#Fuerteventura

My son James had some holiday allocation to use up before it expired at the end of March. Over time we have been to the Canaries most years as a good value place to find out of season sun. We always approach it in the same way - a week all inclusive. Unashamedly pool side and chill (and people watch lol!). Very few decisions to make once we are here.

I have always avoided Fuerteventura as a choice. Why? I had it in my head it is a windy place. Unless you are sailing or using some sort of board it is probably not ideal. Anyway despite that I decided we should finally give it a go as it is nice to go somewhere new - and here we are.

The SBH Hotel we are at is at Jandia (Moro Jable)- the far south and over an hours shuttle ride from the airport. As we arrived in the daylight we had a pretty good opportunity to see the lie of the land on our journey to Hotel Maxorata Resort. Thoughts driving down - as all Canary islands Fuerteventura is of volcanic origin - but looked particularly arid - much moon like perhaps with lots of undulating hills/mountains rising from the coast and plenty of open space.

On size - it is of interest to compare Fuerteventura with our island the Isle of Wight. Fuerteventura in area terms is surprisingly big 640.8 sq miles compared to the 148.3 of the IOW. On population - figures are perhaps similar - maybe even smaller on Fuerteventura although tourist season is longer and numbers probably heavier on Fuerteventura. There is much more open space on Fuerteventura but much of the land mass is arid rock and uninhabitable. 

As it turns out Fuerteventura is a windy place and it is definitely arid too. After a bit of research the explanation is simple enough :

Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary islands and the oldest geologically. It is the nearest island to Africa (62 miles). Despite the impression it is very hilly in reality it is a low lying island in a massive sea with the hot Sahara Desert on its relative doorstep. Cold water - hot land mass - low lying and on the NE Trade winds - there is plenty of air moving around.

However the wind can be very beneficial - it keeps the island temperatures to a comfortable level in potentially very hot summers. The wind was a non issue for us. I think most hotels have appropriate screening and wind breaks and on a otherwise very hot day it can be a godsend for sure.

On aridity - the relatively low lying nature of Fuerteventura means clouds pass over rather than drop as rain. Fuerteventura only has 6 inches of rain a year so it is arid because very little of the water is retained by the volcanic rock. The problem has been exacerbated by the historic over grazing of goats and deforestation. The island therefore has very little vegetation and does typically look like a moonscape (often a beautiful one - amazing colours and changing shadow patterns). I am perhaps making Fuerteventura sound a bit bleak. In many ways it is not. It probably has the longest sandiest beaches in the Canaries and the seacapes are fantastic.

The supply of water is therefore an issue for Fuerteventura and the problem is exacerbated by the tourist trade that uses twice as much water as the local population (swimming pools. watering hotel gardens and washing towels etc. There are many electric powered desalination plants.

Would we go again? Yes definitely. I think it is a good value place as perhaps less on the tourist map than some of the other Canary Islands. Think about transfer times though. The airport is central - the two principal holiday areas - north and south of an elongated island. Not a major party scene in the south (if that is what you want) but more so in the north I understand. I am sure would be brilliant for board sports (providing you know what you are doing!)

On all inclusive I guess there is a tendency to get full value - and probably eat and drink more than normal - but it doesn't have to be like that. It is certainly possible to make healthy food choices and combined with say regular swimming - the odd jog (James did 4 I think) and the occasional exercise class, walk or bike ride - the whole package is a good choice for a week I think. It is also fascinating to people watch because despite being a big hotel you begin to recognise people and their habits over a week - ha! James doesn't miss much lol!

Some holiday snaps :

Typical evening entertainment

Typical inland arid moonlike landscape

Our hotel

a useful rip tide diagram from the beach

Typical sand and volcanic rock

James - weighing it up - king of Jenga

Storm coming - a very light shower and it blew away in no time!

EFFECT OF COVID

Just a quick few thoughts about the impact of covid on the tourist trade. While we were away James referred to a headline article about how many holiday businesses had gone out of business on the Spanish Costas because of Covid. We were subject to a last minute change of hotel here. Our hotel was part of a group and they consolidated bookings as they explained covid meant bookings were still not sufficient to make opening all hotels viable. Our actual booking cost of approx £50 day/night each which offered stunning value I think ie a nice room - daily maid service - balcony and sea view - all inclusive food and drink of a good standard and variety etc just shows how hard they are competing. On one day I wanted to hire a car. I tried - nothing available - apparently so many firms no longer exist. 

Some more background info on Fuerteventura:

Fuerteventura has 119,732 inhabitants (as of 2020), the fourth largest population of the Canary Islands and the third of the Province. At 1,660 square kilometres (640 sq mi), it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife' From a geological point of view, Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the archipelago.

It lies at the same latitude as Florida and Mexico and temperatures rarely fall below 18 °C (64 °F) or rise above 32 °C (90 °F). It counts 152 separate beaches along its seaboard — 50 km (31 mi) of white sand and 25 km (16 mi) of black volcanic shingle.

The climate on Fuerteventura is pleasant throughout the year. The island is hence referred to as the island of eternal spring. The sea regulates air temperature, diverting hot Sahara winds away from the island. The island's name in English translates as "strong fortune" or "strong wind", the Spanish word for wind being viento. During the winter months, temperatures average a high of 22 °C (72 °F) and a low of around 15 °C (59 °F), whereas during the summer a mean high of 28 °C (82 °F) and a low of 20 °C (68 °F) can be expected. Precipitation is about 147 mm (6 in) per year, most of which falls in autumn and winter. December is the month with highest rainfall.

A sandstorm known as the Calima (similar to the Sirocco wind, which blows to the North of the Sahara, to Europe) may blow from the Sahara Desert to the Northwest, and can cause high temperatures, low visibility and drying air. Temperatures during this phenomenon rise temporarily by approximately 10 degrees Celsius. The wind brings in fine red dust, The fine white sand is not blown in from Sahara, It is made up of dead coral reef and local seabed upheaval. visibility can drop to between 100 to 200 m (328.08 to 656.17 ft) or even lower, and together with very warm temperatures, it can even bring African locusts to the island.

#WashingtonDC

A very long and challenging Greyhound bus ride gets me to Washington DC. (Night time bus changes at Cleveland and particularly Pittsburgh at midnight was interesting but now I have ridden on an iconic Greyhound bus!). I am here to see the sights and maybe a chance to have a chat with Joe Biden - ha!

What a contrast with Chicago. Not unexpected. Washington the nation's capital city and place of government does not have an edge. It is refined, smart and quietly confident. It depends what you want of course but it is much easier to be in Washington than Chicago where I have come from.

My intention is to get down on the National Mall - visit the landmarks and include Arlington and the Pentagon on the other side of the Potomac River.

I am based on 11th Street. I crossed 2 blocks to 9th Street and sauntered down towards the Mall. It was a quiet Saturday morning. Wide streets, well mannered traffic and a cafe culture as the weather was unseasonably warm. 

Having looked at the tourist map I have arranged to hire a bike for the day. That was a really good decision. It is a long walk around the Mall. A bike is the solution I think.

I had a really special day. Here I am stood outside the White House or stood on Capitol Hill. Iconic places. The most powerful places in the world maybe. It made me smile and at times really reflect on where I was.

Washington National Mall is best described in photos. I took these with my mob :

I loved being here. The Jefferson Memorial. First stop on the bike route. A fantastic view across the Tidal Basin to the Mall. Had a lovely chat with a US diplomat out on a bike ride. He was keen to engage with my views about the US. He took the photo of me on my bike. Cherry blossom he said was a week from full bloom but I was lucky to see it. An amazing stop.

A view across the Tidal Basin to the Washington Monument- about half way down the Mall.

My time is precious. Tomorrow I am going to Arlington but I feel I have time to cross the Potomac and see the Pentagon. The Pentagon as you know is the Headquarters of the US Dept of Defence. A massive affair. Probably the key to our survival. The Pentagon is  a fantastic building. 5 sides of course. Who can forget the 9/11 plane trying to penetrate its walls. The problem is unless you have an aerial shot the most you can see is two sides. It is also not that easy to get up close. Here is my Pentagon snap : blimey I can't find them. A puzzle?

Off to the Lincoln Memorial at the western end of the Mall. Here I get quite a bit emotional. An amazing place for me to be looking down the full length of the Mall to Capitol Hill in the distance. F..k me. What a place. The sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is mega gravitas. I stood at his feet and thought about what one man can achieve. Lincoln a lawyer from humble beginnings united America through the civil war, abolished slavery and set America on the way to be a great country. Stupid maybe but tears from me. Lots of people but they are VERY  respectful. Such a great thing about Americans. They are patriotic. I wish we were.

From the Lincoln Memorial looking east to the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill in the distance.

Being here means something.

View from the high steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial. 

From the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument are significant memorials of wars where Americans have been lost. I pushed my bike past the long simple wall that carried every name of each that died in Vietnam. What was it for? To curb the advance of Communism. The bastards are still at it. Poor Ukraine. Read Animal Farm. It is ALWAYS how communists act out. Pigs always prevail as Putin. 

The Washington Monument is standout. Huge. The first president of the USA.

Take a left turn half way down the Mall adjacent to the Washington Monument takes you to the White House.

The White House is understandably hard to access. It seems modest by the grandeur of the Mall. Joe didn't invite me in alas.

On the way down there are many towering buildings. They are Smithonian Museum's and Galleries.  As far as I understand it Smithsonian is a bit like our National Trust- custodians of the nation's heritage but particularly its accumulated knowledge.

Capitol Hill. Their parliament. Republicans and Democrats.
It is surrounded by massive government administrative buildings. Their Whitehall.

 

Next day I get to Arlington Cemetery. 400000 graves of those that have given their lives for the United States of America. It is a sombre place  - perfectly manicured as the photos below show. You could spend a life time there researching the lives of those buried there - in that sense it is an overwhelming place. 

The 3 photos below are of the resting place of the assassinated JF Kennedy and of his wife Jackie. His younger brother Bobby who was also assassinated has a spot just down the hill.

I am reminded of Kennedy's inaugural speech. " ask what you can do for your country not what your country can do for you" We have certainly have pretty much lost that type of mentality in the UK! Why hasn't the gov't made the sun shine everyday and paved the streets with gold! A rant.

Arlington is a special place and the Americans treat it as such. 

On a lighter note and a final thought before I sign off on Washington - customer service. Americans are well known for their oft gushing customer service - " have a nice day". Tipping for service is part of their culture. In Washington the quality of service was at a different level it seemed to me. I think it might be because the city is full of government types who expect a solid best and are discerning. I had a brunch at a brasserie type bar called The Smith. The staff were so polished and professional. They really focus on the customer and seem to enjoy doing it. It was impressive and nice to receive. Of course te norm is to tip 20% of the bill ha!

Breakfast comes with a free Bloody Mary - ha!

Here is some additional down loaded info from Wicki :

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as just Washington or just D.C., is the capital city and only federal district of the United States.^[9] It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern and southern border with the U.S. state of Virginia, and shares a land border with the U.S. state of Maryland on its remaining sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States,^[10] and the federal district is named after Columbia, a female personification of the nation. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital.^[11] It is one of the most visited cities in the U.S., seeing over 20 million visitors in 2016.^[12][13]

The U.S. Constitution provides for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress; the district is therefore not a part of any U.S. state (nor is it one itself). The signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a capital district located along the Potomac River near the country's East Coast. The City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the national capital, and Congress held its first session there in 1800. In 1801, the territory, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia (including the settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria), officially became recognized as the federal district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia, including the city of Alexandria; in 1871, it created a single municipal government for the remaining portion of the district. There have been efforts to make the city into a state since the 1880s, a movement that has gained momentum in recent years, and a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021.^[14]

The city is divided into quadrants centered on the Capitol Building, and there are as many as 131 neighborhoods. According to the 2020 Census, it has a population of 689,545,^[2] which makes it the 20th-most populous city in the U.S., third-most populous city in both the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, and gives it a population larger than that of two U.S. states: Wyoming and Vermont.^[15] Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek.^[16] Washington's metropolitan area, the country's sixth-largest (including parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia), had a 2019 estimated population of 6.3 million residents.^[17]

The three branches of the U.S. federal government are centered in the district: Congress (legislative), the president (executive), and the Supreme Court (judicial). Washington is home to many national monuments and museums, primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 177 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profits, lobbying groups, and professional associations, including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, the AARP, the National Geographic Society, the Human Rights Campaign, the International Finance Corporation, and the American Red Cross.

A locally elected mayor and a 13-member council have governed the district since 1973. Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D.C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, but the district has no representation in the Senate. District voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1967.

The National Mall is a large, open park in downtown Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol. Given its prominence, the mall is often the location of political protests, concerts, festivals, and presidential inaugurations. The Washington Monument and the Jefferson Pier are near the center of the mall, south of the White House. Also on the mall are the National World War II Memorial at the east end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.^[167]

Directly south of the mall, the Tidal Basin features rows of Japanese cherry trees.^[168] The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the District of Columbia War Memorial are around the Tidal Basin.^[167]

The National Archives houses thousands of documents important to American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.^[169] Located in three buildings on Capitol Hill, the Library of Congress is the largest library complex in the world with a collection of more than 147 million books, manuscripts, and other materials.^[170] The United States Supreme Court Building was completed in 1935; before then, the court held sessions in the Old Senate Chamber of the Capitol.^[1