Fuerteventura - to meet the ocean!
This year, my daughter and I went on vacation to the Canary Islands - on about. Fuerteventura. The trip turned out to be very interesting, both my daughter and I liked it, even though it was quite difficult to get there.
We already had the experience of independent travel - last year we visited Moscow and St. Petersburg, organizing everything on our own. Therefore, this train was the first "independent" beach vacation abroad.
I started planning my summer vacation at the end of January 2014 and I wanted something unusual. And the choice fell on the Canary Islands, and specifically on about. Fuerteventura. I chose this island due to the fact that it has not yet been visited by our tourists. Before that, I studied the options for Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where it would be easier to get by charter, but again, from the reviews, I realized that the number of our tourists there just rolls over, and the prices for accommodation also bite.
At the end of January, the situation with the devaluation of the hryvnia and the political situation with Russia were not yet so critical, it was still quite calm and nothing foreshadowed what we have now, when the buying rate of 1 euro is 18.5 UAH, and the dollar is 14! Therefore, at that time, Fuerteventura attracted me precisely with its novelty and the fact that not a single Ukrainian tour operator (I suspect that it was Russian) takes anyone there! I bought through Vueling air tickets Kyiv-Bracelona-Fuerteventura for the period August 13-22 for 1200 euros for two. In general, Vueling is considered a Spanish low-cost, but for Ukraine it has never been and never will be a low-cost, because tickets to Barcelona cost the same as regular regular flights (for example, indirect via Lufthansa most likely could even be bought cheaper) , and from Barca to Fuerta also around 300 euros per person.
This is no longer Fuerte, when I saw the planes of which airlines land at the airport, I realized that it would be cheaper to fly here, although not by much. In general, having bought air tickets at the same hryvnia to euro exchange rate (10.5), I began to study this island in more detail and fell into a precipitate, because I didn’t like its description at all - a strong wind and a bunch of nudists! I was very upset because of the money spent and because I can’t return the ticket anymore (just change the departure dates and that’s it! ). Therefore, I decided that closer to the summer I will try to sell it via the Internet. Well, then the well-known political events and the devaluation of the hryvnia began! Accordingly, the prices for package tours have risen a lot. Therefore, somewhere at the end of April, I already realized that Fuerteventura with purchased tickets is the only vacation spot that I can draw for myself and for my daughter this year!
She sat down to study the Internet for the most comfortable place for the settlement (less wind and no nudists) and booked the Elba Carlota 4 * hotel in the town of Caleta de Fusto through booking. As a result, I can say that I chose the place well. This hotel attracted me with the following advantages: firstly, on the ocean (1st line), to the beach - just cross the promenade and go straight to the beach; secondly, a family hotel, that is, it could be assumed that there would be no nudists on the beach; thirdly, in the reviews they wrote that there was a weak wind here - it was true, fourthly, the hotel promised a minimum number of Russian-speaking public (in fact, during our entire stay we never met anyone from the former CIS! ), and also that the fact that at the time of booking there was a promotion for staying at this hotel. Therefore, my choice fell on the junior suite (Junior Suite Sea View) with half board, which was promised to me by booking for 9 nights for 1.630 euros (taxes included).
By the way, when choosing a hotel, the second alternative was the nearby Sheraton Fuerteventura 5 *, where a standard with a sea view and half board would cost about the same money, but maybe quite a bit more expensive. However, my final decision to choose Elba Carlota was influenced by the desire to live in a junior suite. As a result, I can say that although Elba Carlota is a very good family hotel with good territory, rooms, an excellent restaurant, friendly staff, etc. , but Sheraton is a truly respectable hotel (because the hotels are located next to each other we often walked around their territory and went inside the hotel), and, probably, I would not have lost anything by choosing the Sheraton standard.
So, in the early morning of August 13, we flew from Zhulyan to Barcelona. Due to bad weather over Europe, the flight took a little longer than usual - 3 hours and 45 minutes.
When I booked tickets, it was possible to immediately book seats on the plane, and I specifically booked seats on the starboard side to see the different beauties of the countries of Europe (an airplane still flies over the Alps) and show it to all my daughters, and then the coastal areas, but due to bad weather, as soon as they took off in Kyiv, they went behind the clouds and nothing else interesting except the clouds and did not see anything until Barca itself.
In Barca, we had about 4 hours, which we first spent in a cafe (we had breakfast, because they don’t offer hot on the plane). I expected the next flight from Barca to Fuerteventura with excitement (because of the strong turbulence in the first section), but as it turned out, it was completely in vain. Only the takeoff from Barca to the Mediterranean Sea was somewhat exciting, and then all the way to Fuerte - a calm clear sky. We flew just fine in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Fuerta had sunny, cloudless weather for almost the entire time we were there.
Since we were independent travelers, getting to the hotel was our concern. Leaving the airport, we took a taxi and in 5 minutes we were at the hotel. The trip cost 14.5 euros, because the distance to the hotel is about 6 km.
We arrived at the hotel at about 15:00 (local time, the difference between Kiev and Kyiv is -2 hours), but we had to wait another half an hour, because the room had not yet been prepared. And here the hotel gave us a nice gift - it upgraded the rooms to the Senior Suite, that is, instead of a junior suite, we were given a full-fledged two-room suite at the price of a junior suite.
What is the suite: a spacious living room with a sofa, an armchair, a TV and a small hallway, then there was a bedroom with a very wide bed, 2 built-in wardrobes, one of which had a built-in safe (it is paid - 3 euros / day, I paid 27 euros upon arrival for the entire duration of our stay), again a TV (flat screen), an armchair, a dressing table. From the bedroom there was a door to the bathroom, consisting of a separate shower room (not a cabin, but a room), a room for a toilet and a bidet, a separate Jacuzzi and 2 sinks with tables. When we checked in, the toiletries were all there, including toothbrushes and pastes, shaving accessories, soaps, a comb, shower caps, etc. However, nothing was replenished during the entire period of our stay, and it was necessary to report this to the reception – it seemed strange to us for a 4 * hotel with a suite. There were also only 2 towels per person!
But there were good soft terry dressing gowns and cheap disposable slippers. In general, they managed somehow!
What surprised me at the hotel was the booking of sunbeds by the pool from 7 in the morning. It always remains a mystery to me why people who come to relax on the sea / ocean spend all their time near the noisy pool, and do not go out to sunbathe on the beach. Before this trip, I always believed that taking sunbeds is a purely habit of our people, but no! Foreign citizens are the same. Since we had a room with a view of the ocean and the pool, I got up in the morning (so at 7 am - the biological clock, however, according to Kyiv time is already 9! ) I saw people rushing between the sunbeds to take them as fast as possible. In the reviews, I read that such a problem exists, but we preferred to be on the beach (1 minute walk from the hotel), where it was much calmer, although windy, of course.
By the end of our stay, one of the visitors somehow put pressure on the administration and the sunbeds began to be stacked one on top of the other in the evening and fastened with locks, but even here the people were not at a loss, they began to take umbrellas, waiting for the sunbeds to open, and the sunbeds were opened to 8:30-9:00. You go for breakfast, and the people under umbrellas are already hanging out who is on what much. This is the situation with sunbeds in the Sherator (I also read in the reviews). Of course, people will take 4-5 sunbeds (families are big) and these sunbeds are unoccupied until lunch.
As for beach towels, you need to make a separate deposit for them (10 / towel) and this towel is changed twice a week. We didn’t bother with this (oh, I remember last year the Grecotel on Kos, when fresh beach towels were brought to us daily by the maid - no trouble, but yes, these are trifles! ).
As I wrote earlier, the location of the hotel in relation to the beach is very good.
On a rented car, later we covered only the central and southern parts of the island (there was not enough time for the northern part). We were in Costa Calma and on nearby beaches (Barca beach near the Melia hotel), in Jandia (Morro Jable) and, of course, reached Cofete (I will not forget this extreme for a long time! ), so in these places you had to go to the beach and go (closer to Costa Calma, but to the people as in the summer in the Crimea).
Now a little more about the beach, which is across the promenade from the hotel. Since the beach is municipal, the sunbeds are paid: 2 sunbeds and a stationary umbrella dug into the sand will cost 10.5 euros. The beach worker appears at about 11:30 and starts collecting money and around 12 is already coming to the end of the beach.
Therefore, I noticed such a picture (they themselves later used the same maneuver several times) that people began to leave the beach by this time, although due to the wind (quite cold, I’ll tell you), there was no heat as such on the beach, but could have burned out. We took funds with 30 SPF with us, but they did not save us. You need to have at least 50. In addition, in the middle of the day, sitting under umbrellas is not comfortable - it's cold. You can always sit for free on bedding brought with you, etc. (the beach is very spacious - there is enough space for everyone! ).
In order to be able to safely swim near the hotels, artificial bays were made, which are separated from the ocean by stone breakwaters, behind which the waves are seething. After lunch, a small tide begins, when these artificial fences are completely submerged.
And if in the first half of the day it is quiet and smooth in this bay, then in the afternoon you can jump well on the waves. On the day we arrived and for a few days afterwards, there was such a long wave that it flooded the entire beach to the very promenade. We gloriously jumped on the waves
The wind of different intensity is always present on the beach, but apparently in August it is not very strong and is not the same everywhere. In Costa Calma, it was very comfortable and, as it seemed to us, hotter than in Caleta de Fusto. Surprisingly, the least wind strength was on Kofete, where the wildest oceanic beaches with a constant wave on the lee side of the island (just breathtaking from this pristine beauty! ). Where there is always a strong wind (of those beaches that we visited) - this is Barca beach near the Melia hotel). There are kite schools there.
The water temperature near the hotel is very invigorating in the morning + 20-21 (daughter never went into the water, I always plunged 2 times), but in the afternoon it was always warmer by a couple of degrees. In other places we found the water warmer, especially in the afternoon. We swam in Costa Calma, and in Morro Jable and in Cofet (the warmest was the water).
And so the territory of the hotel is small, but quite beautiful. A long promenade that starts from the side of the Elba Sara 4 * hotel and stretches to the very town of Caleta de Fustro (I think so, 1.5 km). It is convenient to go jogging along this path (morning or evening).
The hotel itself has a simple gym, where Lera once went (why only pearly sneakers with her), but said that there was nothing special about it. By the way, there is no coach either.
Of the features of the hotel, I would also like to highlight the interesting atrium elevators. WiFi is present everywhere, but the signal is bad (even in the lobby! )
We had half board (breakfast and dinner), which was enough for us. However, due to the concept of the hotel "family" 90% of the guests had all inclusive and wore appropriate bracelets. They fed well. Tomorrow morning - standard, but varied. Dinner is always themed, with a very varied menu. All drinks are paid (for those who do not have all inclusive). What I didn't like is that the restaurant does not serve tea/coffee for dinner. Only separately in the bar on the ground floor.
Yes, even about food. At the hotel, upon arrival, you must put a certain amount of money on a deposit and then, when ordering drinks in a bar / restaurant, etc. , a certain amount is debited from your account. We are not special drinkers (we only took baileys from alcohol twice), taking into account the evening soft drinks for dinner (juices, cola a glass per person) + a couple of times in the cappuccino bar we used up a deposit of 50 euros.
There is also an open bar near the pool, where all-inclusive members could take various drinks (including beer) until 18:00, but after breakfast they take out pastries and put a coffee machine there, and we just went to the bar several times at noon, took coffee (tea) and pastries and calmly ate it right there, sitting at the tables in the bar. Nobody told us anything! It was good to eat.
Now what is next to the hotels. And there is a very good place - the Atlantico shopping center with a cinema (well, who cares about movies in Spanish), children's entertainment, McDonald's is located opposite)). There are a couple of good stores in the mall. The sports goods store was especially filled (the prices are cool! In addition, there were summer sales - we bought a couple of cool T-shirts and jackets)), the Eurospar grocery supermarket, the perfume supermarket, etc. About perfumery separately.
The Canary Islands have the status of a tax-free trade zone, so all perfumes are priced lower than even in Duty Free stores. There are a lot of perfume shops of the level of our Brocard or Letual with very attractive prices (besides, they always offer discounts. All products are original by themselves). Therefore, it is very profitable to buy perfumes and other cosmetics there. So we did, bought ourselves both perfumes and cosmetics))!
The largest shopping center Rotunda (Las Rotondas) in Fuerta is located in the capital in the city of Puerte de Rosario, where various democratic brands are represented, those that we have (Zara, Barshka, H&M (we don’t), etc. ) , as well as more expensive ones (Massimo Dutti and others). Prices are standard, but there were sales! Be stingy! )). We went to the Rotunda already when I rented a car.
Caleta de Fusto is a typical beautiful resort town with many different cafes, restaurants, shops, apartments for rent, etc.
you need to count on the whole day in the park (if you don’t have a car, we didn’t have a car by that time). Upon arrival at the park, you need to pay a certain amount at the park's ticket office (about 26 euros for two paid) and if you want to visit additional entertainment, then buy tickets for them. All prices are listed on the park's website. We also decided to ride camels (15 euros/person) and feed the lemurs (10 euros/person). There was also an interesting show with fur seals (45 euros / person), a prairie bird show (included in the admission price) and an uninteresting crocodile show (something is worth it, but we did not go to it - nothing remarkable according to reviews). In general, a visit to the park costs more than 100 euros for two, plus add here the amount for lunch at a local restaurant (it cost us 35 euros for two without alcohol, of course).
But although this pleasure is not cheap, we did not regret it. We had a great day in the park.
If you decide to go on a camel ride, I would advise you to do it in the morning (we did it at 10:30 just right after arriving at the park). The rest of the time it will be very hot. The sun on Fuer even after 16:00 is very powerful! We walked around the whole park (the map is very good), saw live those animals that we had not seen before (lemurs, meerkats, a cheetah, various types of monkeys, various large birds of prey (we flew to the show of prairie birds and many other animals). Another wonderful feature of the park you can feed a lot of animals. We specially bought food for them in advance (grass and various vegetables with fruits), but we could not do this, because in the park all this is sold in special stalls (both grass and various vegetables / fruits - 1.5 euros per package. ) The most interesting was feeding giraffes, elephants, camels and lemurs! There are a lot of all these animals and they are kept in very good conditions!
Car rental.
Here, at first, there were some difficulties. The first attempt to rent a car happened on the third day of our stay in Fuerta. In Caleta de Fusto there are many different car rental companies, but there is a big BUT for those who drive only in an automatic car. Only 2 companies provide such machines - CICAR and Herz. In all the other numerous offices, there are only mechanics, but there are really a lot of cars. There were no cars with machine guns in Caleta and were not expected almost until the end of August. But a CICAR employee (they have the largest car park on the island) advised me to contact the same office, but at the airport, where there is the largest car park on the island, but there were no cars there either. I felt sad, because the idea to travel around the island still existed. I sat down on the forums and realized that I need to book online.
I did just that: on Thursday I made a reservation for a car with an automatic transmission for the next week from Tuesday to Friday morning (departure day), i. e. for 3 full days and all this cost me 117 euros. But the car had to be picked up at the airport. As I wrote earlier, the airport is 6 km from the hotel (planes fly low over the hotel - I warn you! ), There is a bus stop with a schedule near the hotel. The fare is 1.40 euros. After breakfast, we got on the bus with my daughter - 15 minutes (3 or 4 stops) and we were at the airport. The car was already ready - a beautiful white Seat Ibiza (in a new body) 1.2 liter engine with climate control and 3000 km of run. Initially, the reservation listed Opel Corsa, and Ibiza cost a little more (about 135 euros), but here I was lucky for the second time with the upgrade. They sat down and on the same day visited the Rotunda shopping center in the capital of Caleta de Fusto. The car was also handed over at the airport in the morning before departure.
The way back was quite tiring.
We flew to Barca tolerably, except for the strongest turbulence during landing in Barca due to bad weather there (rain). We had plans to see Barcelona from the second floor of a tourist bus, but the weather really spoiled our plans. At the airport, we waited out the rain and moved to the city center on the Aerobas. This is the third time I've been to Barca, so it's not difficult for me to navigate the city, but I planned to show my daughter the city. As a result, having arrived at Plaza Catalunya, we were forced to buy sweatshirts (temperature +21, rain) and wandered to the stop of tourist buses. Here we were lucky, because we were the first to climb the second floor of the bus and took the first row right next to the windshield, so there was no wind. In the same place, we safely reached the SK Barcelona stadium and spent some time in the SK brand store (daughter is an ardent fan of the club).
And then we felt all the "charm" of the cold blowing wind on the second floor of the bus. It took us a couple of minutes, the rest of the trip we warmed ourselves on the ground floor.
There were plans to walk along the Rambla (people there - not even the sea, the ocean! ), but only reached Starbucks, where they warmed up with a cappuccino and decided that that was it for today! – staggered a little in El Corte Inglé s and back to the airport, where we spent all the time until the flight to Kyiv. Outside the window, there was already some doomsday! Lightning, thunder, rain! And the airport was closed for 2 hours, and night flights, respectively, were postponed. Our flight departed almost the very last with a delay of 2.40 hours. Of course, we were very tired, but we flew to Kyiv in record speed - in 3 hours (instead of 3.30). It was even heard how the PIC, when we began to descend (I did not even expect the beginning of the decline), said that after 20 minutes of landing, he even grinned.
By the way, this is not the first time I have had such record flights. Once from Amsterdam to Kyiv they rode in 2.15 instead of the prescribed 3 hours, but the commander immediately said that he would “push”))) - it was the day of the EURO 2012 final in Kyiv and the plane took off an hour late. And really pushed!! ! Nevertheless, we landed safely, quickly went through all the formalities, quickly got our suitcases and we were at home!
In conclusion, I want to say that my expectations from this trip were much worse than it turned out. She turned out AMAZING! I fell in love with the Canary Islands and if everything goes well next year, I would like to repeat the trip, but to the island of Lanzarote (30 minutes by ferry from Fuerta), with a stop for a couple of days in Fuerta to explore the northern part of the island.
P. S. Nudists we have not met all the time! (Ladies topless do not count).
