After a couple of quiet days, Team Hubbard was hungry for some activities, and this day didn’t disappoint. My morning started early. Since our arrival the previous day, I’d been eying a volcano that looms over Corralejo – El Volcán de Bayuyo.

The night before, I decided I wanted to run it. Fortunately, I’d brought my trail running shoes with me, and the internet assured me that there were paths. I woke up early and headed off. When reached the base of the caldera, I discovered that the trail was a little hard to find. The landscape was somewhat uniform, since there was little vegetation and volcanic rocks everywhere. Fortunately, there were a couple of signs, so I set off. The trail began by passing along the lower edge of the caldera, providing great views of the summit I was trying to reach.

The landscape in Fuerteventura, which is both volcanic and arid, is simply alien. Also, the trail was clearly not meant for running, as the path was covered in volcanic rocks.

I was worried that I might turn an ankle as I ran. After skirting the base of the volcano, the path turned to head up the rim of the caldera. It was a steep climb, but I soon reached the top. The view back towards Corralejo was well worth the effort!

The volcano is actually a series of calderas. I had climbed to the tallest point. From there, I continued to run along a ridge that wound around other volcanic calderas.

It was an incredible location, and the views from the ridge were stunning. After a little more exploration, I turned around and headed back down (without rolling my ankles or otherwise hurting myself). By the time I rejoined to our apartment, everyone was awake and ready to roll. Guille had been raving about the nearby sand dunes, and we decided to go check them out. Cata had unfortunately come down with the flu, and her parents were caring for her. In Guille’s care, we set off.

After a short drive, we parked on the side of the road and continued into the dune sea on foot.

Our primary goal was to find some particularly large dunes to jump down. Along the way, we noticed that, although we were hundreds of yards inland, the sand was filled with sun-bleached seashells.

We also encountered plants clearly adapted to the harsh environment.

We soon spotted a massive dune in the distance that looked perfect for some tomfoolery. Guille and Lydie headed off to investigate (running single file to hide their numbers).

Guille judged the dune to be perfect, and the jumping commenced!

The dunes really were humungous.

And the jumping was great fun, with the soft sand cushioning our landings. But climbing back up was tough!

We got a call from Diego that he was on his way to join us. We were a little concerned he’d have trouble finding us, but with a little luck he found us.

The dunes really were amazing. This would not be a good place to get lost without any water…

Lydie tried to write “hi” in the sand. It mostly worked.

With sand in every nook and cranny, we headed back to town for lunch. After we got cleaned up, we met up with Teresa at a restaurant on the beach for a late lunch.

Over lunch we decided to visit to a nearby lighthouse and town, El Cotillo. We also decided to take the scenic route along a dirt road that ran past the volcano I climbed that morning.

Along the drive, we spotted a small lava cave.

Naturally, we had to closer inside.

The cave apparently was formed by a lava bubble. It felt like were inside one of those really tasty bubbles on a pizza. The sun was beating down on us, and the cave provided some nice shade.

Lydie wanted her own cave, even if it was a little small.

Onward! The road soon got significantly harder to follow, reminding me of my trouble following the path on my run, but eventually made it back to pavement. After a few more minutes, we made it to El Faro del Tostón – the Toston Lighthouse. Team Hubbard was looking muy fuerte in Fuerteventura!

Waves pound the rocks around the lighthouse, and the chicas enjoyed scrambling on the rocks with Guille. Well with both Guilles if I’m being honest. We had fun exploring tidal pools, where we found little fish and crabs.

After exploring around the lighthouse, we continued on to El Cotillo. Fortunately for us, it was well labelled.

The setting for the small village was idyllic, as it is perched on the side of a cliff.

El Cotillo has a small harbor that was once protected by an 18th Century tower (which was unfortunately closed).

After wandering around the village for a while, we headed back to Corralejo, where we had a lovely dinner in the harbor. It was a great day, and we went to be exhausted.

-Will