Journey to Fire Mountain

---

---

Denise had a 3 week break between leaving her old job and starting her new one, so we took the opportunity to head for the sun for a week. We found a cheap holiday in a self catering apartment in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Morocco in Africa. The Canary Islands are actually Spanish, and made from volcanoes. The volcanoes came first and then, in the 1400's, the Spanish. As is the custom, the natives, called 'Guanches' were wiped out. Very little evidence is left of their existence. It is thought they came from North Africa and were polygamous with a difference, in that each woman had on average three husbands!

Our apartment was in a British council estate with the addition of a swimming pool to give it that holiday feel! The town, Costa Caleta, seemed to be created entirely for tourists and had not a jot of local culture or authenticity! On our first evening we wanted to eat at a local restaurant but all we could find was a Paddy's Bar, Scotch Corner Cafe, Mexican, Italian and the place we ended up, Chinese! Fortunately it was the off season so our estate was quiet.

I (Gerry) was expecting the weather to be hot but in fact it was quite cold in the mornings and evenings, the sun only shining in the afternoons. I was also expecting some amazing beaches but we didn't find any until about the fourth day. Our local beach was man-made and not very big.

We did a day tour to Lanzarote, the next island. Much of the landscape on the island is quite dramatic, formed by ancient volcanic explosions, especially in the Timanfaya National Park and on Fire Mountain (Islote de Hilario) - 77 square miles of solidified lava. In 1993 Lanzarote was declared an UNESCO Reserve of the Biosphere.

Continuing the volcanology theme, we visited Los Jameos del Agua, a subterranean volcanic tube at the foot of the Monte de la Corona volcano, which erupted 3,000 years ago. Within an intricate series of underground lava bubbles and tunnels, César Manrique (a famous local artist/sculptor) inspirationally developed a bar and restaurant and an 800-seat soundproofed auditorium. When Rita Hayworth visited Los Jameos del Agua in the 70's she pronounced it the "eighth wonder of the world". Inside the cave is a small lagoon which contains tiny, blind albino crabs.

Our coach also took us to La Geria Valley, Lanzarote's wine-growing region. Here, local farmers have dug thousands of small hollows into the thick layer of picon (porous volcanic granules that trap moisture) and planted vines in the volcanic ash underneath. To protect the vines, small semi-circular walls have been constructed around each hollow. Today, the ancient bodegas dating back to 1771 still sell their produce. The red wine I tasted wasn't too bad.

We travelled through the Valley of a 1000 palms, which is fairly self explanatory and had a typical Canary Islands lunch. I was very impressed with this chap César Manrique, who has obviously had a very big influence on the island. Many of the roundabouts on the roads are adorned with his sculptures.

Back on Fuerteventura we hired a car so we could go in search of something authentically Canarian. We headed south to Jandia, a tourist resort populated largely by Germans, which included a naturist beach (those Germans do love to take all their clothes off!), being thoroughly anally British we didn't investigate further. Our guidebook said there were some good seafood restaurants in the quaint little harbour at Morro Jable, but we could only find one which looked like a school dinner hall and was serving pre-Jamie Oliver meals!

Other villages we passed through or stopped at were: Betancuria, with a nice church; Ajuy with a black sand beach; Antigua, largely unsensational; Costa Calma, with some beautiful long beaches, ideal for kite and wind surfing; Toto, white houses nestled at the foot of some hills; and Pozo Negro, a row of houses in an isolated little cove by the sea.

---

Photos

Fuertesol apartments, Costa Caleta, Fuerteventura
This is the apartment we stayed in.

Fuertesol apartments, Costa Caleta, Fuerteventura
This is the swimming pool next to our apartment

Costa Caleta, Fuerteventura
The Sheraton Hotel can be seen

Los Lobos
A small island near Fuerteventura.

Comments

[Ken]

Next time
each woman had on average three husbands?! Next time you come across a place where each man has on average three or more wifes (but not by religion), then let me know asap!