From Salt Flats to Starry Skies: Days 8 & 9 in Fuerteventura
Day 8 – Las Salinas, Majorero Cheese Museum, Coast Road, and Star-Gazing
With the whole day free today, we had considered hiring e-bikes for another ride, but then Anna came up with a better idea. If we moved our airport transfer to today, we could get to the airport, hire a car from there, use it to get around today and tomorrow, and store our luggage in it once we checked out—before using it to get back to the airport for our flight home. The car hire even worked out cheaper than the e-bikes! So, that’s what we did.
The transfer bus took a rather convoluted route, but we eventually got to the airport, picked up a nice VW Golf, and then got used to driving on the “wrong” side of the road.
Our first stop was the Las Salinas Salt Museum, an interesting little visit that gave us some insight into the island’s salt production.
From there, we made a quick stop at a goat farm, then headed to the Majorero Cheese Museum, where we wandered around, had an odd lunch, explored a cactus garden, and visited a traditional windmill.
We then drove up into the hills to see some statues and take in the amazing views from the center of the island.
On the way back, we stopped at some natural swimming pools on the east coast, but it was too windy to swim. We had ended up quite a way from Corralejo, but the roads were easy, and having the car gave us freedom. So, instead of taking the direct route back, we opted for the scenic one—first heading to El Cotillo, then to Majanicho, where we followed the dusty dirt road along the north coast back to Corralejo.
After a rushed dinner in Music Square, we finally got to do our star-gazing trip. This time, we were collected by Dee, who was supposed to take us to a remote spot to meet Karen, our guide for the night sky. However, Dee managed to get lost, so we spent a while driving back and forth along dark mountain roads before Anna and I decided to take charge of the navigation!
Once we reached the correct location, we grabbed blankets, binoculars, and rugs, then settled into a stone circle for an hour or so of stargazing. We spotted Orion, Jupiter, satellites, shooting stars, and various constellations. It was a little chilly and occasionally cloudy, but when the skies cleared, the stars were stunning. Karen took some photos of us, and we all had a great time.
Day 9 – Minigolf and Heading Home
It was home time, but with our flight not until 7pm, we had most of the day to ourselves. After packing up, we set off in the car—first driving along the dunes of Corralejo and Flag Beach, then stopping at a tiny fishing harbour, and finally passing through the capital of Puerto del Rosario on our way to a resort town where we’d found a mini-golf course.
The course actually had two different layouts, so we played both, had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then drove back to the natural swimming pools to relax before heading to the airport.
Everything went smoothly at the airport—the car was returned, we got through security, waited to board, and had an easy flight home to Manchester. By the time we landed, it was close to midnight, so driving straight home wasn’t an option. Instead, we took a shuttle bus to the car park, picked up our car, and drove (on the left side of the road again!) to a Premier Inn about half an hour away for a short night’s sleep.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast and a top-up charge for the car, we were finally on the road home.
Final Thoughts
And that was the end of our mystery holiday! It might not have been what we would have chosen for ourselves, but that was the whole point of booking via Journee—to go somewhere unexpected. We probably wouldn’t return to Fuerteventura, but we packed a lot into the trip, had some great experiences, and made some wonderful memories.
It’s just a shame we can’t be doing this all the time!
1 Response
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Glad everything turned out okay in the end, the latter part of the holiday sounded more like you two . As you said It was different from your usual holidays but made some good memories .