As we have already mentioned in another blog article ("Fuerteventura: interesting for professional athletes"), Fuerteventura gets more and more interesting for amateur and professional athletes.

Now the well-known Challenge Series ("Challenge Roth") expands also to Fuerteventura. Every year they organise the Ultra Distance of the triathlon in Roth (3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, 42 km running) - on Fuerteventura there will be the Long Course, that is half of the Ultra Distance.

Fuerteventura thus offers now one more big sport event.

The first triathlon is supposed to take place in the South of Fuerteventura in May 2011.

You will find further info soon on the following web site:www.challenge-fuerteventura.com

Finally Fuerteventura has its own half marathon. On 24 October 2009 the first international half marathon will take place on Fuerteventura.

The venue is very attractive since it forms the extreme contrast to most road races in Germany. According to the website www.extremsport.es, a large part of the race takes place directly in the dunes of Corralejo. Thus it is almost a desert race (apart from the temperatures) and might be very interesting for ambitious runners.

From our point of view the race is only suitable for very well-trained athletes due to the sand dunes. If you have already walked through the sand for a longer time, you will probably be able to relate to that. On the website you can read that the sand is partly hard and partly soft. 

In the evening of the race there will also be a runners' party in the disco Waikiki in Corralejo.

Our conclusion: If the event is well organised, this race could establish itself in the following years. 

You will find further detailed information about Corralejo and the beaches around Corralejo on our website.

We have added three new holiday homes in Tarajalejo to our list. Casa Estrella (maximum: 2 persons), Casa Fuego (maximum: 4 persons) and Casa Aire (maximum: 6 persons) offer the right thing for any individual traveller. 

Here you will find detailed information about the holiday homes:

• Casa Estella in Tarajalejo
• Casa Fuego in Tarajalejo
• Casa Aire in Tarajalejo
  

Some impressions of the holiday homes:

Today we've added a new holiday home in Lajares on Fuerteventura. The house can be booked from € 35.70 a day and is situated next to a nature reserve.

You will find all information about the holiday home in Lajares here:

• Holiday home Los Aloes in Lajares
  

Here some pictures about holiday home Los Aloes:

Surfing is one of the world's oldest sports activities and is often considered as the origin of all board and glide sports. 

Rightly: Surfing has existed for more than 5,000 years. The origins are found on Hawaii. Surfing was part and parcel of the Hawaiian culture and subject to strict rituals and traditions. Example: They only used special trees for the production of the wooden surfboards. Only kahunas (Hawaiian medicine men) of the tribes were allowed to cave/shape the boards.

Today surfig is known all over the world. Nevertheless it hasn't lost its fascination and closeness to nature. Surfing is still more than a sport, it is a life style shared by millions of people all over the world. They are all connected by the unique experience of gliding along a wall of water and the sensation of being exposed to the forces of nature. The fact that you can hardly describe how surfing really feels and the passion with which you keep looking for the next wave and the next surfing session unites surfers of different skin colours, cultures and religions.

Fuerteventura is considered a relatively new surfing destination. It was only in the 90s that Fuerteventura was discovered for surfing. On the other Canary islands, particularly on Tenerife, is was popular a little earlier. For a long time Fuerteventura had been considered a pure wind surfing spot. Nevertheless it is particularly Fuerteventura, its surfing spots and waves that have given the Canary islands the reputation to be the "Hawaii of Europe". Many beaches and hidden riffs offer different waves and wind conditions and thus perfect waves for beginners and advanced surfers. It is not unusual to have perfect waves completely for oneself since you can only reach many beaches by four by four.

On Fuerteventura the OTRO MODO surf school offers surf camps for beginners and advanced surfers during the whole year. Every day you can go by jeep to that beach on Fuerteventura that offers the best waves for any surf level of the surf students. Thus you also get to know better the landscape and the people. 

Certified surf teachers teach the first take offs in small groups (max. 6 surf students per surf teacher) and turn your top turns into cut backs via video coaching. 

The surf students are accommodated in surf camps since for a relaxed surfing holiday you need a surf camp where you feel good and at home. The surf school offers a neat complex in quiet neighbourhood with swimming pool, restaurants and shops close-by and with just a little distance to the sea so that you can hear the rush of the waves when you get up.

For further information about surfing on Fuerteventura and/or the surf camp on Fuerteventura visit our website www.otro-modo-surfschool.com or the entry in our service provider list (in German language).

Tip: On the blog www.fuerteventura-surfblog.de  (in German language) you will get an impression of how it is to live and work on Fuerteventura.

In the last few years, more and more professional athletes have showed interest in Fuerteventura. In March, for example, the triathlon Olympic champion Jan Frodeno was on Fuerteventura with the national team.

Fuerteventura is also popular with professional athletes from the fields of beach volleyball, cycling and running. 

Particularly in the winter and spring, Fuerteventura is the ideal destination for training camps since the temperature is mild and there is a good infrastructure for sports teams. For example: several hotels have specialised on athletes. Another point is that the traffic in the hinterland is very suitable for doing long bike tours.

But the island is not only interesting for professional athletes. From our experience, we have seen that many hobby runners and cyclists come to Fuerteventura in the winter. Due to the steady weather, they can plan their training better than in the Middle European winter.

Those who would like to plan their own training camp individually and independently from hotels can find a suitable accommodation on our site "Holiday accommodation on Fuerteventura".

ADAC (German Automobile Association) tested different hire cars in 2009, amongst others on Fuerteventura. The results were very mixed. Twice good, three times average, twice alarming and once bad were the results in Corralejo on Fuerteventura. According to the ADAC chart (infos in German!), they tested six hire car companies in Corralejo.

This result surprises us because the probably best-known car rental of the six tested ones got the rating "bad"! The hire car company Hertz shows great deficits concerning security. Examples are a front tyre without any profile or too low air pressure in another tyre. 

All tested car rentals showed deficits in the communication with the customers. The staff explained too little or left customers in the dark.  

These sorts of problems were also experienced by our visitors who participated in the Car rental ratings on our website. But we have to say that the car rental Hertz came off far better in our ratings than in the ADAC test.

Detailed descriptions to make the tenant feel secure and minimise effort:

The descripton of the accommodation has to be very detailed and comprehensive in order to stand out from competitors. From the beginning on we have always minded that we got descriptions that inform the tenant and give him the security to book the right accommodation. Sometimes we insist on certain things and can be a real nuisance. ;-)

A useful side effect is that thus there are less questions about the accommodation and this is a relief for you as a landlord. Future tenants will be grateful since they can read through the information and ideally just have to send the booking inquiry.   

Explain the booking procedure in detail:

Apart from the description of the accommodation and the surroundings, we consider it particularly important to describe the booking procedure in detail. If tenants are insecure because they don't know how the procedure goes on after they've booked, i.e. how they can pay, if there's a cancellation fee etc., they could feel inhibited and will not send an inquiry. 

You will create trust through detailed information about the booking procedure!

Pictures create additional security:

Since visual impressions cause more spontaneous actions than the mere reading of a text description, good and many pictures play a vital role.

Please mind the following points:

• pictues should describe visually the whole accommodation
• high-quality pictues are more attractive than blurred or compressed ones 
• deliberate whether it is worth investing in a professional photographer
• also take pictures of the immediate surroundings and the view from the balcony/patio

Soon we will give more information about pictures in further articles.

Since we have increasingly noticed hard times for landlords (not only on Fuerteventura), we will give tips for landlords in this section from now on. 

The tips are based on several years of experience with our web site and on feedback of tenants (tourists) and landlords from Fuerteventura, which we regularly receive.

We will give tips how you can increase your occupancy and which mistakes you shouldn't make. We will also include opinions of different landlords, who will tell you about their experiences.

The economic crisis has reached Fuerteventura. Radio Megawelle (a radio station on the Canary Island of Tenerife) reports that as much as 10.000 persons have already left the island due to the bad economic situation. Source for this information is according to the radio station the vice counsellour for welfare and immigration from the government of the Canaries, Natividad Cano.

Unfortunately landlords and businesspeople confirm this situation again and again.

The reasons are probably not only to be found in the "economic crisis" but certainly also in the change of tourism during the last few years. More and more hotels with all-inclusive offers have certainly also had their share in this development. Restaurants and catering businesses suffer just like car rentals and shopping precincts. If guests don't leave their hotel anymore, other businesses don't get much. 

Of course these partly very low prices make private holiday accommodation or generally any other accommodation without all-inclusive offers suffer, too.

Tourists will have to wait if due to that development prices will increase again in the medium term. 

Today we present the island Los Lobos as a place of excursions.

The island Los Lobos, mostly just called "Lobos", is situated on the northeast point of Fuerteventura - thus between Fuerteventura (near Corralejo) and Lanzarote. Los Lobos is approx. 4.5 sqkm and was declared "Parque Natural" in 1982.

The island Los Lobos is virtually void (just a few people live on Lobos) and one can hike round the island in a few hours. The hiking tour's most interesting and worth seeing are the sandy bays, small volcano calderas and remnants of so-called salines (factory for the production of salt). 

You will get to the island Los Lobos from the harbour in Corralejo. From there there are regular boat trips to the island. The crossing takes about 15 minutes and costs approx. 10 euros. The times of departure vary and can be checked in the harbour.

Diving area

Between the mainland of Fuerteventura and the island Los Lobos there is a magnificent diving area. The relatively low water depth and the lava caves offer a splendid underwater scenery with different fishes and plants.

Accommodation with view to Lobos:

If you are looking for an accommodation with view to the island Los Lobos, you can find one here on our German Website:

• Apartment Vista Lobos
• Apartment Vista Mar Hoplaco 102
• Apartment Hoplaco II/232
• Holiday flat Vista Lanzarote

Surfing in its original form has been practiced for almost 4,000 years. Through the voyages of the Polynesians, surfing spread to the South Seas and later on to the whole world. 

Surfing is fascinating - there is no doubt about it! It offers the magnificent possibility to leave behind one's hectic life for a moment and just dive into the endless peace and quiet of the sea.

With its endless, sandy beaches, more than 300 sunny days a year, cristal clear water and waves with the rating of "world class", Fuerteventura certainly belongs to Europe's best surfing destinations. A place of contrasts - azure water and white desert sand - mass tourism and the end of the world lie close together. A beauty with rough edges and a place where you can breathe the whiff of adventure every day.

Our tip:
Rapa Nui Surfcamp & School
www.rapanui-surfschool.com

As reported in various news programs, UNESCO plans to turn Fuerteventura into a biosphere reserve. 

News, however, differ about this subject. Some news pages report that Fuerteventura has only proposed a motion for a biosphere reserve and will be declared as such in may, other ones have communicated for already some time that Fuerteventura is already a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

In the official UNESCO list (for Spain) we haven't found Fuerteventura yet (as to  02/04/2009). Other Canary Islands such as Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, La Palma and El Hierro have already been listed. 

We are looking forward to it - also to possible changes on Fuerteventura.

The hiking trail near Vega de Rio Palmas is extremely suitable for hiking aficionados and fans of pure nature. The trail is often said to be the most beautiful on Fuerteventura. 

The path begins in Vega de Rio Palmas and ends in Ajuy. It leads through a little canyon or different barrancos. In the barranco there are numerous palm trees, which form a magnificent scenery. 

The level of difficulty is low. Especially after the trail starts (beginning in Vega de Rio Palmas) it is very even and comfortable. It is also worth just to walk to the former water reserve and then turn back - particularly if you don't want to be exhausted and don't want to walk all the way to Ajuy.

Here a few impressions of the hike:

Here is the starting point of the hike in Vega de Rio Palmas. You can also park your car here:

The first part of the hike leads through the barranco and is very even:

From here it gets a little more challenging - but still very suitable for beginners:

Further detailed information soon under "activities".

The whole island of Tenerife was without electricity on march. According to the German press agency dpa, the reason was a flash of lightning that struck a power distribution station. It was only in the afternoon that the electricity supply was restored.

The air traffic was not in immediate danger due to the supply by emergency generators. 

Extreme weather conditions on the Canary islands will probably affect us more often in the next few years.

Almost everybody who has had a closer look at Fuerteventura knows "American Star". Even "one time tourists" often know "American Star" of their guidebook or have even visited it once. 

"American Star", the grounded ship on Fuerteventura's west coast, used to be a popular destination for excursions for adventurers for a long time.

Since 2007 it has sunken almost completely and today is only worth a visit for real aficionados.

What is well worth visiting, however, is the following website, which offers very detailed information about "American Star", amongst other subjects. Browsing the web, we were astonished by the extraordinary pictures. On the website of Explorer Magazine (German Website) you will find very special aerial photos.

We think this website is well worth a click!

Not long ago we received an e-mail request in which a tourist asked us where he could still hire a four by four. The tourist discovered (probably in his research) that not every car rental still hires out jeeps. It seems that the number of car hire companies with all-terrain vehicles is declining.

In order to get to remote places, however, for example to Cofete, you need a four by four. Already the insurance demands that in order not to experience unpleasant (financial) surprises in the case of an accident. There are always discussions if normal cars should be used on certain roads or not.

Our tip: Always use a jeep on gravel and unasphalted roads!

We made an effort and filtered which car rentals, at least 2008/2009, still hired out four by fours on the basis of our Car rental ratings.  

The following car rentals hired out jeeps in 2008/2009:

• Autos Guerra
• Autos Serapia
• Autos Soto
• Highlander
• Martel Car
• Moreno rent a car
• PayLess rent a car
  

We are grateful about every tip that completes this list. You can help us via the comment button here in the blog or via the Car rental ratings.

Addition 29/03/2009

According to the information of a tenant, it is not ensured that it is allowed to drive a four by four in the open terrain. Some car rentals have a restrictive clause in their contract that excludes the coverage on unasphalted roads even with a jeep. 

We don't understand that but in practice this happens often. 

If you still want to drive on unasphalted roads, you should ask the car rental to delete the respective passages from the contract. 

Today we would like to publish internal numbers. Fuerteventura alternativ has existed since January 2006, since March 2006 it has been possible to make inquiries about holiday accommodation on Fuerteventura.

At the beginning just a few landlords presented their holiday flats, bungalows, apartments and houses on our website. As time went by, more and more people got interested in us and today we list more than 80 accommodations.

Since March 2006, more than 5,200 inquiries were sent to listed landlords via our contact form. Of course we can't count the number of interested persons who have made an inquiry to the holiday accommodation landlords by phone. 

The great interest shows that there are still many tourists who appreciate alternative holidays off the beaten track and also practice them.

You are also invited to have a look on our listed holiday accommodation on Fuerteventura (in English) and listed holiday accommodation on Fuerteventura (in German) and send completely non-binding inquiries.

Until now Air Berlin has offered free hot meals on flights that take over four hours. According to the magazine "Travel One", this has stopped from 01/05/2009 on.

This affects also the flight route to Fuerteventura and to the other Canary Islands.

Air Berlin now only serves cold meals in the form of sandwiches. If you still prefer a hot meal you have to pay an extra charge. Here it makes sense to order it in advance. On short-distance flights within Germany, Air Berlin even describes the meals as "snack". Such a snack is probably even smaller than a sandwich.

Other airlines have adopted this approach for years and do not serve hot meals any longer.

We were not able to find out yet if these news are also applied to business class.

"Calima" is dry and warm air from the close desert Sahara, which heatens up Fuerteventura and the rest of the Canaries several times a year. The air is then dusty and extremely hazy. For elderly people "Calima" is particularly burdensome and incomfortable due to the dry air.

Dear visitors of Fuerteventura alternativ!

From now on you can find the Fuerteventura alternativ - blog with many interesting subjects about Fuerteventura. We incorporate internal news, general information about the island, findings from the Internet and much more.

Have fun reading more soon here.

Your team from Fuerteventura alternativ