Lanzarote 2019

Date

Activity

Sat Jun 22^nd

Fly Malaga to Lanzarote

Sitting in the airport departure lounge after they’d called our flight, I realised that I’d left my phone in the car. No problem I thought, we’ve still got Lin’s (low tech) phone for making calls, and we’ve got the laptop for accessing the internet when we get there. Then on the plane, I remembered that the contact details for the letting agent and the car hire company were on the phone. No problem I thought… I can vaguely remember the name the car hire company, and they will probably have details of the agent.

Then we arrived and we couldn’t find the car hire company. Turned out that unlike all the other companies with offices in the terminal building, ours was in a little shed at the furthest corner of the car park. After an hour or so of wandering around, asking, and then following poor instructions, we found it. And they eventually found the agent phone number, so I was at least able to tell them we were going to be late arriving at the house. Then I realised that I was going to using Google Maps on my phone to help me navigate to the house. No problem I thought… I think I can remember.

So we picked up the car, but it urgently needed fuel. At the garage I made the mistake of asking the guy behind the counter the best way to get to our holiday house, and he gave directions that dumped us in suburbia in Arrecife, the main city on the island. No problem I thought, I’ll use Lin’s phone to call the agent and let her talk us through it. The trouble was she didn’t know Arrecife terribly well, and her advice was to cruise around until I found a motorway and call her back.

Anyway, we found the motorway, she talked us through the journey, and we finally got there. And it was a nice house.

Sun Jun 23^rd

Tahiche

Weather overcast, but improving.

Supermarket shopping, then lunch back at the house.

Drove into Costa Teguise for dinner. Had a wander round, but wasn’t too impressed… full of tourist shops and bars selling Guinness and Heineken, and a huge unfinished building project on the main headland. We eventually settled on a restaurant called Dona Lola where Lin and I had a nice seafood Paella between us.

Back to the house for wine.

Mon Jun 24^th

Tahiche

Drizzly

Flight options from Edinburgh were limited, so Adam, Veronika and the girls were arriving today, and leaving on Friday July the 5^th. They were due to arrive at 10:45, so we were at the airport in good time. There are two terminal buildings and of course we chose the wrong one. When we got to the correct one, the Edinburgh flight was marked as ‘delayed’ so we hung around waiting for information. After an hour or so, still no more news, then I got a text message from Adam that because of low cloud and drizzle at Arrecife, the plane had been diverted to Fuertaventura until the weather clears.

Lin and I decide to go home, have some lunch and await developments. Then another text message from Adam saying they were about to take off, and due at Arrecife in 30 minutes, so back we went. This time more successful.

The afternoon was still overcast, but A, V and the girls spent the afternoon in the pool. Adam and I played some table tennis.

Dinner at the house.

Tue Jun 25^th

Tahiche, Costa Teguise

Overcast again, so another day around the house, swimming, relaxing, table tennis, eating, drinking, etc.

Then into Costa Teguise for dinner. Walked around for a while, then back to Dona Lola for Paella’s.

Wed Jun 26^th

Tahiche, Nazaret, Arrieta.

Nice weather. More swimming, lunch at the house.

Then drove over to the LagOmar Museum in Nazaret. Fascinating place… it was Omar Sherif’s house, now a museum, built into ancient lava tubes. Spent an hour and a half there, including drinks. Then drove north to the resort of Arrieta and Nika and the girls went in the sea.

Home for dinner, and Adam and I trying to light a barbecue without firelighters. Gave up and went to local shop for some, and was able to finish the barbecue.

Thu Jun 27^th

Tahiche, El Golfo, Timanfaya Volcanic park

Nice warm day.

Drove through typical Lanzarote scenery (ie, lava fields, cinder cones, and vineyard ‘dimples’) towards El Golfo in the south.

Found a nice restaurant in El Golfo for lunch. Had a wander round the village.

Then onwards to the Timanfaya Volcanic National Park. A fantastic bleak, surreal moonscape of ash and cinder cones, and very little greenery. Sadly, we found we couldn’t drive anywhere in the park, so took the organised coach trip instead. Probably not a bad thing after all the driving.

Home for dinner.

Fri Jun 28^th

Tahiche

A bit breezy, but still warm.

Drove to the Museo de la Pirateria, near Teguise, on the rim of an old cinder cone. It was an old fort turned into a pirate themed museum.

Stopped off at some weird rock (or ash) formations for photos, and exploration.

Lunch back at the house, the girls all went in the pool. Later in the afternoon, Adam, Rebeka and myself drove to the airport to stand at the bottom of the runway and watch planes land. As the holiday house was on the flightpath, they seemed to be landing every 20 minutes or so we didn’t check. If we had, we’d have found that there wasn’t a large plane due to land for more than an hour! Anyway, we stayed long enough to feel the jet wash from a couple of medium airliners taking off.

Back home for dinner.

Sat Jun 29^th

Tahiche, Mirador del Rio, Orzola

More nice weather.

Drove north to Mirador del Rio with it’s fantastic views over to the island of La Graciosa. Drinks in the bar.

Then drove to the pretty fishing village of Orzola. Wandered around, then drinks at a harbourside bar, then had a big sea food spectacular at the Restaurante Perla del Atlántico.

Got back home to find we’d been burgled! The doors were still open, and the place had been cleared of valuables. Jewellery, laptops, smart phones, tablets, Kindles, MP3 players, money… all stolen. Bastards! Everyone was angry and upset.

Sun Jun 30^th

Tahiche

This day was pretty well lost due Adam and I sitting in the Costa Teguise Guardia Civil offices for a couple of hours, making statements, signing forms, etc. Then visits from management and police, just looking around, taking photos. Then maintenance men fitting new locks.

Dinner at the house.

Mon Jul 1^st

Tahiche, Arrecife

Weather overcast.

Drove into Arrecife. Had a good walk along the sea front, then over the causeway to the Castillo de San Gabriel.

Then a decent lunch at a harbourside restaurant.

Dinner at home.

Tue Jul 2^nd

Tahiche

Weather overcast and fresh.

Drove to the Cuevos de los Verdes, for the guided tour.

Had a pretty abysmal lunch at a waterfront restaurant at Punta Mujeres.

Dinner at home... barbecue?

Wed Jul 3^rd

Tahiche

Blue skies but still fresh.

Drove to the Fundacion de Cesar Manrique (formerly, his house), just down the road from the holiday house. Had drinks there.

Then drove to the Ermita de las Nieves for the views. Home for lunch.

Swimming, drinking, relaxing, table tennis.

Dinner at home.

Thu Jul 4^th

Tahiche

Weather overcast.

Walked to the playground in Tahiche.

Stayed around the house for the afternoon, swimming, eating, etc.

Then into Costa Teguise for dinner. Walked around for a while checking out the tourist shops, then back to Dona Lola for more Paellas, steaks, etc.

Fri Jul 5^th

Tahiche, airport, Jameos del Agua

Blue skies but a strong breeze.

Took A, V and the girls to the airport.

Lin and I drove north to Jameos del Agua. Car park almost full, everywhere very crowded. An interesting place though… bars and restaurants inside lava tubes, and a pretty turquoise pool surrounded by palm trees and white sand painted concrete! The car park was empty by the time we left. Found a seafront bar for beers on the way back.

Finished packing, then headed back to Dona Lola for Paella’s. More steaks, but disappointing this time.

Sat Jul 6^th

Tahiche, Puerto Calero, airport

Nice weather.

We had an evening flight, so we headed south through all the lava fields, cinder cones, etc., and ended up in Puerto Calero… the resort that Costa Teguise should have been! A pretty place with harbour, and waterfront bars and restaurants.

Had a nice lunch with beers, then a doze in the car as we still had time to kill before we needed to be at the airport.

Then to the airport and back home.