A harbour is a place where you really dont want to get lost. Strange types are walking around and there is a risk that heavy things might fall on you.
Even as a child we are taught by Popeye that there are always bad guys in the neighborhood of sailors. In Las Palmas it is the same as everywhere else. Rules don’t apply and even the roads don’t follow the normal rules but just run chaotically through all the cargo.
Two year ago more or less around the same time of year I wrote a little entry on this blog about some really bad weather in Las Palmas. That was two years ago, and today I am living a big dejavu. It’s raining big-time again! This morning the streets turned to little rivers and right now in the evening the same is happening again. Nice big drops of rain, just like in Holland.
We had a great time visiting La Palma. In three days time we saw really a lot. The first day we were waling for 6 hours through the forests. The second day we conquered the top of the island and on day three we climbed a (cold) volcano.
The nicest thing I did was one one night when we went searching for snails. This is a Spanish way of saying you are going for a walk, in the middle of the night, with beer, a flashlight and everything else you might need. During this walk we were really searching for snails, although the reason why we were searching for them remained unclear. I think it might be just for the honor of discovering a snail in the dark.
After walking around for a while we discovered a big tree that was beckoning us to investigate. It was a huge avocado tree, full of big avocado’s. Jummie jummie! We relieved the tree from a lot of big avocado’s and after some time it became clear that in my enthusiasm I had squashed all the nearby snails. Oh well.
This weekend we will again be visiting one of the Canary islands. This time we visit La Palma. The locals call the island ‘La bonita’, which means the pretty, so it promises to be a nice island. La Palma is a much greener island compared to Gran Canaria, so there will be lots of forest, but also caves and volcanoes. I am quite curious.
If you are interested this is our itinerary (a PDF). To be able to view the PDF you will need the following information/skills:
We have already visited Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and after this weekend also La Palma. What remains are the islands Lanzarote, El Hierro and La Gomera.
A lot of years ago (I think I was 6 or 7 years old at the time) I visited agualand again. Agualand is a waterpark on the south of the island. I somehow remember it was a nice park, but it was a lot smaller then I remembered. I think all the attractions were exactly the same as almost 30 years ago. The only thing I did not remember from my previous visit as a little boy were the burning hot stones you needed to walk across to get to the slides. Also the park closes very early. Around 6 o clock the visitors were asked to leave the park.
It was a nice visit and I was happy I brought some sunscreen factor 50, because there was very little shadow in the park. The entrance fee was quite high, 20 euros if you provide a discount ticket worth 6 euros. These discount tickets you can get everywhere, for example in a lot of supermarkets. The part is fun and it is worth a visit. Be sure to bring flip flops that can get wet! You need these to walk to the slides and not burn your feet.
Last weekend I spend on the Güi-güi beach. A nice little beach in the middle of nowhere. We went there on Saturday morning and made the return trip on Sunday morning.
The big advantage of this beach is that it is almost deserted. The reason is simple: you need to walk for two and a half hours to get to the beach. Around one and a half hour is spend climbing a big hill and then you spend an hour going down towards the beach.
The beach is quite nice. The water is very clear and the surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. Still it is quite a lot of effort you need to undertake. There is no shop or anything near the beach so you need to bring everything along; water, beers, a tent, towels, sunscreen, everything.
The route: Drive to Tasartico. In Tasartico the road changes from asphalt to dirt and stones. Following the path you reach a little parking place that will fit around 3 or 4 cars. This is where the path starts. First cover your body with sunscreen and then just follow the path. After a hike of about an hour and a half you will reach the top of the hill. Quite a hike and you should rest a little on top, before starting the descend. The way down made difficult because the path is covered with loose sand and little pebbles. Quite dangerous because you slip very easily. When you finally arrive the only thing left is to feel happy and proud of the hike you just did. Finally you can start enjoying this little piece of paradise.
Some time ago we went on a little trip to Fuerteventura, a nearby island. The island was the absolute paradise for beach lovers. Gigantic white beaches and an ocean so clear! Together with some nice sunshine. In addition to the beaches the island does not have a lot to offer. There are lots of goats and you can eat some nice goat meat prepared in a traditional manner and there are some fishermen, but the most important parts of the island are the sun, the ocean and the beaches.
The trip on the airplane was very nice. There are small airplanes flying between the islands without jets but with old fashioned propellers.
From the airport we had to walk over the runway to our little plane and on the return trip we entered the airplane as one of the first passengers (thanks to my Dutch desire to arrive on time). This time we took our seats in front of the plane, which had two seats facing backwards, Yes, it was my first time flying backwards. The experience was not so special as I had imagined, and I only noticed a strange sensation during the landing which pushed me into my seat, but it was nice to be in the perfect spot for chatting with the stewardess. ;)
Here are some pictures of our weekend in Fuerteventura!
On the website of a Dutch newspaper I found some holiday news about the Canary islands.
On the Canary islands you can enjoy the sun, the sea and the beaches any time of the year. Some of these islands, there are fifteen different islands, are perfectly fit for active holidays with kids!
The weird thing is that this news item is talking about 15 islands. If you ask anyone here which Canary islands there are everyone will reply with the names of the seven islands. Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Palma, Lanzarote, El Hierro and La Gomera.
What happened to the other 8 islands the Dutch newspaper is talking about? Maybe they are referring to some rocks or tiny islands that are sometimes near a normal island, but these tiny places are not really holiday destinations. In most cases there are no hotels on these rocks and sometimes people are not even allowed there. I still have 5 more ‘normal’ islands to visit.
During the Easter weekend we went and visited Tenerife. The visit ended up being a very Spanish event because we had only arranged the crossover by boat. We did not arrange any place to sleep on the island. Getting lodgings was done on a very Spanish way. First be would be traveling all day long, being the tourist and seeing the sites. Then, at night, at the last moment we went and search for some place to stay. To my surprise this did not result in problems, except for one day.
We had arrived is a small town where we wanted to spend the night, but there was no hotel in the town. We continued our trip to the next town, and after talking to the locals we visited some homes that could potentially house us for the night. We were not so lucky. There was no place anywhere. In the next town a Easter parade blocked our way and we asked a local police men for some advice and this started our real adventure. The police men turned out very helpful.
First we went to the police station. The police officer called about 8 locals he knew would sometimes rent out apartments. In the mean while he told us there was a hotel in town, but it was a bit expensive. Eventually we went in the police car visiting a couple of places where they might be able to shelter us for the night. We were driving through town with the cop calling and using his communication devices. The police men even gave us some tips about places to eat and things to visit. Eventually we found a place.
The only bad thing was the next morning. No breakfast but we did get a wake up service. From 8:30 till 10 we were forced to enjoy the song ‘Shout‘ that was being listened to by some big fan, and who repeated the song over and over.
It was a very nice weekend in Tenerife.
Don’t worry. Except for a generally hot climate caused by the sun I haven’t seen any fire yet. Only on the TV. I live and work in the parts of Gran Canaria that are not effected by the big fire raging in the south of the island.