We really tried to get a good breakfast. The two “out of the way” spots we identified were full. There was a line and we couldn’t wait as we had a car pickup appointment. We ended up slumming it for breakfast by stopping at one of the tourist hot spots that, while highly rated, are mainly rated by tourists. There was room for a good reason… let’s leave it at that.
When using smaller car rental companies, you get a lower price but you pay in other ways. Last year we had a deathtrap of a car. This year, it’s a much more comfortable compromise. We have a specific pickup time: their office isn’t opened when there’s no need for it, in low season like now, and it sure felt like we were the only reason to open today. We got a Kia CrossOver, way too big for our needs and way too heavy for its engine, but in good condition with all its parts working. We called it a win over last year and drove on.
Looking at the weather forecast, we saw that our only sunny day in Fuerteventura would be today. For the rest of our stay, winds will be sweeping the islands causing visibility challenges. Essentially when the wind is from a more Easterly or South-Easterly direction, it brings the dust-haze from the Sahara Desert along with the blessed searing temperatures. Also, Karine has had a cold for the last couple of days and laying in the warmth and taking it slow seemed like a great idea. Thus, we beelined for the beach!
Renting long chairs and parasol seems less of a business on the island. At least it’s not registered business. We could not find a “Lido” on the entire island using Google Maps. Looking at pictures of different beaches some of them would have neat rows of sun chairs and umbrellas leading us to believe there are Lidos but not registered ones. We decided to try a beach not too far from our next apartment that did show beach chairs and umbrellas and figure it out from there.
If you don’t know how it works: getting a chair on the beach is a little like shaving a yak, except there’s no shaving involved. We started by getting to the beach. With the local main road running next to the beach and resorts left and right we had to give a couple of tries to finding parking and access. Park in one place, notice there’s a cliff in the way, park in another place, notice it’s the sketchiest road you can find, give up on that first beach, drive on and find access to the beach a little further down; you know, normal stuff. We stopped for water and provisions not seeing a source of either on the beach and headed toward the promise land of beach, chairs and clear water. While we were greeted by a sign telling us the price for renting a spot, no instructions on how to pay for it were given. Trudging through the sand we walked a kilometre to find a beach bar, figuring as it’s the only commerce opened near the beach they are probably the one doing the rental. Wrong, the bartender explained Timón out for a guy in an orange shirt that walks the perimeter regularly and will collect the money. Walked back the 1km, found a spot, sat and baked in the sun with the occasional ocean swim. At some point the orange shirt guy came and, since there was only an hour left before his shift ended, “gave us a deal” of 10€ instead of the regular 14€ but “no ticket” (i.e. no proof or purchase). We paid the discounted price, convinced he would do the right thing and declare that revenue on his next income statement.
Having cooked the cold out of Karine (or so we hoped), we stopped for apéro supplies and chilled for a couple of hours before heading for diner. We quickly learned that all the restaurants in Morro Jable, our new town for the next 3 nights, are all packed along the beach. It felt a little like the Cinque Terre villages where most of the tourist infrastructure in the village is along the small section of town next to the port. We picked a highly rated restaurant, not sure if it had a “tourist 4,5 stars” or a “local 4,5 stars”. Turns out it was a tourist rating.