Quiet Fuerteventura: peace, dust and volcanoes
Discover peace and tranquillity amid the arid plains
‘Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else’ Lawrence Block
Think of the Canaries and perhaps you think of mass tourism, but there is another side. Like most places pack and grab holiday makers are generally concentrated in relatively tight self-contained pockets where anything remotely authentic is watered down to a palatable blandness, akin to a microwaveable meal.
Whilst it is true to say that we tourists outnumber locals in the Canaries, escaping the masses and discovering a quieter side is relatively easy. In fact, very easy – just walk down the road in the opposite direction of the restaurants selling 2:1 pina coladas and English breakfasts and you’re on the right track.
I made it over to Fuerteventura for a month in October. I stayed in a quiet residential area, at my aunt’s house, on the outskirts of the busy resort of Corralejo.
My purpose was to combine a little work, with some much-needed sunshine after the long grey pandemic British summer. My son popped over for a few days, and a friend I hadn’t seen for a fair old while joined me for a couple of weeks. It was a time to catch up, eat tapas and relax.
I wasn’t there to sight-see, nor to write blog posts on all there is to see and do in Fuerteventura (of which I am sure there are copious already). Why bore you, and myself with more?
I’ve come to realise as a fledgling ‘travel blogger’, I’m actually not very good at it! I rarely find the momentum to write about local attractions. I’m much more about how a place makes me feel and what I gain from being there. I love those times when we think something or somewhere is going to be one way and then we discover something else entirely. It’s those magic moments that drive me to write.
I decided to write this post on Fuerteventura, the oldest Canary Island, after discovering a very different side to this popular tourist hot spot. A side that I really liked. A quiet side.
I discovered set against the wild rugged volcanic terrain a softer, calmer side that provokes quite reflection and a sense of awe amid a landscape that appears almost pre-historic.
I’d like to say I ventured far and wide, but I didn’t. This post covers a radius of about 30 km from the busy resort of Corralejo either by foot, bike, bus or shuttle ferry.
Quiet Fuerteventura – just a stone’s throw from Corralejo
Hiking in the land of the volcanoes
You may (or may not) be surprised to learn that Fuerteventura offers 255 km of well-marked hiking trails across its semi-arid interior.
On my arrival, I had vague plans to cover many of these trails – you know how you do when you first arrive somewhere? You start reading… get excited and all of a sudden, you’re going to do this, this and this…
I even read about the Camino Natural de Fuerteventura, a 155 km trek from the Isle de Lobos in the north to Punta Jandia in the south. I fancied myself sleeping out wild beneath the stars as I trekked by day, Cheryl Strayed style – a notion I quickly banished as I was certainly ill equipped for such a hike (perhaps next time)!
Instead, I opted for a slightly less ambitious hike from Corralejo to Lajares, via the Bayuyo Volcano (about 12 km). In fact, I hiked the trail twice, firstly by myself and then with my friend. It’s a good morning’s walk, before the sun gets too hot and takes 2-3 hours. The initial ascent up the volcano is quite steep, but the remaining trail is quite easy going.
Remember to take a sun hat and water, as it’s very exposed!
You can take the bus back from Lajares, after a pit stop coffee. Alternatively, if you’re feeling more energetic, you could trek to La Oliva (about 23 km).
It’s a hike that presents awesome views, but can I be honest? Initially, I was unsure about this barren landscape. I found it slightly unnerving – its jagged rocky edges, its muted yellow and browns and battered wind-swept cactus are such a contrast to the landscapes I am familiar with and that I would regard as traditionally ‘beautiful’ – green, verdant and full of colour.
I felt a mild inner turmoil, no biggie, but an intrepid knot of unfamiliarity as I made my way up the steep side of the Volcano Bayuyo slipping occasionally on the rough volcanic earth as the sun beat down and the wind rasped repeatedly, threatening to send my sunhat flying into the dusty crater below.
However, as I reached the pinnacle and peered out over the vast arid plains, interrupted only by the formidable peaks of numerous volcanoes, I felt a ripple of something that can only be described as pure joy unleash from that pent up knot. I sensed a great inner openness, a lifting of the horizon of my mind as I absorbed the expansive panorama.
Forgive me for being a tad bit melodramatic, I know I am prone to, but what is this life if we do not explore the the vastness of our feelings?
It was as if I had broken through a landscape comfort zone and overthrown my own ideas of what I regard as ‘beautiful’ in one fell swoop. This is a magnificent landscape that gives an insane sense of space.
Landscape comfort zone, is that a thing?
I’m not sure, but I guess like all comfort zones, landscape or otherwise, you don’t always know you have one until you’re faced with an internal tension that challenges you in some way. And whilst, experiencing an unfamiliar landscape is not exactly ground-breaking, I can’t help but feel that breaking through any self-imposed beliefs about what is good, bad, beautiful, boring etc is always a good thing.
Baby step comfort zone breaking perhaps also paves the way to break through more tightly woven, highly constraining comfort zones. You have the internal reassurance from previous experiences that beyond that invisible barrier of comfort is limitless personal growth.
As the knot continued to melt away, I buoyantly trekked onwards, drunk in love with life in general, making plans to one day return and walk the Camino Natural de Fuerteventura.
The chilled out village of Lajares
We loved Lajares! After hiking from Corralejo to Lajares, bestowed before you is a small village of white box houses cascading with vibrant pink and purple bougainvillea – a little oasis in the dust.
It’s got that quiet laid-back traveller feel, a far cry from the large popular tourist resorts – a place you just want to flop into a chair and chill out for a while. I immediately felt at home.
It has some lovely artisan shops to peruse and to my great joy decent boutique cafés serving delicious coffee (as a coffee addict I’m always on a quest to find a decent cuppa and Lajares came up with goods).
We loved La Paneteca – great coffee and delicious pastries (pain au chocolate muffin anyone?)
It’s just 30 minutes on the bus from Corralejo and popular with surfers (despite being in land). I’d recommend staying here if you want that chilled traveller vibe.
Cycling the Old Coast Road from Corralejo to Majanicho
Corralejo is a great place to cycle, the town and surrounding area has an abundance of cycle paths and if you’re up for getting away from the crowds cycling the old coast road to Majanicho is great.
However, do not for one minute think that the old coast road, offers the same smooth tarmacked surface as the urban cycle paths, it doesn’t! It’s rocky, uneven and very dusty. I learnt the hard way, choosing a ladies hybrid bike over a mountain bike and oh my goodness did my derrière suffer the next day! Not to mention, the shear challenge of trying not to fall off, as the thin wheels slipped mercilessly over the uneven surface.
There are numerous places to rent bikes in Corralejo and I’d recommend getting one with the biggest fattest wheels you can find!
The old coast road begins at Charco de Bristol beach near the bus station.
As you would imagine, given the name, the Old Coast Road runs along the coast and has pretty awesome views. On one side, the azure of the ocean and on the other towering volcanoes. The omnipresent rumble and crash of waves creates an awesome soundscape, and the rugged uninhabited coastline feels wild and desolate. When we were there a storm was brewing, the waves were enormous and their energy palpable.
The road is open to vehicles and whilst there are not that many, mainly surfers in beaten up trucks, they do generate a lot of dust so be prepared to get grimy!
On reaching Majanicho, you can if you choose continue to Lajares or El Cotillo, or if like me your bottom has had enough you can just cycle back.
El Cotillo
El Cotillo is a small fishing village with plenty of fish restaurants, tantalising beaches and some nice artisan shops.
I’m told up until very recently few tourists visited, but as word gets about this hidden gem is becoming slightly less hidden. However, it’s still significantly quieter that the larger resorts and has a much more laid-back feel. Think restaurants by the harbour, with chequered table cloths serving up locally caught fish whilst sipping a chilled white wine.
The beaches here are picture perfect, I read that they are the ones that often appear on ads for Fuerteventura.
Buses run regularly from Corralejo to El Cotillo, passing through La Olivia and Lajares.
Isla de Lobos
A short boat ride from Corralejo port lies the tiny uninhabited island of Lobos. It’s just 4.5 km squared and classified as a protected nature reserve. It’s home to a diverse range of plant species and is one of the few places on Fuerteventura where I saw greenish plants springing from the volcanic earth.
One may expect that its proximity to Corralejo, would result in hordes of visitors. However, due to it’s protected status, visitors are limited and thus an air of tranquillity prevails.
I felt curiously serene visiting Lobos, as though the island’s miniature size and pristine natural habit, surrounded by the tranquil Atlantic held me on a soft bubble of solace, as though I was gently wafting on a personal islet of virgin earth. Yeah that sounds weird, doesn’t it? But I can’t think of another way to describe it.
Clearly signposted trails criss-cross the island from the tiny port. You’re not allowed to veer away from the paths due to its protected nature. You can walk around it’s periphery in a couple of hours, or choose to take a shorter trail. Like most places in Fuerteventura the lack of trees means you are constantly exposed to the elements, so remember your sun hat! Also, there are no cafes/shops on the island, so you need to take your own water.
Some of the reviews I read about Lobos rave about the beach, but in all honestly despite the crystal clear waters, the beach itself is nothing special so I wouldn’t get the ferry over just for the beach (only my opinion), but definitely get it over for the island as a whole.
Sand Dunes of Corralejo
A silent sea of sand offering mesmerising stillness and peace.
Have you been to a desert? I haven’t so, this was my first experience of a desert in miniature.
Fuerteventura has the largest desert and semi-desert in Europe. Isn’t that incredible?
The dunes are situated just outside the town of Corralejo to the north and is 2.5 km wide and 10 km long. It was formed over 50,000 years ago when the volcanos in the area erupted simultaneously and was declared a national park in 1994.
It’s a landscape laden with natural poetic beauty, a swathe of white sand as far as the eye can see, resting alongside the shimmering turquoise ocean and as the Basque philosopher Miguel de Unamuna commented it feels like ‘a piece of Saharan Africa lost in the Atlantic’.
Magical.
Pop on the number 6 bus to Porto Rosario, get off at the two large imposing hotels (you can’t miss them) and just wander. You may understandably think that considering the dunes are a popular tourist attraction in Fuerteventura they’d be rammed with eager photo clicking visitors, but actually far from it, the area is vast and solitude is easy to find. Keep wandering and you’ll feel like you have the desert to yourself. The majority of visitors stick to the shoreline.
Oh and btw the beach in this area is designated nudist, if that’s something that floats your boat.
Yoga and Surf
Okay, I’m not a surfer but I am a definitely a yogi and one of the things I loved about the Corralejo coastline was the pop up yoga classes taking place on the beaches which everyone is welcome to join. Furthermore, it’s deemed really normal to just grab your own spot along the coastline and do your own practice. On numerous occasions, I saluted the sun and balanced my energy with some Qigong and I didn’t feel in the least bit self-conscious. So liberating!
Namaste.
And if you fancy learning to surf, there’s oodles of surf schools to chase the wave. I wanted to give paddle boarding a go, it looks fabulously tranquil to me but when I finally got around to trying to organising a lesson, the sea was too wavy. Next time!
Beaches?
Have I mentioned beaches? Ah well I’ll just mention them again. With an island surrounded by beaches it’s a piece of cake to find your own quiet spot. If you don’t fancy rolling out your towel and peering out over someone else’s sun scorched bell do not fret, you’re on an island! Just take a short walk and you’ll soon come across your perfect spot (you know the one).
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