Fuerteventura 2022
by Mariecke
 

Sundag, 27 November 2022
On our way to Fuerteventura
Hola, as they say in Spain. Today is the 27th of November 2022 and the first thing I did was wishing I could go back to sleep, but hey, I gotta go on vacation. So, after managing to get up and not waking anyone (that’s a personal victory for me) and only putting on my shoes outside because I’d make too much noise otherwise. I headed out to go and pick up my bestie, Lorelenn.

The road was very calm, I saw around 5 cars in total so that was an enjoyable ride. Lorelenn was happy to go on vacation too but we were both working on 10% battery. So, after a wee at her place and triple checking if she had everything, we headed out.
Again, going to Nantes was enjoyable, quick and no problems at all. We arrived too early to the point that the gates at Izipark weren’t even open ! So we sat there and waited. It was eventually the same nice young man that picked me and the old ladies up from the airport when coming back from the Algarve.
At the airport, we could immediately register our baggage and head over to our gate. Security went well, didn’t beep for once and Lorelenn neither so it was very quick.

The flight was ok, just too long but we were too tired too, we barely could sleep with the light but keeping our eyes open was impossible too. I did take a small nap, when I woke up I thought we were almost landing as it was 8h20, but that was French time. You could say I was disappointed but not surprised. So I took another nap after taking a picture of the pink-ish sky of the sunrise.

When landing, we were really tired still but also very excited to see what Fuerteventura had to offer us. I immediately noted the volcanic landscapes and that you could see Lanzarote in the distance. Lorelenn on the other hand was just in awe of the first palm tree and cactus she saw.

      

Anyways, heading from one end aaaaall the way to the other, we got our bags, mine came first and we didn’t even recognize it, so let’s just say we hobbled after it to grab it.
Bags acquired, we headed to “La Salida” and then to Autoreisen’s booth where a very nice and patient Maria was sitting. I managed to do a few things in Spanish, very challenging if you haven’t practiced it in a few years but eventually she switched to English. We signed our papers and were on our merry way. N°42 was our car, it was a poop brown Citroën Cactus. I wasn’t excited, not because of the color but because damn it’s really big compared to my Twingo. I miss my Twingo by the way. The car’s fine, it’s just getting used to a new car. It drives pretty swell I must say.

We drove to the apartment where Claire was waiting for us. Claire is French. The apartment’s fine, some things just disappointed us, it is filled with the bare minimum. We’ve got 3 towels for the both of us and no toilet paper, I expected at least a bit more. Oh well. She gave us the run-down, a list of restaurants and the wifi code !

    

We got ourselves sorted before heading out realizing in the car that today was indeed Sunday as everything looks closed and abandoned. So the plan was to find some place to eat while going on with our day.
The first stop was Parque Natural de Corralejo with the road going through the sand dunes. It was just impressive to see the landscapes and it was beautiful weather. Sun and 25C° . The black road going through the bright white sand was very pretty, and the beaches were fully packed with tourists. Made me want to go for a swim too.

    

    

After stopping at multiple places along the road to stare into the distance at either the volcanoes on Lanzarote and Lobos on the other side, you could just sit there for hours I think.
At Corralejo, the plan was to go to the Popcorn beach but we were a bit lost so we headed straight to the Villa Commercial el Campanario where we only walked around and discovered the Super Dino ! A supermarket, the only one that was open today. We checked some stuff and bought a few groceries and lunch. I just desired fruit and freshness, so I grabbed some watermelon and fruit juices as Lorelenn grabbed a sandwich with ham and cheese. We ate in the car before heading to the next stop.

    

    

    

    

Next stop was Playa del Bajo de la Burra via the most shady road ever but it was an official road.. Yes… That dirt path, locals call the road. It was a great adventure, despite having all my insides scramble like eggs, it was actually a nice scenic route and did cause a lot of laughter between Lorelenn and I. I didn’t swear once.. Okay, maybe once. But, I was more amazed by the views. At our first stop we quickly got greeted by popcorn sand ! It’s kinda funky, I filled up a small bottle with a bit of it to bring home, it’s really weird and I truly wonder how it got like that. There was a small surfer’s hut too, it seemed cute from far, not from up close but oh well !

    

    

We then headed back on the dirt path toward Majanicho, a very tiny abandoned looking fishing village. I had seen just one photo and since we had to go there for our next stop, why not have a look. In the end we were both happy we did, it was quiet and the water was really blue. There’s not much to say, it was a tiny lagoon with boats.

    

    

On to the next place ! Hold on to your boobs because damn they were flying everywhere, even for Lorelenn who has way less than me. Anyways, on to Faro de Toston that we could slowly see approaching in the distance. Of course one straight road was too simple, we had to turn and go up and down and dodge rocks the whole way to go. Let’s just say we were on a safari ride without the animals. But eventually we made it and we almost cried tears of joy when we saw that the road was paved at the lighthouse !

    

Cotillo was supposed to be our next stop but Lorelenn was getting really tired and my head and hands were starting to hurt so we decided to visit Super Dino for some sandwich food and dinner before going to our last stop at Volcan Calderon Hondo which we had to travel through Lajares for. Lajares seemed really cute, a lot of cute looking houses and restaurants, we didn’t stop though but it left a good impression on us anyways. Maybe we’ll go back another day. Anyways, we drove another ‘road’ to the volcanoes, sadly the walk was 4h long only to the top so I took Lorelenn to an open crater instead so she could still see a volcano up close. We’ll be seeing more later on in the trip anyways but they’ve been following us in the background all day and it’s even better to see them up close.

    

    

And that was our first day after an adventure of going back down the hobbly mountain. We had tiny pizzas for dinner and a choco croissant variant as dessert. Tomorrow we’ll probably eat some carbonara. Very excited for tomorrow’s adventures ! See ya !

Mondag, 28 November 2022
Another day on Fuerteventura which means another day of adventure on dirt roads.

This morning was looking grim with the sky being very cloudy when we woke up, so we thought of bringing our vests because it might’ve been colder where we were going but as we were heading further and further from Costa de Antigua the sun came out and the skies were blue again. By the time we arrived at our destination, there were no more clouds in the sky. Lucky !

The road to our first stop was very vast and just as impressive to see, like a desert that’s broken up by giant mountains. So, stop one was the Molinos de Tefia. I had heard of one of them but in the end, found another one on google maps by chance. The old and the new, I’d say but both were very cute I have to admit. Sadly we couldn’t go in nor up the stairs for a different kind of view. I’m pretty sure Lorelenn and I got pictures from all angles. From the old windmill we headed to the newer one ? Actually I don’t know which one was older but they both looked way different from each other. I preferred the second one, it had a better view around it but it was very tiny and adorable. So after another few pics, we headed out again.

Next stop we headed to Embalse de los Molinos. What shall I say ? The road to this place, I kept thinking we took a wrong turn somewhere but it was a straight road.. So none to make. We  were on a hard road and had to turn left onto another.. You guessed it, dirt path. So there went our insides again. But it was less hobbly than the one we took yesterday and again, it was really worth it. The whole way we were completely alone so many we stopped to have a look at the surroundings. We were so in awe, we never would have thought that there was a valley alongside us if we hadn’t stopped. We saw some goats, wild ones probably just climbing the rocks. We also found our lava rocks that we’ll be bringing home with us. Arriving at the end of the dirt road, we finally saw the dam and were happy to see we could even walk on it. The views were great, and the ducks.. Or geese, I actually have no clue were really interesting too. They made really weird sounds and they looked caramel brown with white. They were having fun in the dirty water, that’s for sure. We had a look at the abandoned building next to the dam but that was too spooky for us so we chickened out.

The dam road was one-way so we headed the same road back towards Los Molinos where we had a very sharp road towards the three houses that make this village apparently a village. There was however a restaurant and we think 2 surfer houses. It was cute though, we didn’t do much but they had a small bridge we walked by with ducks Lorelenn terrorized by offering them nothing in her hand. You could just see the disappointment on the ducks’ faces.

Anyways, as she went up the cliffs, I headed to the water. The photos look great and I’m actually happy we went all the way down even though there was nothing. Again, we headed backwards on the road and went to our next stop.

The roads here and out were pretty good except when you headed to the beach.. You guessed it, we headed to Playa del Valle. Funky road to go all the way down the mountain just to see some water. Again, worth it but there was nothing, just one little restaurant overlooking the sea and it was closed. So we instead explored a bit by climbing some small rocks until we noticed the tide was becoming higher and higher. I told Lorelenn to get up a higher rock as I thought I was safe. My wet sandals say differently. Feet wet and Lorelenn now stuck on a rock surrounded by water, this rock climbing had become a rescue mission. I put my electronics back on the beach, high enough before going back to the water to grab Lorelenn on my back. This all sounds very heroic but honestly were looked very dumb and clumsy but we were having a blast. Anyways, we got back to dry land safely, nothing broken and only my sandals and feet wet. We sat down on a big rock we knew we couldn’t get wet on and at our lunch. The waves were really wild and high, very impressive ! When the water was almost getting to our rock, we decided it was time to leave.

Next stop, Mirador de Morro Velosa. As the name implies, we headed from the beach all the way up in the clouds. A viewpoint to see everywhere we had been in the morning and of course a good part of the island. We were again in awe at the view. Everything was yellow and orange. Sadly the visitor center was closed, everyone else hopped the fence but we decided to not participate in criminal activities and simply enjoyed the view from where we could. In the distance we saw a stop we had planned another day but since it was so close, we just went for it. This was Mirador de Guise y Ayose. Two kings in protecting the Furtaventurian land from the Normans in 1404 and turned christian later on.Sadly I didn’t take a picture of their story but it was interesting ! I expected the statues to be bigger too but I was not disappointed.

We took the car again and headed back down to Antigua to walk around. I wanted to walk around the town and maybe sit at a restaurant or café for a drink but nothing was open. There were no people and everything was closed, very abandoned and spooky. We were disappointed here and after walking around a few blocks, headed back to the car. I think that if it were not time for La Siesta and if it were summer, it might have been crowded.

After Antigua we headed to our last stop of the day, Esculturas “Moais de Fuerteventura”. Easter island heads in a small version made from lava rocks. Found this stop this morning and just thought it was funny.

We headed to our home area after a few photos and decided to just walk around the stores in the area. The IKEA was super tiny, it was very funny. The choice in furniture was limited, I’m guessing a lot of people here have the same stuff.. They didn’t even offer the hotdogs ! Sacrilège ! I was in the mood for one too. Next to the IKEA was Superbarato. This one was gigantic, at least four normal stores could fit in it and they had literally everything it’s ridiculous. Also not expensive at all. I bought hair rollers for my fringe, Lorelenn got some stuff for her dog and family and we decided to get matching keychains as a souvenir.

Afterwards we quickly headed to the Lidl for something to drink but left with more than we needed, it’s ridiculous that we don’t have self control ! Ok, at least we got some fruit with our very sweet desserts.

That was our day, now onto tomorrow where we’re taking off where we left at the statues.
Cheerio, Mariecke

Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Day three started with clouds in the sky and cold feet in bed, but hey, yesterday everything went okay as the sun came out later on.. So we didn’t panic. Sitting at our table, we ate breakfast and finished uploading the photos from the day before as the wifi here has been very slow. But while this was all happening, I discovered that I can download offline maps on google and have saved my phone’s data ! I can now turn on my GPS anywhere on the island and not use any internet. Technology sucks a lot but also saves me just as much.

Anyways, we finally started the day and took the long 44min drive to Mirador Astronomical Sicasumbre. The road was long but oh boy did I not regret taking it because it was beautiful. We passed through Pajara which was particularly adorable looking and we want to go back another day. We slowly got more elevated and the views quickly became stunning 360° all around. We weren't even on the highest point ! First part of the mountain was the parking, the second you had goat statues and the third part you had the astronomical rock circle where you could see many valleys of the mountains/volcanoes. We sat there for a while before heading back down with the car.

The next stop was Ajuy, a small coastal town where I wanted to walk around and if possible even get to the caves but high tide kept us from exploring every crevice. So walking along the bright white and blue houses, we managed to get to our first official black sanded beach and it was a delight. The water looked very turquoise next to the black sand. The waves were going wild too and kept smashing against the cliffs. The latter we could walk on, so we took the small passageway up for a better view of everything. In the distance we could see the caves and even a sign that would’ve indicated where we should’ve walked to go to them but high water almost going into the caves showed us it was a bad idea. Having a nice long look around, we headed back and decided to go eat at our first restaurant, a small restaurant that was called Cueva de Ajuy Restaurante. Pedro, our server, was very nice and reminded me a little of Guillaume at Camping La Plage where Emma works, same Golden Retriever attitude ! We had some garlic shrimps and some puntillos de calamar which were absolutely delicious.

Lunch eaten, we were ready to head to our next stop at Mirador Barranco del Aceituno and a bit further in the mountains Mirador del Risco de La Palmas and then after that Mirador Las Peñitas. These viewpoints were all next to each other yet you had different views every time. Lorelenn once more was preoccupied with the local Cabras way in the distance as I was more interested in the scenery. There was a cave that we wanted to go to but it seemed way out of reach, so while I was having fun admiring the surroundings, Lorelenn tried to get up to it as the view from it would’ve been pretty good, and there was a random palm tree there too ! Sadly you had to climb to it so she didn’t go all the way and we soon went on with our trip. Skipping a few stops as it was getting later in the day, we decided to keep a hike at Vega de Rio Palma for a different day and head straight to Betancuria.

Betancuria was a village we had seen from afar the day before at the Guise and Ayose statues. I had imagined it being bigger as you see the name appear in blogs and comments online but it’s actually really small. We both agree that only the town center was interesting and nice looking. It was very taken care of and we saw many of the beautiful flower trees that latin countries in Europe seem to put everywhere, very colorful ! We really liked it and actually wanted to sit at a café for a drink but everyone was closing.. It seems we can’t get the hang of the local rhythm ! Whenever we want to have lunch or sit down for a drink it’s either time for la siesta or time to close ! Bummer, real bummer.. I hope we’ll have more luck one of the next days.

Clouds had started to take over the sky so this meant we were heading home, it was 6 pm anyways so we headed home. The struggle with our wifi went on and we’re simply preparing the next day. They announced sun for tomorrow and thursday but Friday and Saturday it should rain, I pray it won’t but we’ll see.

See you for another adventure tomorrow !
Cheerio, Mariecke

Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Today was another cloudy morning, but it had become routine to us that the sun would come out, and as we approached Coralejo, it did.

We had a fun day planned, we were supposed to go to Isla de Lobos from 10a.m until 13.20p.m and then snorkel in the turquoise water we’ve been seeing during our trip.. But when we arrived at Coralejo’s port, we found out there would be none of that. The captain of the ship told us the boat would not be moving as there’s too much wind, the waves were too high at Lobos to dock.

We were so disappointed, but it is a reason to come back another time in the future I suppose. Heads held low, we headed back to the car to go to the beach instead as we were already wearing our swimwear anyways and the sun was already out and about.

We sat down and enjoyed the time at Coralejo’s Gran Playas until the people started to come. It was too early to see that many wieners, and all of them were old wieners shrinking because of the cold water but the men were still striding proudly. Kinda impressive having that much confidence when you’ve got nothing to show off. Hats off.. Or more like, pants off.

After the beach, we went home for a change of clothes before we went out again towards Puerto del Rosario. I had heard many good things about the city and thought the port was a good start, oh boy was I wrong. It was quite a boring town I must say, there was nobody around and everything was closed, really depressing honestly. I think that we just came at the wrong time again or wrong time of the year honestly. We walked around, drank a rather disappointing smoothie and headed back home again.

Today was not the best but we made the best of it by buying souvenirs and taking a nice shower.
Tomorrow more things are planned, I think it will be filled with some amazing views again.
Cheerio, Mariecke

Thursday, 1 December 2022
Another sunny day with a cloudy morning. It seems the weather is being predictable at this point but it’s actually quite nice ! This lets us organize our days better. We woke up early today, at 8a.m to leave at 8.40a.m-ish as today was going to be a long day.

The day started after an almost two hours ride to Mirador de Cofete. Very long but I did think it was kinda worth it, however, there were many turns in the road and as we went higher up the mountain, it did get narrower too. Sometimes looking over the edge gave me chills but hey, I’m writing this so I made it. The drive to the Mirador was better that the drive we had the very first day actually and up top was great, windy but great. You could see La Pared in the distance on one side and the Faro punta de Jandia and I guessed that behind the mountains there was Faro Punta Pesebre, both where I had wanted to go but Lorelenn wasn’t convinced by. So we didn’t and instead headed back down the narrow mountain road towards our next stop Morro Jable.

Morro Jable was a big surprise, we thought that the south would probably be pretty calm and abandoned but not at all ! Morro Jable is where all the shops are, and even big names like Mango and Guess. This is the center of tourism ! I’ve never heard so much German in one place. The town/city had an actual boulevard you could walk along and that’s where we decided to grab some lunch. Two barbecue panini’s and nestea before heading further along the walkway and grab an ice cream later on. I grabbed two balls of Strawberry Cheesecake and Yogurt with Red Fruits whereas Lorelenn grabbed Coconut and Raspberry. Delish ! Morro Jable is also where Lorelenn absolutely fell in love with even more of the wildlife, squirrels, cute but not gonna lie, I wasn’t there for them.. Rather, I loved the tiny parrots sitting in the palm trees instead ! I haven’t seen these in the wild before.

Anyways, after being fed, we headed to Playa Sotavento, this was THE beach all the blogs showed off, it looked paradise-like.. Well when we arrived there it looked like those salt placed in the US. Completely flat and kilometers long. The water was very clear ! I definitely want to go back for a swim, but I think I’d be the only one out of us sadly. The water wasn’t cold at all, it was just very windy outside of it. We waddled along the water for a while before heading back for our next stop.

El puertito was one of those stops I added back in June when I was making this planning but completely forgot why because when we arrived, there was absolutely nothing there ! The view of some cliffs were nice though, too bad it was getting a bit cloudy though. We saw divers in the water with flippers, I think they were looking for shell animals.

Next up was Gran Tarajal where everything was closed and a bit like a ghost town, again, our rhythm with the locals is off but we did walk along the coast a bit for the statues. It had a lot of potential of being very touristic. But oh well.

After some disappointment, we had some great success at Faro de la Entallada ! The lighthouse stood tall on a mountain which was kinda interesting and a really narrow road to get to it. Luckily mother wasn’t in the car, I could hear her nagging in the back of my head the whole way up because she’d be scared. I’m pretty proud of my driving, I must say. I’m almost a local, ignoring the speed limit, not using blinkers and not saying thanks for anything ! Yeah, speed indicators are just suggestions, even police don’t keep to them. Anyways, that’s another subject ! The lighthouse was way different than we had seen before, white with black bricks here and there and a nice clear light bulb. It was stunning ! Definitely recommend going !

After the lighthouse, we headed to the last stop which was Pozo Negro, a tiny village of like five or six houses overlooking the sea just as Majanicho did but just in a more wider size. I actually quite liked the look of the place, small and cute and nicely painted houses again. We didn’t stay long though, hunger was upon us and so were the clouds meaning it was getting late.

We didn’t have any bread for our next two lunches so we had to go to the shop, tried out the Mercadona this time and it’s pretty good too ! Until now, grocery stores have been quite cheap I must say, I’ve been quite enjoying it.

Anyways, that’s it for today, my organized days are now over so we’ll see what we’re going to do next. Hopefully another adventure.
See ya soon.
Cheerio, Mariecke