Spent the most wonderful week, with my family, in The Canary Islands recently. Was given the opportunity to use a private condo in the beautiful private golf development of Anfi Tauro (made up of lovely lush floral valley golf course, hotel, villas and condos).
Was a bit unsure before going as was afraid it might be very touristy. Well the coastal resorts are but we were away from the developments and on our explorations rarely saw another Brit!!!!
Having hired a car we were able to drive all over, well James did the driving.....!!! We had a delicious meal of freshly cooked fish in an unspoilt fishing village en route to the interior. Although the single track precipitous route with multiple blind bends was scary, there was very little traffic and it was well worth the effort as we saw some amazing views. The islands are volcanic and we drove round the main volcanic mountains to visit peaks and valley as well as seeing cave dwellings (the early canarians were troglodytes and some remain so, but with conventional fronts to their cave homes) and mountain villages.
Another day we visited the traditional Spanish colonial style town of Teror, after dropping in to an exceptionally quiet Botanical Gardens. There we enjoyed not only delicious home cooked tapas but also a warm welcome. This was much appreciated as we found many locals on the south coast unfriendly-the result of bad behaviour from tourists over the years it seems, sadly. The town and cathedral are very attractive.
We did do a couple of things on the tourist route. Being a Geographer (many years ago) I wanted to see the desert like dunes on the coast , as well as evidence of vulcanicity in the centre. Charlotte had been told to visit the camel ride by a friend so, as that was on her wish list, we combined the two. Whilst the camels were interesting, trudging between dunes we saw very little of the scenery- altho the naked man proved noteworthy (apparently naturists and others abound-be warned)!!!!!!!!!However, Charlottes fluent spanish sweet talked us into a private viewing of three adorable baby camels :-) We went in search of a better view of the dunes which was terminated abruptly when the sand proved too hot for Charlotte......maybe next time.
We visited an expensive/exclusive resort to try and find some Canarian crafts to take back as well as journey on James' wish-the yellow submarine. Sadly for him it was out of the water for repairs. However, despite the place being packed with tourists like ourselves we very much enjoyed this much more sympathetic lowerised resort development. The harbour was full of lovely yachts and made a lovely lunch time view, whilst the bouganvilla clad buildings provided a pretty backdrop. The beach was clean and quiet.
So, the end of a perfect interesting and fun week despite my pre visit fears. If sun sea and sand is required the tourist beaches provide that and entertainment. However, if something more interesting is required that is more than freely available and very much recommended! We still have many more interesting places to visit if we have the chance to return .......
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