Lanzarote 2012 with pics

[nigelandjan]

Lanzarote , the most volcanic of the Canary Islands IMO , about a 4 hour flight from the London area , nice bit of a warm up more or less all year round ,, so hear we go.

November 2012 . Looked for a bit of a warm before Xmas so we found a rahter nice all inclusive hol to Lanzarote staying at the V I K Club Coral beach '





Now I had read up plenty about this gaff and it seemed ok to us as its at the far end of Playa Blanca on the bottom left hand corner of the island ,, so I decided to rent a car from the airport , only £81 a week + another £40 for complete peace of mind on the old insurance .


Anyway about an hours drive from the airport and we was there ,, a nice 2 bed villa its 2.30pm and we are in time to catch the back end of the all inc lunch ,, so we filled up on spare ribs before having a shower and change then driving of to Playa Blanca for the evening .

Next morn I wake early and come out to a beautifull sunrise opposite our camp .


This is 7am believe it or not .







Anyway lots to do and plenty to see but while the other half is making her self ready I hop over the wall to the edge of the Atlantic with me pastels and make a quick rendition of the ocean crashing into the rocks in front of me .






Anyway shes ready now so paints and cameras packed into our hire car , off we go , heading up North to Mirador as the wife has seen some pics on the net where we can stand in a big window in the side of the mountain , oh well here goes .






Sorry bout the dark pic , but it gives you an idea , another shot from outside





BTW you wont be suprised to know you have to pay to access these views 8 euros each but to be fair there are nice clean bogs in there and a very acceptable cuppa coffee , just one more pic from here ,, looking toward the Isalnd you can see called La Graciosa .








Anyway my littlun is sooo bloody happy to be here and experience all this she cannot thank me enough bless her .



Were heading back down to our villa at Playa Blanca for the evening but not before I manage to call in at Playa de Famara on the way to have a quick splash with the old water colours .






This place in particular is a favourite with the windsurfers , some rare waves coming in here .

Anyway I'm taking a break now , but lots more to come tomorrow , including trips down into caves ,, camels ,, cactus , bloody loads of em ! and a painting of a beautifull sunset

[reinvented]

lanzarote is crap ive been there wice atleast
but the mirador del rio is quite spectaculor; as is the jameos del agua

[yortyiam]

Good for you Nigel&Jan! Seems a nice break while the weather's not so warm in the U.K. A quick run to the sun ain't lost on the missus by the sound of things. . Enjoy!

[Dillinger]

Thats a beautiful sunset Nige, cant say i ever saw one myself on an all inclusive :-)

Nice doodling too, cant green you just yet

[beerlaodrinker]

Nice post, thanks and your quite the artist

[nigelandjan]

Thats a beautiful sunset Nige,

Er ,,,,,, surise actually mate ,, allthough you probably saw that on the way to bed

[nigelandjan]

lanzarote is crap ive been there wice atleast

Fair comment mate ,, although when I went to Tenerife years ago and I thought similar , I didnt go back again

[nigelandjan]

Ok second day up bright and early as we have a lot to see and only a week to do it.

Now I have a dear friend who is now retired and lives on the nearby Fuertenventura Island so I have arranged with him to meet us off the 11am ferry which is taking us over for 20 euros ( return ) not too bad I suppose . You can go various ways but if your sea legs aint too good this big old tub is the way to go , as there is a hell of a swell just beofe you enter Furte .










Now on arrival my mate and his missus were waiting for us with their car , and after they got into their heads how tiny the wife was we set off for a tour around . ( I think its probably how small I make most people look when beside me ) anyway we had a wonder full day , eating out in a pub in his local village and spending time at their villa , heading home on the 6pm boat . Before we left they both told the wife how much they had enjoyed meeting her , and when she gets fed up with me to go and live full time with them .



This is looking out from the balcony which runs around my mates upstairs rooms , on the other side there is a huge upstair patio area , truly wonderfull place with a nice swim pool .








Next day we go to explore the caves up in the top right hand corner of the island I believe its called Las Verdes area ,, dunno I was just driving the other half was doing the navigating

Again about a standard 8 euros to get in , but this one is well worth it ! Last year I took Jan down in a coal mine in Scotland , it was hard hat hi viz etc etc ,, this being Spain is just follow the leader and hope you get out the other side ok ,, I warn you now ( as they dont ) if you are claustraphobic dont go down here ! as you have to crawl through some real tiny gaps and cracks some crouching down on your knees as you go .

Anyway I just leave you with some pics inside here now ,, HOWEVER the cave holds a wonderfull secret and I wont spoil it on here as everyone is asked to keep it to themselves , believe me its pretty spectacular but you will have to go along to experience that one for your selves



Here we go





























Sorry my Photobucket has decided to lock up for now so I will be back later ,,, there is lots and lots more to follow

Cheers

[Dillinger]

Any fear of claustrophobia would be greatly diminished i should imagin, for any punter stood there waiting to go down, watching Nige take off his hi vis and put his helmet down :-)

[reinvented]

lanzarote is crap ive been there wice atleast

Fair comment mate ,, although when I went to Tenerife years ago and I thought similar , I didnt go back again

apologies nige; i realize that came across as harsh and i dint mean it as such and i do really like the photos and appreciate the effort
i went once as a kid and once on a cheap last minute shag fest with my bird at the time
both disappointing; unless its improved a lot, unless you were on the nest didnt seem a lot to do if it was a lads holdiday or family holiday; a few nice sights and some nice volcanos and thats about it
accept the green as a token of my apologies

[nigelandjan]

Thanks renitent ^ for your appreciation of the thread ,, agreed its not the place to go for a lads hol etc would be a bit flat ,, but thats all long past me .


Ok I think Photobucket has unlocked so I will try to post some more up .

Off to a good start today breakfast for the wife





The healthy option for me ( cough ! )







Today I am told we are to go and look at some cactus , apparently thousands of em ! cant wait


Sorry again Photofvket has locked solid ,, be back later

[Boon Mee]

Good pics nigel.

I used to live on Las Palmas for a period and it was cheap as heck - before Spain entered the EU. Golf down at the south end of the island was really good. Rode my first camel on the topless beach there...

[nigelandjan]

Gonna try again , sorry bout this , never been a prob before .

This Island as I mentioned before is the most volcanic of the Canaries grey / black ash everywhere , even in your hotel room ( that never got swept for a week ) so everywhere you go is very barren , very little in the way of greenery or trees ,, here are a few shots along the road as we go to give you the idea .







If you look close at that pic you will see the little bunkers they form to grow the grapes behind sheltering them from the dusty wind .



A closer shot of the vines








If you like a drop of wine they flog it right here alongside the road where they grow it .







Must be bloody back breaking work bending down in that heat picking them grapes .


Sorry Photobucket is playing up again ,, it wont let me jump from page to page withought locking it and informing me I have to log in ..so I am gonna have to jump about a bit .



Just took this pic to show you all the top builders are not in Thailand ,, the only window in the kitchen to open ,,






A few pics of our hotel / villa

The dining room which had the nice touch of a microwave ,, to be fair for what we paid you cannot expect fresh cooked gourmet food , it was all delicious , but was better after a quick shot of heat ,, be great to have one of them in the Thai hotels to warm up the stone cold fried eggs





This is the general layout of the 2 bed bungalows













Looking out from the back of our hotel grounds , the Island you can see is Fuertenventura










A few inside the villa pics




Quite a good size for 2 adults + 2 kids so plenty of room for us 2















The kitchen is here if you like to take up the self catering option .





Somebody here though enjoying the benefits of the all inclusive option , bless her little heart , took her a while to grasp the fact you can just help yourself at the bar ,, but she soon got into the swing of it









Well thats all for now as I have to take her into work ,, will post up plenty more if the interest is here .

Cheers for now

[OhOh]

If you want to get more stars than socal's thread you have cover your pillow and give it a name.

[nigelandjan]

Now one of the aspects of the E~uro crisis that is quite visible here is the nuber of derelict houses / estates which are around ,, its got so bad here the builders have come back and removed most of the windows / doors and chained up the estate roads.

I looked at the prices of these places 2 bed 2 bath etc with small pools around the 100.000 euro mark , bargain but stil no takers ,, looks like Santandar bank is heading for a downer on this lot .













Sure is a mess , whole estates abandoned .


Anyway thats not our problem ( at the moment )

Today the wife wants to go to Aqua del Agwao or something like that ,, basically not worth it 8 euros again to see a pool of water under the rocks + a fake touristy area they have nailed on the back of it , mind you some of the most spectacular bogs I have ever seen !













There are some special mini crabs in here apparently with signs telling you not to throw coins in here as it kills the crabs ,, ( they need not worry I wasnt going to )





Some of the fake bit nailed on the back of it






My littlun is happy as larry in here so thats good enough for me










This for me was the bit I would have loved to have gone back to when they had a concert in the evening , they use no amplification just the natural aura of the rock











As previously mentioned the 5 star bogs







The little village of Haria we passed through on the way back

















Looking back toward the caves as we travel out of Haria






Will stick some more up later cheers

[OhOh]

Great thread nigel

[nigelandjan]

^ Cheers mate ,, twas begging to wonder if there was anyone out there !


Keep your eyes peeled mate lots more to follow

Cheers

[OhOh]

Well I'll keep on then, though to be honest some of your photos remind me of my Issan Bus trip thread - out of focus, wishy washy colours. Is it too late to get you old camera back?

[nigelandjan]

Er ,,,,,,, that was the old camera

[nigelandjan]

Yeah keep on mate ,, some more coming tomorrow , will try me best

[OhOh]

Ah, and I think my old man is losing his mind

Bought as seen eh, Nods as good as a wink.

[nigelandjan]

Its in safe capable hands now mate ,, you really see it sing

[blue]

I went to Tenerife years ago it was not that hot but the sun was brutally bright ,
opposite to uk at the moment where its twilight all day, neither makes it easy for photographers-
that lumix camera won't be singing for a while
it was bloody windy in canary islands too.....

Nigel are you saving the best till last- the camel photos and sunset painting ?

[kingwilly]

^ Cheers mate ,, twas begging to wonder if there was anyone out there !


Keep your eyes peeled mate lots more to follow

Cheers

Well, you are posting at 2.20am Thai time on a Friday night mate !

But sensational thread, and some great pictures.

I think many of those caves are lava tunnels.

[nigelandjan]

Well, you are posting at 2.20am Thai time on a Friday night mate !

But sensational thread, and some great pictures.

I think many of those caves are lava tunnels.

Well mabe but its been up a week now ,, anyway thank you kindly for your encouragement , its allways nice to see others comments good or bad .

I'll try and dig out a few more in the caves if I can ,, I'm sorry ,, having a lot of probs with Photobucket at mo .