Sunshine reflections and vegan Canary blues

Our long-awaited holiday finally became reality. I will skip all the difficulties that we experienced beforehand ;) Fuerteventura welcomed us with a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, beautiful blue sky and a shining sun. Yes, yes, yes, I thought, this is the place where I could spend not only a week of holidays but probably all my life. Ideally, the island would be more green, but I wouldn't complain. The people put a lot of effort to water all plants and keep the palm trees in the good condition. I'll start to complain a little bit later ;)

The first meal out was in a Chinese restaurant in Morro Jable. Unfortunately, I don't remember any names of the meals. Only fried tofu that was a mock fried duck and pancakes... Everything was delicious and we were pleased that we tried that place.

The 'wildlife' on the island is not really that wild. Actually, it is very cheeky and almost friendly. It certainly is determined to beg and get something to eat. In this place, feeding the squirrels was forbidden, but some people were giving them food anyway. We didn't have anything to share with them, so it resolved our dilemma.  

We met the squirrels on our way to Betancuria. A nice wee village, but... now I'll start complaining... By the time we got there, we were becoming hungry. As I mentioned before, we didn't have anything to eat with us. I think we were hoping to try some of the local cuisine... How naive we were... Not to mention that we should have taken a Spanish dictionary with us!

 In a small local cafe, where the selection of wines was fairly extensive, we couldn't find anything vegan to eat for lunch. There was a selection of tapas and only the green olives were vegan. Well, a tiny bowl of olives for 3.5 euro wouldn't make a good lunch. Vegetarian options were more available, as the goat cheese is a local delicacy. After searching the menu (written in about 5 different languages like in the most places on the island, no Polish language though ;) ), we found out that, on cold days, soup is served... That would be great, soup and fresh bread. As it was cloudy outside, the day was cold. The waiter told us that the soup of the day was vegetable. He didn't speak much English. I think that for most people there, German language is more useful, due to a large amount of tourists from that country. Well, die Gemüse, vegetables, that was exactly what we wanted. The soup was very nice, but I have to admit that we both had a feeling that soup was cooked with meat :( Well... after that we were more careful.

Cloudy day and stunning views.

And cheeky friends again. This time we met them on the footpath next to the beach. Those two didn't beg for food. It was some sort of the fight or a squirrel's foreplay...

Munching a sunflower seed...

Yummy!

Sneaking like squirrel-ninja ;)

Beach... full of stones, rocks and 'nests' built to protect people from the wind. But the beach at the front is golden sand rarely broken by even a seashell!

And another wee pal. A very friendly, attention-seeking cat. He even went with us for a walk around the garden next to the apartments where we stayed. Lovely creature.

During our last trip around the island, we found a restaurant in Corralejo that served vegetarian paella. It was a nice meal. But, as a people spoiled with variety of vegan stuff available in Glasgow, we weren't impressed. Happy that we were not hungry but not impressed ;)

On way back to the apartment. A failure with the catching of the sunset. It disappeared over the horizon in the time it took to park and get out the car!

During the week, we ate out for about five times. What I didn't show on the photos was just simple veggie pizza without cheese in Morro Jable and baked potato with beans in a British Pub in Castillo Caleta de Fuste... Yay, so exciting.

The best thing to do to 'survive' there is hire an apartment with a kitchen and take a trip to the big supermarket Spar or Hiper Dino. Otherwise, I can't imagine what vegans could get to eat in a hotel restaurant. In nearly all places, even the salads weren't vegan because veggie salads were with a goat cheese. It would be a good idea to take food in a suitcase, but because of the weight limits, it would have to be something light. I took four tins of vegan pate, so at least a few breakfast were sorted. Cactus jam from the local Spar was also nice if someone likes sweet breakfasts. I don't recommend cereal with soy milk because the baguettes are just too delicious to miss the opportunity to eat them. You can't buy the same ones in UK.

Here's our apartment building at Monte Marina, Esquinzo, in the Jandia area in the south of the island. There are no people in the pic because it is a naturist resort and photos of other people are frowned on for obvious reasons!
It is a quiet little village, with one gift shop, one grocery store and one bar. So if you want exciting nightlife, you have to drive a fair bit, south to nearby Morro Jable, or way up north to the more commercial parts of the island.
We were perfectly happy where we were, thank you, well away from the madding crowds. Not that the crowds in Fuerteventura ever get terribly mad in comparison to some holiday resorts more popular with the Brits.
And, so, it is back to the grey skies of Glasgow and dreams of a return to a slice of naturist sunshine heaven.