Eyes On The Cloud

My phone flashed up and when I saw who it was, I knew immediately that this is my private travel alert call from the best travel bargain hunter I’ve known in my life. And that this call can only mean one thing – a great bargain worth calling me for has been found.

I think I only heard the part about £80 return flight to Fuerteventura and already heard my voice, as if from a distance, saying ‘I’m in’ without giving it a second thought … funny that, I’ve never been to the Canary Islands and yet now I’m finding myself visiting for the second time within a space of just 4 months. In October 2017 I went to Fuerteventura’s bigger sister, Tenerife. I love Spain, but by my own admission, severe prejudice on my part towards the Canaries, simply prevented me from even considering this a destination for me. I’d imagine the place would be overrun by British and German expats or retirees; and in some sense it is exactly that. I do see the appeal though – year-round sunshine, cheap and tasty food, wine and the total convenience of having everything you can get back home. Of course that’s a very partial view and I will put my hands up to say that I was wrong and that I thoroughly enjoyed both islands.

It was going to be a quick and pleasant winter sun break. Little did we realise at the time of booking that we’d be trying to outrun a massive snow storm aka ‘the beast from the east’ that was about to hit the UK. It was only when at 5.30am I heard loud screams from my travel buddy yelling something about a whopping 2cm of snow that fell during the night and that we’d never reach Gatwick airport. Ok, I’m exaggerating, it was at least 5cm actually. The drive that should have taken max 45 minutes, took nearly 3 hours. It wasn’t so much the snow as it was the combination of salt and dirt on the motorway and frozen water in the windscreen wipers that made us stop every so often as we could barely see the road ahead of us. My efforts to pour some water over the windscreen whilst riding were totally fruitless and outright dangerous to say the least, but it must have looked like a scene from an action movie, me trying to lean out of the passenger’s window. I thought – how hard can it be at minus 12 degrees, windy conditions and driving at 70miles per hour …

Once we got to the airport, everything was a breeze, and the lovely BA first class lounge was awaiting us – oh the perks of traveling with an air-miles collector and a travel addict! 😜 The location is excellent, just by the runway so you can do your bit of plane-spotting whilst enjoying some eggs benedict and an uncountable number of glasses of champagne before your own journey begins.

We were delayed by some 2 hours. Believe it or not, this had nothing to do with the fearsome ‘Beast’ of a storm, but with the plane’s brakes. Just as well they were repaired as Fuerteventura is not known for its gentle breezes, but rather forceful windy conditions. Our landing was so bumpy that I was glad I had consumed sufficient amounts of adult beverage on board.

Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It belongs to Spain politically, but geographically it’s actually west of the southern part of Morocco and West Sahara so Africa really. Hence why everyone was sporting a really lovely tan. With the wind, the sun is deceitfully strong.

Fuerteventura landscape resembles something what I’d imagine a landing on the Moon would be like. Lots of brown, grey rock formations, bare hills and sleepy volcanoes. And then there’s the sand beaches, sand dunes and more sand. It’s a perfect place for star gazing too as there’s very little light pollution.

The airport in Puerto del Rosario is absolutely huge and it gives away the feeling that this island must get incredibly busy in high season.

Our transport was already waiting for us to take us to our resort Costa Calma (Calm Coast) – it’s a bit of German town if you ask me, and seems like a little piece of Germany has relocated here. German pharmacies, German restaurants, German tourist offices … Costa Calma is situated in the south of the island and has a great wide beach that runs some 3kms on one side and has the volcanic park towering above it from the other. There are a couple of big resorts on this beach but the rest consists of mainly holiday villas and apartments. I’m not sure if it changes towards the summer, but we loved how tranquil and peaceful this place was.

Our resort was lovely and low key, built in traditional Spanish white village style and it was only around 200m from the beach. Our bungalow was surrounded by incredibly tall palm trees (not sure how they survive the force of the constant winds), colourful flowers spilling over the fences and loads of cacti of different varieties. I wouldn’t want to stumble and have an unfortunate accident of falling into one of these after a heavy alcohol-induced night, ouch!

Our place was conveniently located in between the beach and a little square with a supermarket, bakery and a couple of restaurants and bars. After we got the keys to our bungalow and we dropped off our stuff, we went straight to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for our breakfast. At least that was the intention until we walked past an aisle with wine. We got quite excited – Sangria for €1.65 for a whole bottle?? And that wasn’t even the cheapest one … we bought two. (Sangria is red wine mixed with sect / sparkling wine and lots of fruit)

In the mornings we prepared breakfast al fresco on our little terrace. We realised there were mostly elderly couples at this place, and we fitted right in. Or so we thought until later that night, when we somehow managed to drink both bottles, then continued to our resort’s bar to test out their special cocktail – sect with whiskey and apricot sorbet (what were we thinking!) Back in our bungalow we put on our dancing shoes and sang our hearts out to Despacito (no, not the Bieb’s version!) and Havana unanaah. Next morning our bungalow neighbours didn’t seem as friendly as the day before and suffice to say, sore heads and sore throats were nursed throughout the day.

We had 3 days in Fuerteventura, but we took it very easy. First day was about exploring our area, bar hopping and Sangria- tasting. The nearby Sotavento beach is famous for when the tide is low it creates little sandy islands and shallow lagoons. There was a lot of kitesurfing activity on this stretch of the beach.

On the second day we took a bus to Moro Jable and Jandia on the southern tip of the island. The beach is the main attraction here, dotted by Lighthouses, sand dunes and palm trees. The sea may look turquoise like from some tropical scene and may look inviting, but do not be fooled by the mighty Atlantic Ocean, it can be quite cold with freaky waves. A little beach trivia – many beaches are nudist friendly and this option is taken up quite a lot.

Moro Jable old town’s seafront is lined with little tapas bars with lovely ocean views. But beware, if you want to sit at one of the outdoor cafes or just to take a stroll alongside the seafront, you have to watch out for the crashing waves otherwise you’ll get totally sprayed down. Not willing to take any risks, we decided on a café that was tucked away in a small alleyway. We tasted a couple of local tapas, one of them being allegedly a local Canary specialty ‘papas con Mojo picon’, but to us they were just boiled potatoes in their skin with spicy sauce. However, I think I may have had the best goat’s cheese dish in my life – grilled with forest fruit – I went to a sweet cheese heaven.

Costa Calma’s evening scene is rather subdued so we mostly opted for making our own meals over going out to empty and often overprized restaurants. The supermarket had such lovely, fresh and cheap produce that for once I didn’t mind cooking during holidays. Taking our dinner on the terrace seemed like a perfect way to unwind. It was quite unbelievable that our resort wanted €14pp for a mediocre breakfast (which we of course declined) when you can go and have a breakfast fit for a queen for €3.50 and that was for the both of us!

We were quite delayed on the way back to the UK due to the poor weather conditions. Spending unnecessary time at the airport is never fun, but what Fuerteventura’s airport has above all the others is that there are 3 outdoor terraces to bask yourself in the sun for that bit longer.

I enjoyed Fuerteventura’s solitary feeling with hardly any tourists in sight. If I went next time, I’d hire a car to explore the Northern parts. The roads looked new, well sign-posted and most of all pretty empty. I am still quite surprised how hot it was despite the weather forecasts stating the temperature would only be hovering around 20 degrees. I was debating whether to even pack any flip flops and a skirt, but in the end I thought there was no harm to have them just in case. I was so glad I did as the weather was so much warmer. Watching the news from England was quite surreal, Fuerteventura is only 4 hours by flight and yet we were baking in glorious sunshine in 28 degrees whilst England was snowed under. Our break couldn’t have had better timing!

This was possibly one of the cheapest 3 night breaks I’ve ever had – £270pp including flights, accommodation, transfer, trips and food/drinks. And if we weren’t so lazy and went out to buy a bottle of wine instead of getting 4 drinks at the resort’s bar, it would have been £250pp! 😊

Just to give an idea of some of the costs:

• Bus ticket from Costa Calma to Moro Jable – €2.70pp one way
• Tapas in Moro Jable – €2 per dish, starter portions
• Pool Bar Lounge at our resort – €19.90 for 1/2l Sangria, garlic & tomato bread, salad and grilled goat’s cheese
• Food shopping that covered 1 dinner and 1 breakfast for 2 people – €9.41 (we are vegetarians so possibly a factor)
• Drinks at the beach bars typically cost between €5-6, our 1/2l Sangria was €7.90, sprite €1.80