We spent a week on Lanzarote and succumbed to a trip around Timanmfaya......I ignored the moans of 'not another volcano' from Tristan. The landscape was stunningly beautiful even though we disagree on the interpretation of 'beautiful'.
Fuelled up, victualed up, we set off for the south of Lanzarote......but decided to keep going.
Both of us were keen to sail around Isle de Lobos.......the site of earthquakes in November 2012, but the wind was non existent so it was unfortunately a motor.
We then carried on around Fuerteventura to the sand dunes as we were told about a good anchorage. The sunset was spectacular and along with shooting stars, dolphins and calm seas, life felt good.
Puerto del Rosario at sunset.....no wonder its
called rose! Sunrise was just as spectacular.
Arriving in the middle of the night meant we had to stand off and bob until daybreak.
Its weird watching the lights from the shore and even weirder when the village you had been watching moves......some of these cruise ships are monstrous with so many lights it is really difficult to see their navigation lights.
Both of us were disappointed at the 'sand dunes' as the volcanic peaks looked like mountains dusted with snow rather than sand dunes..... the whole area was developed. Our peaceful anchorage was not going to be as peaceful as we imagined.
We decided to carry on and saw Gran Canaria rising out of the evening mist,sailed by it overnight and saw it disappear at sunrise as we approached Tenerife.
This was a very emotional moment for me... I have always wanted to sail around Tenerife in my own boat. It still hasn't sunk in that we have sailed over 2,000 miles from Falmouth and this is just the start of our journey! We still have over 5,000 miles to go just to reach America (via Cape Verdes and the Carribean).
We had intended to go to one marina which had been created by diverting the coastline . I spent a summer recording all the species of marine algae to find out that it had all gone the following year!
With hindsight, I am glad we found an alternative. We are in Las Galletas which is a real place and understated. The marina is brilliant and we are perfectly situated for the town, buses and fantastic walks.
The coastline around Tenerife has been massively over developed with apartments and hotels but some areas have been designated 'Reserva Natural Especial' or 'Monumento Natural'. This at least affords some protection from further development and even though heavily used by walkers, paths appear to be designated and followed.
We walked along the coastal area of Monumento Natural, Montana Amarillo which had spectacular lava flows and layers of solidified ash.
At low water we scrambled over the base of the cliffs (mainly to avoid walking up the mountain), and I was rewarded by the best marine algae & mollusc diversity I have seen on the island for many years.
The walk covered the narrow strip of coast with its distinct vegetation... a halophilic belt.
The following day we walked in the other direction, equally beautiful over the Reserve Natural Especial , Malpais de Rasca. The vegetation was stunning. It smelt like we were in a sauna but without the steam.
We opted out of climbing the Montana de Guaza ( bit of a trend developing here), and caught a bus into Los Cristianos.....water supplies were running low and we had eaten all the nuts. Tristan had a 'feed me' look, time to take evasive action!
I fly back to the UK tomorrow for the birth of my second granddaughter and to see my girls.
