Fuerte - Island of contrasts [Mobile photography]
Greetings Steemians!
One of my favorite holiday destinations is Fuerteventura, the second largest of the Canary Islands. It is a place where you can leave all distraction behind. Nature is largely reduced to wind, stone, sand and sea. For me, the perfect place to really pause and get away from workaday life. 1-2 weeks in this special scantiness and I feel ready to tackle the daily grind again.
And what makes it so appealing to me, the Island really has two faces. There is the gentle lee side with long sandy beaches and calm sea and, in harsh contrast, the exposed luv side with rocks, wind and spray.
At the island's wasp tail, the Istmo de la Pared, both sides are merely 5 km away from eachother. So you can enjoy easy beachlife in the morning and then switch sides for a walk along crashing waves in the afternoon:
Playa de Sotavento (lee side)
Playa de Sotavento (lee side)
La Pared (windward)
Imagine yourself sitting on the plateau to the right, enjoying a 🍹during 🌅...
I just feel about ripe getting back there.
I hope these photos convey a sense for the gentle and the rough beauty of this island. Thanks for watching!
Shaka
All photos were shot by myself with an iPhone 6S during August 2017
Oh, memories arising!
I visited the Canary Islands in the late 80s and the early 90s quite some time. First visit was Lanzarote and while the plane was circulating above the island my first eerie thought was: "Oh, my God. That is a desert! No green whatsoever!I don't want to go there. That is depressing!" As I had no chance we landed and I got later on fascinated by the minimalism of the Canary Islands. Never will forget the "Cueva de los Verdes" on Lanzarote and the contrasts of Fuerteventura you speak of.
We spent our time on the rough side and I cursed the wind more than once. But admiring the brave surfers (of which I thought being insane).
Here I share with you two pictures which encapsule those stoney wind shields and the massive sand dunes we made fun to take pictures from (taking a bed sheet from the hotel:)
Meeting a local dog:
Dune more from the far:
Sorry for the quality. I just photographed the prints with an old i-phone.
I hope the landscapes are still intact and tourism hadn't have that bad influences like at the Spanish coast. Can you say something about it?
P.S. Finally, you are blogging again. Me tuning more out, you tuning in:)
Hi @erh.germany, what a nice surprise!
Thanks for these awesome shots. I think they capture Fuerte's spirit very well.
I started travelling to Fuerte in the early 90s and as far as I perceive it, the landscapes and the beaches have not been impaired by the tourism since then. I can't judge though how the impact on less visible aspects like groundwater, sea pollution, endemic fauna and flora has been.
The minimalism, as you describe it, is indeed what makes this Island so special. But only to those who are able to respond to it. Because only then one is able to see the incredible diversity within this scarcity. All these colours, textures, niche plants, rock sculptures and so on...
And true, I also wouldn't mind if the wind would pause from time to time. It just doesn't ;)
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
"to see the incredible diversity within this scarcity" - yes, that is the beauty. Couldn't have said it better.
I hope, their politics haven't changed since the early 90s and they still restrict to build infrastructure and housing like crazy. At least on Lanzarote, there was a law not to build more than two or three story buildings (can't remember the exact number).
Oh, and look who was visiting me in time and space:
The fledgling of the flying lizard from your Alpine hike. And I haven't spotted it! Damn!
:))
:D
Wollte schon immer mal nach feuerte... tolle Bilder mit dem iPhone 👍
Danke!
Now i understand what's the fascination of Fuerteventura! These photos represent very beautiful motifs and colors to get the right mood for your description. Many years ago i worked together with someone who talked also about the main reason for travelling there, the silence, inner peace.
Recently someone presented me some not so well photography of the island and i said to myself.. "Why on earth should i lose my precious vacation time 🕙 in no man's land?!".. but now i think different.
Thank you!
Great to hear, that I could alter your initial impression of this Island. Outside the urbanizations it can seem like no man's land indeed, but that is part of it's unique attraction.
Thanks for your comment!
Have you spent much time at Tenerife? Someday I want to get over to see the Canary Islands, in particular, get up to see Tiede Observatory. Btw I was going to say I'm jealous of those glorious beaches you've photographed, but we have some pretty decent beaches here :) What would be nice though is some decent mountains to hike!
Btw @shaka thanks for all your voting support on my posts (as well as many of my other stem colleges). It is a real morale boost!
Thanks @terrylovejoy, I'm glad to hear that my curation is perceived that way.
I haven't yet been to Tenerife but was considering going there already a few times. Not least because of the Teide, I would love hiking up there. However, since I read the post from @obvious a couple of days ago, I'm seriously considering to check La Gomera next. Must be a true hiking paradise.
Cheers!
It looks really interesting, La Gomera reminds me a bit of the island of Kauai in Hawaii (haven't been to either, just judging it based on the pictures).
btw have you ever travelled to New Zealand? There is some really amazing scenery and hikes there.
No, unfortunately I haven't made it to NZ so far. Must be impressive there from what I heard and saw (e.g. in the LOTR- movies ;) ).
Considering the distance, I would need to plan for 3-4 weeks - and that's quite difficult for me to accomodate.
crazy how awesome the shots are from a phone! My last post, some of the shots were taken with my phone, and I was super amazed by the quality. Sometimes they looked even better than my real camera.
I've been wanting to visit Canary Islands! Do you know @surfermarly? She lives there!
Also, super excited to see you posting! I've always wanted to say thank you for all of your support. I just didn't know how to reach you! EKK! So THANK YOU! hugs
Hi @karensuestudios, a pleasure to welcome you here :)
It's true, photographing with current phones can give you great results. At least if the light conditions are decent - and if you haven't forgotten to wipe your lens as it happens to me from time to time ;)
All the best!
ahahah! :) Story of my life when I wear glasses... hehe I have a small nose, so my glasses always get sqooshed against my face!
Ahh, I wanted to go there for a surfing trip but my friends ended up picking a different destination. Having looked at these pictures - now I really want to go :-)
Hi @ingaaa, thanks for stopping by! Now I'm curious which other place you finally went. As a surfer, I assume you would love it in Fuerte. Wind non-stop :)
Cheers!
I will keep that in mind! We went to Taghazout in Morocco but I've already been there so my preference always lied with a new place. Oh well, next time! ;-)
From mountains to the beach :)
Thats the way to go.
Haha, indeed. When I'm in the mountains I'm missing the beach and vice versa :)
hahaha, same here :)
No dinosaurs here? :D
Actually, I spotted a huge one in a canyon there:
I just wasn't sure, whether this was interesting enough to share.
:P
Well spotted. I would not even have noticed it ^^
Freut mich, dass du die Lust am Posten wieder gefunden hast - ein klasse Beitrag mit Fotos die beweisen, dass die iPhones gerade bei gutem Licht echt tolle Urlaubsbilder machen können :)
Absolut, wenn die Lichtbedingungen stimmen sind die Resultate sehr ordentlich. Ich habe daher auch schon länger keine Kompaktkamera mehr. Die wird durch das iPhone im Grunde überflüssig.
Grüsse!
Na dann hoffe ich mal, du hast beim Wandern jetzt dann auch gutes Licht! Viel Spaß ;)
Das hoffe ich auch. Allerdings werde ich die Grosse dabeihaben, da gehts dann auch mal unter suboptimalen Bedingungen.
Ich werde berichten ;)
Meine Eltern und deren Freunde schwärmen allesamt von Gran Canaria.
Ich war noch auf keiner Insel der Kanaren.
Aber auch Deine Bilder lassen nur den Schluß zu, daß ich auch dort mal hin sollte...
Es ist wie gesagt sehr karg dort und ich habe schon von manchen gehört die enttäuscht waren. Die Farbe grün kommt dort nur wenig vor.. Aber ich finde es herrlich dort und kann auf dieser Insel auftanken wie an kaum einem anderen Ort.