and more. Our favourite place was an area of green sand which wouldn't look out of place on Mars or Venus. It was amazing. Teide is full of an unbelievable amount of landscapes and environments. Once we got to La Orotava we headed to a restaurant for lunch which was absolutely terrible. The service was so slow and the food not worth the wait so we got out as soon as possible and heading back up to Teide.

We headed back to the green sand area and walked around. There was amazing light while we there and it felt like we were on another planet. After this we drove around and found a nice sunset spot and afterwards headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Teide Part 1

View Larger Map



Again, I went to the Anaga coast for sunrise and a couple of different areas which was good and then checked out of the hostel and headed to the beach for a couple of hours.

Today another naught squirrel named Colin joined me. I met him at the airport before wisking us up to the Teide National Park. This is the biggest national park in Spain and contains the highest mountain in Spain, Teide. We stopped off at the closest village and had some lunch, catching up before continuing onward. We passed though Pine forest and cloud before making it up to Canadas del Teide which is a huge caldera and is absolutely stunning. Some areas look like parts of the American Southwest and it contains an unbelivable amount of landscapes. We checked into the only hotel in the park which was a surprise for Colin and then headed out to Roques de Garcia.

The Roques de Garcia are a beautiful collection of huge rocks in various strange and twisted shapes. We stayed here for sunset before heading to the edge of the Canadas for an amazing sunset above the clouds.