Fuerteventura: bigger than I thought

So I had the weekend off and took the opportunity to visit Fuerteventura for a couple of days. What to say about the island? Even though Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are extreamly close, the only thing they have in common is that non of them has so much flora to explore. Besides some weird and at the same time curious cactuses and palm trees. Lanzarote on the one hand is full of volcanic stones all over the island and with not so many beaches and on the other hand, Fuerteventura has a uncountable number of beaches(some pretty awesome ones) and the rest of the island is just desert and mountains.

Enough said, here is what my friend and I did on the island. As we only had two days, we decided to rent a car(TIP: if you decide to visit the island, rent a car otherwise you will end up  like a cactus, bored and in the middle of nowhere) and we headed direction south in order to see the whole island in one day.
Being honest the island has not so much sights and not so many things to see and most of the places can be seen just by driving by them with the car. On our way down to the south, to the beach of Cofete, which telling from the pictures and recommendations was a place we couldn't miss. Even though what we hadn't been told was that to get there we had to cross the whole island plus I sand, curvy and up and down road for 40 minutes. I have to tell you though, totally worth it. The views from the mountain over the beach were spectacular. 

Panoramic view from Mirador Morra Velosa

But before arriving to Cofete beach we passed through and stopped in some places. Our first stop was in Mirador Morra Velosa, from where we had a amazing view over the mountains and the see at the end. After a few pictures and a breath of the fresh air that was blowing in the top of the moutains we countinued on the road passing by the villages of Betancuria and Pajara before arriving to our next stop: Ajuy, a place totally different from the rest of the island. Why? because here you will meet the most wonderful black sand beach, with the most terrific views from the top of the cliffs feeling the wind of the Atlantic see blowing as well as the smell of the waves that smashes into the cliffs. Unfourunely though, most of the part in Ajuy has been privatitzed and now to see the caves you have to pay 7 euros, which is insane, knowing that it has been for free for the past 20 years.

Playa de Ajuy

After Ajuy the road took us to Costa Calma where a beach near, it was the worldcup of Windsurf. Which was pretty awesome, because even though no one was surfing the time we spent on the beach, the atmosphere around the beach was amazing. Music, drinks, food, tents and people a lot of people having a good time. We took a beer and sat down enjoying the company of probably 500 people in the tent which was pretty great.

But as the time is gold and we did not have much of it, we continued on the road heading to Cofete. After 200km and some really bad secundary roads, we reached the beach. And decided to eat there at the only resturant that existed in the area. In fact, it was the only building in probably 20 square km around. We were surrounded by the beach and mountains and that was it, which was the beauty of the place.

Playa de Cofete

After a really long morning, we decided to head back to Corralejo but on the southside road to see the other part of the island.
We finished the day eating a pizza in a pizzeria called Pizzeria Da Enzo, and I am not kidding when I am saying this, but it was probably the best pizza I have ever tried, it was just totally amazing. The dough was thin and delicious, and the ingredients was so well put on and so amazing. My dad is a chef and his pizzas are woderful, but this pizza was just mind-blowing. So that is my top recommendation of Corralejo, if you want to get a pizza, go two roads away from the main road with the resturants and go to this pizzeria, it won't dissapoint you and if in some weird case it does, I will personally refund the money!

Day 2 started and tired of the almost 400 km from the first day we decided to stay in the north to see the dunes in the desert in the National Park of Corralejo which is a must-go in the island and for the rest of the day we went to the search for the best beach in Cotillo. There we found one called  Caleta del Río and it was a pretty awesome beach. Crystal clear water and white sand beach. I could not have asked for more to finish the weekend like this.

Feeling really small in the middle of the desert in Dunas de Corralejo

Playa de Cotillo

Sun hiding behing Montana Roja in Lanzarote

Lanzarote: more than just sun and beach

As the title says, Lanzarote is not just sun and beach tourism, it has obviously a lot of great beaches but those are not(in my opinion), the best things of the island.

Before talking tourism and sights I will give you some basic tips that can help you out while you visit the island. First of all, rent a car. It is the best option to move around and in the long term, the cheapest. Why? In comparison, for example to organised tours, you can move around and go wherever you want, you don't depend on a timetable and you can take more time visiting what you really like. It is really nice to move around in the island and by car, you will see local villages and resturants you would not do if you'd go by bus or in a tour. Second tip, don't rush to see it all in a day. It is possible as the island is small, but you won't enjoy everything as much as if you would separate your visits in different days. Third and last tip, don't visit Arrecife. For you who don't know, Arrecife is the capital city of Lanzarote and in my opinion that is the most "interesting" thing it has. It is quite dirty, has not sights and the beach is nothing special either. Everybody is different though and maybe what I hated, you would love, but at least that is my opinion. 

A other tip I forgot to mention is, if you are planning to go to the Canary Islands to live for a while, get the residence card. It is just advantages. You will get great discounts in almost everything. A example of its great discount is on the 5 main tourist attractions with paid entrance, instead of paying 9 euros, with the residence card you only pay 2. Not bad huh? And for what I've been told, anybody that belongs to the EU can apply for a residence card in the Canary Islands.

I have been here for more or less a month and I have almost seen the whole island, even though I have almost been most of my time working. Here are in my opinion the top 5 places to go and visit in Lanzarote in no specific order of preference:

1- El lago verde de el golfo (the green lake of the gulf)

2- Timanfaya National Park

3- Playa Papagayo


4- Playa de Famara


5- Cueva de los verdes