Yes, I’m turning 40 today. Enough about that. I am not yet answering any of the hundred messages on Facebook on the account that I am slapped down on the beach Del Duque in the southern part of the island. With birthday in December, it is definitely the first time I get to spend it on a beach.
Here it is way more crowded and quite a bit more expensive than in the north. Also, this is the first beach ever where they want to charge 2.5€ for a shower. Like, there’s no fresh water to splash in your face, at all.
It is a beach with dark, volcanic sand, which is a bit thicker and heavier, so the wind doesn’t carry it as much as the white sand. But of course, it ends up everywhere. The wind is quite strong today and the waves are harsh. I am a bit surprised at many parents who let their children go out and “ride the waves”; because really, they are of the sort that would much rather ride you. When the water gushes back out, the force that it tries to drag you along with is just astonishing. Lidia saw a grown woman break down in tears, apparently after a not so nice experience with the sea. Just be safe there, people.
It’s hard not to have a plan. When hunger reminds of itself, we pretty much start running around and manage to visit a couple of towns before we decide to go and check what the famous Playa Las Americas is all about. Just as expected, it is a busy-busy place of major tourism. The street we park the car in is now faceless under the colorful invitations to leave your honest money there spending it on food or suspicious brand-name merchandize. There is something about signage in Russian that makes me want to turn around and run long and fast. We were lucky, though to find a restaurant that didn’t suck as much as design of its sign suggested. The food was quite good and the waiter – entertaining and pleasant.
Today we also drove a complete circle around the island.