Being surrounded by water
I’m somebody who just loves being by the water, it could be a river, the sea or even a manmade lake – if I’m by the water I’m a really happy person. So I absolutely loved being on a small island where you could practically always see (and hear) the sea. You can tell that the water hasn’t been polluted, as it’s very blue and clear – which of course makes it perfect for Instagram. Many of the beaches are really well looked after and make for great paddling or swimming. We stayed near the Caleta De Fuste beach, which had soft sand, sun loungers, umbrellas and even beds – total heaven!
Going all inclusive
We’d never been on an all inclusive holiday and I was actually pretty nervous to give it a go! We ended up opting for the Elba Carlota Hotel, which is situated in Antigua. We chose it as it just looked absolutely gorgeous and it certainly didn’t disappoint! The whole hotel was really swish, the rooms were beautiful and the swimming pool area was big and spacious. Our all inclusive wrist bands (which left me with a lovely tan line) gave us access to breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and unlimited drinks. All the meals were served buffet style and included a variety of different foods. Breakfast included full English, made-to-order omelettes, fruit, desserts and a full continental breakfast (including all the cheese you could ever want). Lunch and dinner included a variety of things, including pizza, made-to-order pasta, freshly cooked meat, roast dinners, fish – the works! Whilst the food wasn’t gourmet - it was made to a really high standard and everyday we all found plenty to eat. I truly think the extras make a real difference too, we really enjoyed the unlimited hot dogs and unlimited cocktails by the pool. The experience taught me that as long as you do your research, you won’t be disappointed!
Riding shotgun in a Dune Buggy
I have a habit of telling myself that I really don’t want to do something and I find myself being dragged along against my will, to then find that it was one of the best experiences of my life. It’s happened twice now – once with whale watching in Boston and now with Dune Buggying in Fuerteventura. We opted for a three hour excursion with DuneBuddy.es, which was just one of the best experiences ever. We opted for the newer Dune Buggies which are a little higher up, more comfortable and have better suspension. The excursion featured lots of different people (there were over 20 two-person buggies on the trip) separated by four different guides. The excursion started with a safety instruction before heading out with the pack. We drove on the roads, on the mud and on the sand – whilst checking out volcanoes, beaches and little fisherman villages. We honestly had so much fan and it certainly wasn’t a slow boring tour – at times we were driving at 60KPH.
Our trip to Oasis Park was one of our first days out and we really had a lovely day. I’ve actually never been to a zoo outside of the UK and it was really intriguing to see how another country do things. The zoo is actually really big, from one end to the other the walk is around 1KM, but there are a lot of animals to see in between. They actually have everything from birds, monkeys, tigers, hippos, a ton of turtles, reptiles, elephants and camels… the list just goes on and on. We were there for about five hours but we did walk around quite fast and we didn’t stop for food – so you can easily make a day of it. We utterly fell in love with the elephants, who were cleverly hunting for food from the guests (you’re allowed to feed the animals here – which is super cool). We were also really impressed by the quality of the live shows, these can be quite naff in the UK, but you really don’t want to miss them at Oasis Park!
The other activity we really loved was the Acqu Water Park, which again was a pleasant surprise. If you check out the reviews on Trip Advisor, the reviews there are a little mixed, so we went there with our minds open. There are quite a few slides, a wave pool, a plunge pool, a lazy river and more kid friendly activities too. We didn’t arrive until 11:30AM but there were still plenty of sun loungers available, both in the shade and in the sun. Normally water parks are not really my thing, as I get quite claustrophobic. However, I was really happy as you actually don’t have to lay down on the slides, instead you can just sit up, which really helps with my claustrophobia. So instead of being the boring person sitting things out, I was the one running around begging to go on the slides again! We did all agree that it’s actually quite expensive for what you get – we paid £33 a person which included some lunch. However, you then have to pay £4 (plus £5 deposit) for the lockers and the same again if you want a rubber ring for the ride. However, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours and we all had a lot of fun!
So there you have it – five things that I loved about Fuerteventura! We really had a lovely seven days and I’m really grateful to my sister for making Chris and I away for a free holiday! If you’ve been to Fuerteventura I would love to hear some of your thoughts, what were some of your favourite parts?
