Cofete and Jandia

Early rise this morning - 5.30am. Our excursion today was to the most southern tip of the island so quite a jaunt.

We got picked up in a 4x4 minivan, already full so we got the back seat and I was immediately concerned about travel sickness. Not something I get often these days but the last time was in a very similar vehicle on the was to Yosemite many years ago. As it turned out, it was way too bumpy for me to be concerned about that!!

Anyway, off we went. The first drive was to the tour company base camp which was based on the Southern part of the island. When we got there, we joined a large group of tourists in a garage with lots of off road vehicles.

The group gathered round the tour guides, all of which (apart from ours thankfully) appeared to have a massive excess of personality. After a shout around, it turned out we were the ONLY English people there. Nearly all French and German. Was very strange being the minority but actually wasn’t an issue.

After being split into groups for a briefing on where were were going that day, we all got back in our vehicles (now with the tarp roof taken off) and off we all went in convoy which was pretty cool.

First stop, the highest point on the island. Exceptionally windy, which is saying a lot for Fuerteventura! Fantastic views but still cloudy at that point in the morning.

The convoy got stopped many times, and at first I was worried there was an issue. But then I realised it was goats. One particular goat knew where it’s food was coming from and planted itself in the middle of the road /dirt track until a sufficient amount of bread had been thrown to it. There were also baby goats which were very cute (I know they’re called kids but baby goat sounds better). Greedy goat also stood in the same place e later in the day on our way back. This was a strategic goat.

We stopped briefly at Cofete beach, the village itself demonstrating the basic way of islander life. They live in tiny huts or caravans with bits added on, slightly reminiscent of the South African townships but on a tiny scale.

We went next to one of the stunning Jandia beaches with 12km of coastline stretching into the distance (as per today’s pic) . Despite the fact there were about 80 of us it was easy to find a spot and pretend we were by ourselves. Stunning part of the world.

It’s worth noting that a lot of the driving to these places was along bumpy dirt tracks, with ridiculous hairpin bends, no barriers etc. I will admit I did have a few ‘Kylie Minogue ‘ moments (which will only make sense if you have read my previous blogs