October in Graciosa

When we think of this past October we will think of the beauties of Graciosa with its golden sand dunes and brown, ochre and red-gold volcanic cones. We spent almost the whole month there, exploring and enjoying the simpler life of a small island. There are no paved roads; sand roads and tracks cross the dunes instead. Four wheel drive vehicles carry visitors and locals when needed, and everyone else walks or bicycles - though in this sandy terrain cyclists are likely to find they are doing as much pushing as pedalling. Visitors arrive by boat or ferry to swim, surf, camp and walk, especially in the summer - by October the tourist season was coming to an end. Still we saw the tourist boats pulling into the anchorage almost every day that we were there bringing people to swim and kayak, off the beaches, and the ferries arrived full of beach-goers on the weekends and left packed with sunburnt and sandy passengers on Sunday evenings. Still, the winds were building and the weather starting to cool - while we were there we hunkered down for three very windy days in the anchorage off Playa Francesa (winds from from the north-east) and there were more while we were in the marina, this time from the south. None of which discouraged us lingering for a while, meeting friends and exploring.

Graciosa is an island that repays exploration. When we first approached it looked almost barren. But walking through the sand dunes you pass clumps of plants that are spreading through the dunes and begin to notice the birds, insects and occasional lizard among their low scrubby growth. You see the flowers that bloom among what look like dead, dry twigs and the leaves that suddenly appear after any rain. In the towns people create little oases of greenery, cultivating small gardens of cactus, palms or tropical flowers like hibiscus. Some create their gardens outside their houses for all to enjoy, others in inside courtyards we sometimes glimpsed through unshuttered windows. In some of the gardens plants grew among black volcanic pebbles used to collect dew and hold water and send it down to their roots.

So we spent time walking. We walked with friends along the shore between the island’s two towns, finding unexpected golden beaches among the rocks and enjoying the blues and greens of the ocean. We walked up two of the volcanic cones along trails which wound over rocky ground and along small, eroded gullies, and looked out over the island from their slopes. We found stone walls looking as if they marked off fields or property, and places where people had used some of the plentiful stones to build small shelters - on the beach or at the top of a trail, or in the camping area. We were able to look closely at a house wall built the old way - from loose stones closely packed and curved around the room within - such wall have survived for hundreds of years. We saw how tanks were built beside some of the houses to collect water, and roofs used as catchment areas - difficult to keep clean when the house is close to the harbour and gulls. We even found a small farm with horses, goats, chickens and dogs, surprising in a place where there is no real grazing. And when we were not walking we spent time swimming and snorkelling, off the boat and from the beaches, observing how the old lava flows have created clefts and crevices where fish, squid and octopus swim and feed.

Being in the marina at Calheta del Sebo meant being in the harbour around which much of the activity on the island revolves. The ferry boats come and go from here, and so do the local tourist boats. Work boats bring in building and other supplies, and fishing boats come and go. There is a travel-lift, and the fishing boats are hauled, maintained and repaired in an area by the dock. Fish are frozen and stored in a building close by, and we saw small fish spread out to dry under fishing nets used to keep the gulls away close to the slipway.

The marina is one of the few places in the Canaries which is safe in almost any weather, offering shelter from all directions. Cruisers are beginning to discover its advantages, and many people who arrive intending to stay a few days end up staying a few months. The atmosphere there is relaxed and the security good. The only catch is that there is often no space for the new arrival, so it takes a combination of luck and timing to get a spot. There would be more room if the number of available spaces had not been reduced by damage from last years freak hurricane, and this may take a while to change since we saw no signs that the damage will be fixed soon - we were told that things do not happen very quickly here. We decided that it was best not to leave until we were sure we would not be tempted to return - so we waited until we were ready to head for the main island of Lanzarote before we finally said goodbye to friends met and seen again and cast off the dock lines for a brisk sail to Arrecife. But more about that next time...