Throughout the trip, Noah’s enjoyed learning more about the Canary Islands. I’ve shared facts from the Wikipedia pages for Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, where we are spending the bulk of our time, plus the page for the overall Canary Islands. While there are seven major islands, the archipelago contains several smaller islands and islets, one of which is populated. It is called La Graciosa and has a population of around 700 residents. Since learning of this island, Noah has said several times that he wanted to visit it on “our next trip.”
The red marker highlights the location (and size) of La Graciosa in comparison to the seven primary Canary Islands. (Google Maps)
It turns out La Graciosa is just north of Lanzarote, where we are currently staying, and there are multiple round-trip ferry rides available every day. Not knowing when a “next trip” to the islands could be, we decided now was the time to visit. So, we made the unusual move of revising our itinerary and planning for a Sunday morning visit to the island.
The weather was cool and cloudy when we left the house, but the temperature was over 80 by the time we arrived at the Lanzarote ferry port.
We took a short pause in our drive to photograph the dramatic landscape.
There no paved roads on the island and only a handful of vehicles, so options are limited for visitors looking to explore far beyond the ferry port, short of renting bikes or partaking in organized ATV tours. We decided two hours would suffice for our visit, so we devised a plan to start our day just before 9:00, so we’d be to Órzola at least 20 minutes before the 10:00 ferry to La Graciosa.
Buying tickets and boarding the ferry was a breeze, so much so that we easily could have slept another 15-20 minutes before we left our Lanzarote home. Early boarding meant we had our choice of seats, however, so we picked a table on the uncovered top deck. This meant some exposure to wind and an occasional splash of water when the ferry went through the choppier parts of the sea. The ride overall was uneventful, and with an on-time arrival, we were on La Graciosa just after 10:30.
Eilidh “helped” with Mommy’s sunscreen…
…and her own.
We planned to grab lunch, shop for souvenirs, and then visit the small town beach during our two-hour stay. The lunch plan started slowly, however, as the waiter at the first restaurant we visited only took drink orders. We’re pretty positive we were simply too early for lunch or any sort of menu order, but that was never communicated to us. We just paid for our drinks and went on our way.
After a second attempt at a sit-down lunch was equally slow-going, Amanda made the smart decision to walk down the street to see if she could find a bakery or any other takeaway options. After all, we only had so much time on the island and didn’t want to waste it waiting for service at a restaurant not serving lunch. She found a bakery closeby and signaled to us to move in that direction.
I picked out a chicken salad sandwich, while Amanda and the older kids went with the classic ham, cheese, tomato, and mayonnaise combo. (They all removed their tomatoes.) Eilidh was eager to share my sandwich, and today marked the first time she’s tried (and liked) chicken salad. She ate so much of the first sandwich that I had to get a second, and she even had a few bites of that sandwich.
Emmie was the first to explore the adjacent beach area, which was basically a stretch of sand enclosed by the town’s marina. Like the El Cotillo beach on Fuerteventura, there were virtually no waves here, so the kids enjoyed the opportunity to explore the calm water. Time went quickly and by 12:20 we were out of the water to make the short walk back to catch the 12:30 ferry to Lanzarote.
Before we knew it, we were boarding the return ferry to Lanzarote.
These signs can be found near the ferry ports on Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
Amanda and Eilidh stayed in the car while Noah, Emmie, and I walked into the town of Órzola to get ice cream.
Noah was happy with the visit and quickly moved the La Graciosa experience to the top of his list of vacation favorites. He wasn’t completely satisfied, however, with our short stay and would like to see our next Canary Islands visit include a minimum of two full nights there for a more thorough island experience.