Month: February 2022

The next move…

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(>Pictures at the bottom!)

…the return journey to Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.
Lanzarote was a wonderful island, but we never really fell in love with it. Was it because of its size, or the population? Or was it the constant wind that made life difficult for us during some nights? We don’t know for sure! On the other hand, we felt right at home as soon as we arrived on our return trip to Fuerteventura and, although we had already experienced many things on it, we set off for further adventures straight away. The relatively sparse population, the vast landscapes without any houses and the desert-like appearance inspired us again. Read More

Offroad

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…gravel roads on Fuerteventura
Since Morocco has been practically untravellable for individual tourists since 2 years, we looked for our desert experiences on the Canary archipelago to the west. And, on Fuerteventura we were more than surprised. Compared to the other Canary Islands, Fuerteventura has a somewhat different image due to its long volcanic history, and the landscape is often reminiscent of areas bordering or lying in the Sahara. In addition to Spanish traffic laws, there are also the tourist considerations, so that not everything was immediately banned. Thus, whole groups of tourists are guided with their ATVs and quads on approved trails through nature parks or areas worthy of protection. These routes are of course also open to individual travellers with their vehicles. Outside the regional and nature parks, which actually applies to the whole of Spain, all passable paths may be used where this is not expressly forbidden or the landowner does not permit it. In national parks, on the other hand, the restrictions are very restrictive and monitored accordingly. Read More

Island hopping

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Fuerteventura and Lanzarote
Fuerteventura is considered the oldest island of the Canary archipelago and, like Lanzarote, very desert-like. In places you even have the impression of moving through a lunar landscape. The volcanic activity in the past is omnipresent. After fine volcanic ash, you bump over hardened lava fields and follow the former lava flow towards the sea, where the surf has already left its deep traces after thousands of years.
It is also very astonishing that peoples from North Africa settled here a very long time ago and were able to extract the necessities of life from the barren soil. Thanks to the few water sources and streams, they were able to plant the bare necessities on the very fertile volcanic soil, and their success led to regular raids of the islands in prehistoric times.
Today, piracy is over, but without irrigation, most crops would wither in no time. Human help is omnipresent for the palms or other plants. Groundwater extraction led to the lowering of the water table in many places. The many defective, collapsed and old water pumps that are at the mercy of their fate are probably a clear indication of this.
Besides the irrigation of agricultural crops, tourism also has a great “thirst for water”, which is provided thanks to desalination plants and thermal power plants provide the necessary power. A vicious circle! Read More