Fuerteventura in the second week of January was a very welcome wall to wall sunshine boost.  The island is closer to Morocco and Western Sahara than it is to Tenerife and standing on the edge of the dunes, it certainly felt like it.  Discerning sun worshippers have, over the years built circular shelters using volcanic rocks, to protect  from the constant wind and I found it highly amusing to occasionally see a human head pop up from one of these ‘gopher holes’.

For me the lack of greenery takes a little getting used to, but there is a beauty in the changing colour of the spectacular, almost other worldly landscape.  No surprise that Star Wars and the latest Wonder Woman were filmed here!

We drank and ate exceedingly well, from sunrise cafe con leche con leches, coffee with milk and condensed milk, to lunchtime breads, cheeses, salads and meats, local tapas at Olivo Corso and bocadillos on the go, to evening paella (slightly non Fuertan with chorizo) chicken and vegetables and a meal at the amazing Sanus Restaurant.

The roads on the island are very good and make travelling between towns very quick and easy.  There are also a number of cycle routes that take you off the beaten track; El Cotillo to Corralejo and Corralejo to Lajares via Caldera Hondo for example.  I’m not sure I would recommend pushing your bike to the top, as we did, but definitely take a look; the squirrels are very cute if nothing else.