In which Sid and Doris reflect on a ferry interesting journey.
Here are some statistics:
We visited seven islands and managed to catch every one of eleven ferry crossings (it looks like twelve on the map but as we didn’t get off the ferry at the midway point, we are only counting it as one). There is some debate as to how many Canary Islands there are (as opposed to “islets”) and island number 8, La Graciosa, which is to the north of Lanzarote, remains and will remain unvisited. People do live there, but Sid and Doris reckon that the view of it from Cesar Manrique’s mirador is enough to satisfy their curiosity.
Shugi, our rented MX-5, has been a real treasure to drive. If you want a top that goes up and down so easily you will have to pay the price in boot space, and it was a price well worth paying. Although he was a bit travel-weary, his chassis was still stiff; he was pleasantly skinny to fit down those narrow roads and vroomy enough to make the hill driving a joy. And he is super-economical, just 110 litres of fuel used while driving 1650km, or 15km per litre which is over 42 mpg if you are using those large UK gallons.
The islands are indeed all different in character, with the sandy and rocky ones to the east and the greener ones to the west. We liked the greener ones more although seeing the rocky landscapes and especially the lava was interesting.
Would WE do this again? Not really, we feel that we’ve “done” the Canary Islands now. But should YOU do it? – we’d say yes, see a few different islands but don’t let it become a box-ticking exercise. There are rumours in the guidebooks that “most” hire companies will not let you take their cars on a ferry, we think this is not true as we saw lots of hire cars on the ferries, especially from the big local firms. It might be worth checking when you book if you are using an international firm.
And if you find any really good cookery, do let us know.
PS We started a list of “things not to leave home without” as a joke some years ago. Our top tip from this trip is one of those very light USB-rechargeable fly-stirrers (I think they are called fly fans if you want to buy them on the internet) – they really work well and could perhaps fit into the larger sort of handbag. You would get funny looks for about 10 seconds while you were getting it out, and envious looks for the rest of the evening.