la graciosa, las conchas, and la ambar

11.27.2010

got up early with javi and bub to soak in the sunny morning. they went to the natural swimming pool that was playa jablillo and i ran down the shore path for 45 minutes. ching slept in. an english breakfast at the little hotel cafe followed.

today's plan was to take the ferry to the tiny island north of lanzarote, la graciosa. as we drove north to the ferry, the sky clouded over, the temp dropped and it was coming down. we gloomily anticipated another bad weather day that kept us from the fabled perfect beaches.

but once the ferry took us out from under the weather over lanzarote, it was perfect. la graciosa basked in full, glorious sunshine.

bicycling to the beaches had sounded like a good idea until the island guides said the roads were muddy. there was not a single paved road since it was a protected wildlife habitat. cars other than the official land rovers the tour guides drove were forbidden. there stood a single village on the island made of 23 houses. permission had to be gotten for each new house built and you or i couldnt just pick up and move to la graciosa.

the guide drove us through the very hilly terrain. bub noticed that there was no way in hell we would have made it on bikes. it was true. we were happy for the ride.

las conchas was insane. beautiful beach with wild, crashing waves and mountains all around. white caps like i've never seen! surfers would have loved it. the blue skies made the water look dangerously inviting. the guide said that this beach is normally very calm. well dang.

we snapped pics and drove some more. he was taking us somewhere we could swim. la ambar was paradise. the sand was powder soft, water clear blue, and not a single human being was there. well, except for this one guy in a bright orange shirt on a bike. rode past and disappeared.

we laid our stuff down in a shelter of rocks arranged in an arc to keep the wind out. the waves and undertow were pretty scary here too, but there was this small parceled off area where the rocks cut down the waves, forming a manageable pool. we just had to not lose all control and slam into said rocks. water was bearable. there were fish underneath, getting washed this way and that by the strong currents.

we laid out in our shelter, like kids playing house. we had brought a picnic of sandwiches and chips. thank god. we were hungry and there was nothing edible in a 5 mile radius unless we could catch fish by hand. while devouring our food, a giant rainbow appeared over the water. it was huge and vibrant, and we could see both ends on either side of the seascape. we were wowwing over it when we noticed the orange bicycle guy was back, sitting and staring at the rainbow too. moments later, he was gone again. he apparently was not having issues getting around on bike.

we were full, warm, and happy. it really was a perfect moment. it was just the four of us, the sun, the wildly, beautifully raging sea, and the fishes. ching and i hunted for shells in the divots in the rocks that became tiny ponds when the waves refilled them over and over, leaving behind microcosms of sealife. javi disappeared for a walk, and bub lazed in the shelter reading don quijote.

the land rover guy came back for us too soon. but we had to catch the last ferry at 5p. the ferry ride took about 20 minutes, as long as the sun took to set over la graciosa. the ferryman explained why the weather was always perfect on the southern side of that island. the mountaintops broke up any incoming storm clouds from the northwest, leaving the south with nothing but open skies, all the time. pretty fantastic.

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