Fuerteventura revisited.
by Allan Rogers

It had been 15 years since I was last there and it still looked barren and rocky but I knew that around the island there were over a hundred and fifty beaches, the largest stretch of sand I had seen,  and, the beach of my dreams!   It is not the sort of thing that can be kept secret, so it was hardly surprising that the smart new airport terminal was busy. 

I was winging in on one of these 'last minute bargains' that you can pick up  if you haunt the UK travel agents and can fly off at a couple of days notice. 
 
This time we had struck lucky and within 15 minutes of leaving the airport we were trundling the suitcase past the pool at Co Co Sol Bungalows at 
Nuevo Horizonte.  

For seven days 'self catering' the price had eventually dropped to £119. The date was December 13th and the week that followed was warm and sunny. We breakfasted outside each day at the table by our door, occasionally moving into the shade if it got too hot. We were amid hibiscus plants and palm trees but, to be fair, when you first arrive at Fuerteventura, you understand why some people have nicknamed it 'Frazzle Rock'  Most of it looks bare and arid but after a while you begin to appreciate the rolling and jagged mountains and the subtly changing  shades of brown. 

It is possible to have a great time without moving from the resort but a couple of days with a hire car really widens the holiday experience.  It's  worth shopping around for the best deal.  
I paid £72 for five days use of a small Citron by renting direct from a local company.
(Teci-Rent,S.L. Rent a Car at Nuevo Horizonte. Tel  928 16 32 26)

 A drive down to Gran Tarjal takes you to the island's second largest port. It has a beach of black sand and is largely free of tourists, so you can really enjoy the atmosphere of a truly  Canarain town. We found that it had range of shops, some quite smart and after a coffee at a seafront cafe we followed the locals to an excellent supermarket where a Litre bottle of 
J&B whisky cost only £7.50 and a bottle of  Spanish  "103 Brandy" was only £5.

 
Drive inland and you really begin to appreciate  the tortured  rock strewn volcanic landscape with its occasional palm groves. It looks like the land that time forgot and if a prehistoric monster were to pop its head round the hillside it wouldn't look out of place. However it's other beasts that demand attention.  
Road signs had me on the lookout for deer,  but on closer inspection the symbol was of a goat. Taking a road inland up towards the brown mountains we soon found hundreds of them, in fact the estimated population is over sixty-five-thousand. They produce 180,000 litres of milk daily and the cheese that is produced is really excellent. Fuerteventura's other animals  include the chipmunks that every now and then dart across the road in front of you.

 We followed roads that snaked through the hills to the old capital at  Betancuria  and later whirled past windmills at Tiscamanita and Antigua.      Villages with white cube shaped house  were scattered among the wide valleys many surrounded by palm trees and cacti plants and it was easy to understand that Africa lay only 60 miles away.

Off the main road to  the south,  rough tracks lead down to the most massive sandy beaches. If you want to explore them all, you will need a four wheel drive vehicle and a lot of time! It would certainly be an appealing task.

Up at the top end of the island is Correlajo where the first few self catering apartments and hotels launched the island into tourism . Now the holiday industry has taken off in a big way and a green and yellow road train, with a 'Thomas the Tank' style tractor, takes visitors to apartments that are spread over quite a wide area. It will get wider,  if the network of uncompleted streets are anything to go by. 
Many people hire bikes to get to the outskirts of the town and visit the massive sand dunes. This is now a 'protected park area' I was told that the great dunes had been created by sand which has blown over from Africa. The hot sand can toast your toes, so wear sandals. The light reflected from it can bring a quick tan, or sunburn, so so whether you fly a kite or just laze sheltering in the stone nests beside the sea, take care to use a high factor sun bloc. The constant cooling breeze can be deceptive, making it seem just comfortably warm when in reality you could be almost frying!
 
 Fuerteventura offers variety,  from the pleasant little port of  El  Cotilio   to specially built tourist resorts  like Caleta de Fuste,  where where an army of sun loungers and brollys are ranked across  a  bay where a  beach of sand has been laid.  New apartment s are springing up and  the tower cranes are busy even now. The hillside is being transmogrified into a  golf course.  It is not yet lush and green but no doubt that miracle will happen soon.

My advice about visiting Fuerteventura is to do it now before the island changes and becomes like the other major tourist locations. Yes, go now!

                                                FACTFILE

I flew out from Newcastle with Airtours on a late booking holiday where the self catering accommodation was allocated on arrival and we booked the package through  Lunn Poly.

There are a few supermarkets located conveniently in the basements of the self catering complexes  and while you wont find the kind of prices currently being enjoyed in the UK as a result of the supermarket price war,  they have all you need for a good holiday. Not much in the way of fresh meat  but the wines and spirits are very good value.  There are also cafes  where you can enjoy a cheap and cheerful breakfast.  'Bacon Egg and Chips' costs only £2.50 cheap enough to make you think twice about going to the bother of cooking.

Late Bargains:    http://www.lunnpoly.com/

                                                 WATER SPORTS

There is fun to be had surfing the waves or exploring below the surface. The diving school may introduce you to stingrays measuring two square metres,  lots of exotic fish and on every dive you will see barracudas that gather around two sunken wrecks.  The dive spots are only twenty minutes away by boat and there are two dive trips per day.

The "Discover SCUBA Diving" course takes around two and a half hours. It includes theory, equipment fitting, introduction in the swimming pool, then a shallow water dive in the sea where you meet about two or three hundred barracudas, also octopus and other fish who have their home in one of the wrecks. Six of the diving schools on the island have joined forces to buy a decompression chamber that is supported by two doctors and technicians. If you want to dive you should check your insurance as you would not normally be covered by the policy issued by the holiday tour company.
The course costs £38 with additional open water dives available at £26. If you get really enthusiastic about the magic of the underwater life, and many do, there is an 'underwater photographer' course available. That costs £90. The Deep Blue Diving centre is located at Barcelo Castillo at Caleta De Fuste. (Tel: 606 27 54 68) 

Windsurfing costs  15.300  for a six hour beginner course. 12 hr 23.800.  once you know what you are doing you can rent a windsurfer £8 an hour or £16 half day (3hr) £24 full day, a week costs £95

Alternatively you can take a ride in a yellow submarine £8  children under 12,  £2, under 5 is free. an effortless way to meet the fishes. There are also observation tanks between  the marina pontoons where you can see typical fish of the area. These are explained as you board the boat.

                                                                                                           

  http://www.tourspain.es/turespai/marcoi.htm  
    (Link to Spanish National Tourist Office Web page)