My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Today about noon we caught a plane from El Hierro to Gran Canaria
Leaving El Hierro
On our way to the airport we watched a helicopter hovering over a boat and lowering swimmers into the water. You may have read about African migrants landing on El Hierro. We don’t know but we thought what we were seeing might be a migrant boat being intercepted. On the other hand it might have been a training mission.
The helicopter and the boat
Our flight was short, less than an hour. Once we landed we picked up our rental car and drove to Casa Leon Royal Resort where we are tonight. It is an absolutely stunning place to stay. It’s all inclusive with stunning views and an infinity pool that we will have to try out tomorrow.
The window of our room at the Parador on El Hierro looks east so we got to see the sunrise this morning.
Sunrise
Mid morning we went into the little town of Valverde, the capital of the island. We parked and walked to the tourist office where we got a road map and a map of trails on the island. The lady in the tourist office recommended a trail for us to do.
Valverde
From Valverde we headed up the crest of the island. There were a couple of fascinating viewpoints that described how El Hierro produces almost all their power from renewable sources. They use wind power to provide energy and also to pump water to a volcanic caldera at the top of the island. When needed the water then flows through pipes downhill to a hydroelectric plant.
Reservoir on the left. Duke is looking at a sign that explains it all.Sign explaining the power system
We stopped for groceries and then drove to the top of the island where we took a wonderful two and a half mile hike.
On our hikeThe view of the other side of the island from one of the lookouts on the trail.
Back at the Parador dinner was excellent.
Tomato, cheese and tuna starterOctopusPumpkin cake with walnut ice cream
Today we left Fuerteventura and flew to the westernmost of the Canary Islands. To get there we flew through Tenerife, the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands.
Our plane from Fuerteventura to Tenerife
We spent about two hours in Tenerife and then flew to the island of El Hierro. The airport is very small. We called the rental car company and eventually they showed up with our car.
El Hierro airport
It was about a 20 minute drive to our hotel, a Parador at the end of the road. El Hierro only has a permanent population of about 11,000 people. It seems very quiet. It’s almost like we are the only tourists here. Being at a new Parador is kind of liking coming home. This is our 87th Parador. Our room is overlooking the crashing waves. It feels very peaceful.
The view from our balconyParador of El Hierro
We had been discussing whether to have beer or wine for our welcoming drinks and decided on wine.
This afternoon we rented a car and drove up into the center of Gran Canaria. We are staying at the Parador Cruz de Tejeda. It feels like we are at the very top of the island. We have magnificent views in every direction.
View from Parador Cruz de TejedaParador Cruz de Tejeda
This morning we walked to El Corte Inglés department store. They have a post office where we bought stamps and mailed a couple of post cards. Then we went to their restaurant and had a bit of breakfast.
Breakfast in El Corte Inglés
We wanted to have a picnic dinner tonight so we bought food in El Corte Inglés grocery store.
When we arrived at the Parador this was waiting for us in our room.
It’s a beautiful day here on Gran Canaria, a low of 62 and a high of 70. We started out the day by walking along the promenade to the auditorium at the south end.
Along the promenade
Along the way we stopped for pastries and coffee.
Later we saw a churrería and stopped for more coffee and a churro.
Coffee and a churro
We were resting in our room when we heard the children’s parade starting so we went down to watch.
Part of the children’s parade More of the children’s parade
Duke was really looking forward to seeing them mark the end of Carnival by burning the sardine. We found some seats in the bleachers and waited for the parade escorting the sardine to start. It was worth the wait. The end of the parade was the sardine followed by mourners in black.
The sardineThe mourners
We followed the sardine as it headed towards the beach. We were swept along by the crowd and were dumped onto the beach. Eventually the sardine was carried down to the water and loaded onto a barge.
The sardine being carried across the beachThe sardine being towed out from the beach
Eventually they lit the sardine on fire and then the magnificent fire works show started.
The sardine burning and the fireworks startingFireworks
As the fireworks were ending we found our way to an Italian restaurant overlooking the beach and had dinner. The pizza and ravioli were excellent.
Ristorante Pizzería Al MaccaroniAnchovy and olive pizzaShrimp and salmon ravioli
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