The Canary Islands

There are seven of them, the Canary Islands. Five we have traveled. We took two weeks per island. Much too short, many of you will now say, I know. And yet the time seemed so much longer to us, because each island is completely different from the other and carries so much soul in itself.

We arrived in Lanzarote by plane. From there, we took the small 30 minute ferry to Fuerteventura. From Fuerteventura, the 3 hours long ferry-ride brought us to Gran Canaria.

From Gran Canaria, we flew in a miniature airplane to the beautiful island of La Palma, from which we again took off to Tenerife by plane, before we left the Canary Islands after almost 3 months.

All in all, island hopping on the Canaries is very easy. There is a perfect touristic infrastructure. Flights, ferry crossings, rental cars, accommodations, excursions, everything is affordable and simple to organize yourself.

But the mass tourism, which we almost expected, because of the popularity of the islands, we hardly experienced.

Most tourists stay in the main towns and pay no attention to the beauty of the island’s wilderness. Arrival, pool, hotel beach, pub, sangria, departure. My heart would bleed out, not being able to see, hear, smell and taste more than that.

We had many parts of the islands all to ourselves, which was lovely. Just as you now have, looking into this album. Enjoy!

We chose Lanzarote as our first island, because she‘s, as the most northeastern island, the closest to the mainland, so we could easily start our way over all the islands. Already at the landing we realized her beauty, which fascinates me the most until today, because of the super intense contrasts. She’s the warmest island of all. Pitch black, volcanically blazing and exceptionally quiet. The air feels dry, hot and smells like lava. I fell in love immediately.

Follow Up

Our favorite places:

We left Lanzarote with the small island ferry, which crossed from Playa Blanca on Lanzarote to Puerto de Corralejo on Fuerteventura. The trip took just 30 minutes. We were all the more surprised to see a completely different landscape on Fuerteventura. In half an hour, we traveled from a black, mountainous volcanic landscape to the white desert country of Fuerteventura. The bright island seems even drier than her eastern sister, due to the lower contrasts and the deserted feeling. When I think of Fuerteventura today, I think mainly of beach. The island seems to consist of nothing but white sand and blue ocean. Again, we fell in love at first sight.

Follow up:

Our favorite places:

After two weeks of desert time on Fuerteventura, we took the three hours ferry from Morro Jable to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria is known to almost everyone. Thus, the round island not only marks the geographical center of the Canary Islands, but is also the main island of the archipelago. And we noticed that clearly. First, after a month of nature and tranquility, we were happy to be back in the city for a couple of days. We rented an apartment in the middle of Las Palmas and first went on a pub crawl. We liked the promenade of Las Palmas and the hustle and bustle was welcome. The rest of the island we unfortunately didn’t enjoy at all. It was completely overbuilt, many corners were littered, and it simply looked like a big industrial area. We traveled to the furthest corners of the island and of course found some nice nooks and crannies here and there, but we couldn’t really enjoy Gran Canaria and wouldn’t visit again. Tourism has simply destroyed too much. A pity!

Follow up:

Our favorite places:

Good that we, before our departure from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Breña Baja on La Palma, went to the bakery, to fill our bellies with the most sugary particles, which the island has to offer.

The night flight in this tiny machine was… bumpy! So bumpy, that a seatmate started crying. At times, we too thought our remains would be picked up on the Canary cliffs in a few days.

In the pitch dark, we arrived at La Palma. We took our rented car and drove the one-hour tour over the fogged midnight mountains to our accommodation on the other side of the island, the dreamy El Paso.

The original photos of the accommodation looked a bit modest, and we were already afraid it would be as bumpy as the flight. However, it was really nice, spotless, with a bright garden and a lovely mountain view. The young owner, Rafael, brought us fresh avocados and oranges from his own trees every morning and offered us to use his vegetable garden, with various fresh herbs, with which we cooked the most delicious meals from.

I offered Rafael to take some pictures of his accommodation, as the ones at that time, did not do justice to the lovely accommodation. So even today, you can see my photos hanging in his Airbnb ad.

That was the introduction. Now comes the main text:

The island is beautiful! Simply WONDERFUL!

See for yourself.

Follow up:

Our favorite places:

And again we pack our hand luggage and board the plane. This time on the way to our last island, Tenerife.

Tenerife is the largest island of the Canaries. We land on the North Island and fly away from the South. Since the driving times are relatively long and there is a lot to discover, we decided to first spend a week on the North Island in Puerto de la Cruz and then go south via Teide National Park and spend our last days in the small town of El Medano, close to the International Airport.

We liked Puerto de la Cruz very much. The architecture is lovely and the flair very relaxed. However, it was often quite cold.

The Teide National Park is, without a doubt, spectacular. The drive up the 3715-meter-high Teide is not only exciting but healing.

Why healing? Because I had been struggling with severe heart rhythm disturbances for many weeks. The heart was bubbling day and night, which was very unpleasant. Before going up the volcano, people with heart problems are warned not to go. I drove anyway, because my massive extrasystoles were not classified as dangerous, just annoying. When I came down from Teide, they were GONE. This is no joke! That abrupt difference in pressure must have pumped something free. In the evening after the Teide tour, I went jogging on the beach of El Medano. And suddenly noticed calmness in my heart. The extrasystoles were gone and stayed gone. I am still stunned to this day!

Overall, it is quite incredible how easy going the whole trip across the Canaries went. I did`t fly spontaneously, but, knowing that I wanted to stay a maximum of 3 months, planned and booked everything in advance. From flights, ferry crossings, rental cars and accommodations, everything worked out. Even my health and nerves have played along, which is absolutely not self-evident. The trip was peaceful, uncomplicated and simply beautiful. I can’t wait to come back one day and visit La Gomera and El Hierro.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Canary Islands. I fell deeply in love with them.

Now you go, enjoy Tenerife and then, go ahead, book a flight and see it for yourself!