From the mountains to the beaches

On Friday evening we were invited to visit Manel’s friend, Aitor’ at his home in “the mountains” – and in the mountains it was!   

Every road has a view of a volcano and no matter how many you see they are still spectacular.  We journeyed far into the middle of nowhere ………

………. until finally arriving at Aitor’s house.  In his ‘spare’ time he gardens relentlessly in the most arid of conditions. In fourteen years he’s built his house and steadily carved out a beautiful garden on the mountain side.  Cacti are the most obvious plant to grow, especially as his water supply is not always guaranteed, and his collection is quite superb.

Bizarrely, plants like the Pitcher Plant, which we usually only see in specialised botanical settings, are quietly growing in the corner of his conservatory.  

After a grand tour of half the mountain side we returned to the house for a glass or two of wine and returning home before Aitor’s six dinner guests turned up.  (It seems that Manel and Doug always have to hold on to each other for some sort of safety reason as soon as the camera comes out!)

On Saturday Manel had to work and so, after after a lazy morning (waiting for the sun to come out) we took ourselves off to the another part of the enormous beach area outside Corraleja.

Can’t help taking pics. of the view from the beaches across to Lanzarote with the sea the colour of jade and, in the glaring sunlight, the sand almost as white as snow.

Fuerteventura is known as the windy island and it’s at it’s naughtiest at the north end where it blows the sand so hard it blasts your ankles as you walk across it.  Over the years people have used the vast quantities of volcanic rocks lying around to build “Corralitos”.  They make superb windbreaks and, like this one, can be quite well appointed. Most are detached (they are the most sought), and a few can be semidetached but,thankfully none are terraced!

With just one more day to go our appreciation and knowledge of the island has increased dramatically and the sun tans (including the white bits!) have been well and truly topped up.