In the beginning, the earth was barren and empty, according to Genesis. It must have looked something like this, we think as we crank up the endless straight road from La Pared that leads to the top of the Degollada del Viento pass: spectacular nothingness, shadowless at the mercy of the sun. Not a tree, not a bush, here and there a prickly camel thorn, occasionally a palm tree. Otherwise stone, sand, dust. Desert-like hills, rugged mountain peaks, craggy crater walls, furrowed slopes, dusty plains, vast white beaches, the sea. As we look out over the island from the Mirador Morro Velosa at a height of more than 600 metres, we are speechless in the face of the strangeness and overwhelmed by the magic of the desert.
Hot past
Fuerteventura is located around 100 kilometres off the Moroccan Atlantic coast. In terms of length, the island would fit pretty much exactly between Hamburg and Kiel: One hundred kilometres from one end to the other and 30 kilometres at its widest point. The volcanic cones in the north of the island and the lava fields of Malpais Grande between Tuineje and Pozo Negro bear witness to a hot past.
You will find everything about Fuerteventura in TOUR 2/2011 (publication date 26 January 2011)
You can download the GPS data for these tours below:
- Tour 1: To the black beach of Ajuy
81 kilometres, 1,200 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of ten percent
- Tour 2: The beaches in the wild north-west
106 kilometres, 1,200 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of twelve percent
- Tour 3: White salt, black lava
113 kilometres, 1,000 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of eight percent
- Tour 4: Into the heart of Fuerteventura
106 kilometres, 1,600 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of twelve percent
GPS DATA: TOUR offers the tour data for free download. You can download the tracks in GPX format directly onto a GPS device or view them on your computer in Google Earth or Google Maps.
Downloads:
GPS data: Spain: Fuerteventura
