PART TWO.
After the sleep of the innocent (bolstered by the super-comfy
bed), we rose to a clear, azure blue sky.
We sat on the patio and enjoyed a coffee, and a quiet,
uncluttered view of the gardens, before getting ready for breakfast.
Breakfasts in the hotel were just a delight! SO much choice,
and so well-presented and cooked (as I suppose you should expect).
It’s always nice though, to find you’ve hit on a good base for
your holiday.
Full up, and ready to go, we took the short walk to the front.
Again, see how they have used the local rock as decoration?
Trees too, planted so beautifully alongside the cacti. As on
other islands, irrigation pipes are never far away, as there would never be
enough natural water to sustain the trees and plants (but I daresay the cacti
would be ok).
Last night, we turned right towards Playa Flamingo. That end
of Playa Blanca is a bit too ‘busy’ for us – a bit like Alcudia (or Skegness).
Ok if you like a bit of brash, loud music, fish and chips etc, but we preferred
a more genteel feel. We turned left, and headed for the Rubicon marina complex.
This is looking back, the mound you can see is Montana Roja –
we had that in our sights for later in the holiday!
The lovely Rubicon marina. Again, done with great thought and
taste.
A surprisingly large marina, with lots of walkways, bridges,
pools, bars and shops.
Of course, there were the ever-present harbour mullet. You can
see them playing water polo with a whole bread roll, click HERE
The old lighthouse, now a restaurant called ‘One’.
After our trencherman breakfasts though, we were not in the
slightest bit hungry!
Palms in black volcanic ‘soil’, against a faultless blue sky
A group of youngsters were being given sailing lessons.
This was their fleet of craft (note the chain again)
The Blue Note cafe and bar. They had live jazz music every
night, so this became a favourite haunt of ours.
It was about 20 minutes saunter from the hotel, so just right
in our eyes.
They also did a mean cocktail, with or without alcohol.
It was good to sit in the warming sunshine, looking over the
marina and just feeling the holiday come online.
******UPDATE - SADLY, THE BLUE NOTE WAS A VICTIM OF THE PANDEMIC, AND NEVER OPENED AGAIN*****
A simple courtyard, but again, great use of the chain rail
feature.
We really loved the white overtones on Lanzarote, often with a
blue side note.
These strange weeble-like sculptures were in a closed-off
yard. What were they?
You can see a panorama of the marina, click HERE
Leaving the marina, we climbed up some steps, and carried on
along the slabbed prom’.
The cliffs looked so unnatural, being volcanic. One thing was
obvious – NO animals (except the odd lizard).
On Fuerteventura, those ground squirrel were all over places
like this.
Next was the old Castillo de las Coloradas.
Wikipedia says;
Castillo de las Coloradas one of the few historic sights in Playa Blanca.
Just east of the Marina Rubicon, this 18th century construction was once used as refuge from the pirates that attacked the island.
The watchtower’s bell was rung to warn when pirates approached the harbour.
A-harrr, Jim lad!
A view back to the castillo from the promontory.
Clear skies and hot sun prompted us to press on and make for the beaches at
Papagayo.
Sue, looking across to Fuerteventura in the haze.
No, she didn’t bend it – it was like that anyway (honest,
officer).
All the way along this long prom’, the sides were always
decorated with cacti and interesting rock gardens and formations.
Here, the tiled prom’ changed to an equally lovely pebbledash-type surface.
Sometimes, a blaze of colour from a wall of Bougainvillea.
Ahead of us, the prom’ stops, as we reach the national park of
Papagayo. You can see the ‘path’ you have to clamber up to the right of
the hotel as you approach it. Of course, you CAN take the road behind the hotel (but that’s for
wimps).
Lots of people drive to the beaches there, as they are some of
the best on the island. It’s about a 15 minutes drive from our hotel, & it costs
three euros to take your car in, but that includes parking.
We were intrigued by this roof – a volcano in the middle of other hotels?
Ahhhh – a man-MADE volcano!
We just HAD to go in and have a look.
Very nice too! Geared towards a sort of spa experience, we gathered.
The inside of the ‘volcano’ roof.
At night, they had red lights (to simulate lava flowing) on
the outside.
After that, we walked to the first beach, Playa Mujeres, at
Papagayo.
After our long walk, we were happy to just crash out on the
sands, and soak up some of that
warm, Canarian sunshine :-)
After all that hard sunbathing, it was cocktail time again at
the Blue note.
You can see a video of Sue enjoying one HERE
On the way home, we booked to hire two bikes for tomorrow. It
was time to cover more ground in a westward direction.
We wanted to get to the lighthouse, and more.
Later on, after a fabulous four course dinner in the hotel, we
went back to the blue note for an evening of jazz music.
You can see a short video of the playing HERE
Relax Sue, you’ll need your strength for tomorrow – and the bikes!
