January 8, 2020. Scenic Drive and a Hike

The interior of Fuertaventura includes volcanic malpais,  mountainous terrain, and outstanding views of the Atlantic ocean, sometimes in multiple directions.

A dream is the reality of a future that exists in a person's imagination. — Sunday Adelaja

So on Wednesday, we dreamed of seeing the scenery of Fuertaventura a little better and headed off in the car to make it happen. Paul wanted to explore the city of Betancuria, the old capital, and that determined our direction.

The landscape of Fuertaventura is pretty varied, but all arid. There is volcanic rubble "malpais," volcanic mountains, sand, and nary a river or stream amongst it. And all the way around it, the Atlantic.  There are 300+ sunny days per year and almost no rainfall. It took very hearty people to live here and harvest the land and waters amidst near drought conditions nearly constantly.

The original inhabitants (human ones) were Berbers from Africa. No one knows how they arrived (since they didn't bother to find out before they slaughtered them), but presumably by boat and definitely DNA wise from North Africa.

One of our first stops honored two native kings who banded together to try to stem the influx of Europeans. Morro Velosa viewpoint, located at about 2000 ft above sea level,  was designed by our artist/architect friend from Lanzarote, Cesar Manrique. Statues sized about 4 meters in height, represent Ayoze and Guize, the ancient guanaches kings of Fuerteventura, that were dominating the island before Spanish conquerors attack. Guanaches is the name of the native population of Canary islands, whose history and details are still not fully known. The two kings were dominating half-island each, in a North-South separation. Even if the statues look  friendly, their separation made weakness from the technologically more advanced Norman conquerors.

Ayoze and Guize stand guard above Fuertaventura

This the beautiful view all the way to the Atlantic you get from Morro Velosa

This was a worthwhile scenic stop on our way to Betancuria, the original capital of Fuertaventura. Population in those days tended to live INLAND to escape the raids of pirates.  That said, the town was razed by pirates anyway in 1593. Those pirates were a crafty lot! 

Betancuria is named after Jean de Béthencourt, who founded the town in 1404.  It was the original capital of the Kingdom of the Canary Islands, and later capital of Fuerteventura. It remained capital until 1834 when that honor was bestowed (briefly) on Antigua.  

In modern day, it is a quaint, clean and historic city with a lovely cathedral filled with "sacred art" for which you pay 3 euros to enjoy. 

Nobody puts baby in a corner, but apparently, it is a good spot for Madonna in Betancuria church.

To me, the most amazing thing in this cathedral besides that it has been standing since 1691 is this absolutely amazing painted wood ceiling. Truly magnificent.

This 1691 door also didn't suck

St James on his caballo. Vintage XVII century wood carving. 

Not exactly sure what this saint is telling us in this mural above his head. Probably something about hell considering the demonic figures in the lower section of the painting.  Or maybe he is the patron saint of plastic surgeons since all the ladies, despite being condemned to eternal damnation seem to have perfect mammary glands.

1691 Jesus amazingly like 2020 Jesus. This carving has survived centuries!

The altar area. Look far right. Although Paul isn't a regular churchgoer, he  has been attending daily in the Canaries. Is his head bowed in reverence or is he looking at his cell phone? I leave you to decide.

External view of the cathedral with shadow palm in the Betancuria Plaza.

Cobbled streets of Betancuria

The pirate shows off in front of the flowers. They kept the town in great visual condition.

From here, we were headed to the southeast coast of the island, Costa Calma. They very end of the island is a thin isthmus but apparently houses the best beaches. And a lot of Germans escaping the cold!

This is one of about 2 traffic signals we have seen here. In general, traffic is very light and well managed by roundabouts instead.

The beach at Costa Calma on the thin lower peninsula of the island. We enjoyed a hike along this windy coast.

A look down the coast which ends at the lighthouse in Jandia. There is no paved road to the end, just a dirt track. Next time!

The island of Fuertaventura is the second largest in the Canaries. It has a length of about 80 miles and we realized we were not going to make it to the end of the isthmus by dark. So we decided to enjoy sunset and our perpetual quest for the green flash at our "home" beach of El Cotillo. 

No green flash but you have to admit it didn't suck!

This little beach is about two blocks from our apartment and contains the remains of a windmill.

We ended the day with a pasta AGAIN at Romeo and Juliet restaurant. After all, it is an anniversary trip :). 

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”

― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

Paul's Ponderings:   Wow, what an interesting island.   It's a postcard on every turn.   This was our FINAL Canarian island after several years and it's a great way to finish up....for the short term, not forever mind you.   Plans already being laid to come back in 2021 to spend more time.   I keep saying "why isn't everybody here" and I stand by that, putting airfares aside.   

We keep saying, "what was your favorite island" and it seems to be "they are all great, just in a different way".    But it's all a fabulous part of the world.    Despite being small, it's a very complex area.....people who lived here 30-50 years ago would find amazing that this place exists now.

Hopefully the photos here give a flavor of what's up here.....anyone reading our blog, visit if you can.