Lanzarote diaries : Geocaching and exploring in Playa Blanca

I've already told you a little bit about the seaside town of Playa Blanca, which was just a (free) bus ride from our hotel.

We went there a couple of times all together, to walk along the prom and go souvenir-hunting in the gift shops, but I also popped back for a couple of hours just with Sophie, while Madhouse Daddy, Pierre and Juliette splashed in the pool, to go geocaching.

The first geocache that we went looking for had a name that made me smile - "Lanzarote's worst geocache" ! Well, it may not have been one of the most beautiful spots on the island, hidden on a bit of scrubland next to a main road, but it did have the huge benefit of being just a couple of minutes' walk from where the free bus dropped us off and picked us up.

We soon spotted a likely-looking hiding place.

And sure enough, there it was.

We giggled at the treasures that were in there as swaps because they were all complimentary toiletries from the various hotels of Playa Blanca!

But best of all, there were also not one, not two, but THREE travelbugs - yay ! I always love picking up travelbugs and helping them move along on their journeys. These three all came from England so it'll be great to release them in France so they visit another country.

After filling in the logbook, swapping over some treasures and stashing away the travelbugs, we headed down to the seafront. We were really thirsty so we decided to go to Burger King for a drink. There was very little difference in price between the sizes so we opted for the biggest size, then fell on the floor laughing when we saw how huge they were - much bigger than the large size we're used to in France ! 

Feeling suitably refreshed, we wandered along the prom, taking in the views of Fuerteventura just across the water. You could even see the colour of the sandy beach and pick out a few buildings.

We watched the ferries that go back and forth between the islands - they have glass bottoms so that you can watch the fish in the crystal clear water.

Speaking of which, we'd brought some bread from the hotel breakfast and threw it to the fish from the promenade. There were loads of black fish that looked a bit like angel fish with a bright blue spot on them.

I went googling and discovered that they are Canary Damselfish and they look really pretty - you can find out more at the Something Fishy Going On blog. The blue colour is really vibrant.

A bit further along, we saw this hiding in the rocks, which looks like it must be the remains of an exciting-looking fish - maybe a scorpionfish ? (And don't be rude - I know exactly what you're thinking !)

The fish weren't the only things eating the bread - there were also some fairly large crabs, both black ones and bright red ones, which would scuttle out of the rocks, pinch a piece of bread then scuttle away again.

I mentioned to Sophie that the only thing missing on our wildlife hunt was a lizard and suddenly, we saw one !

We wandered along to the far end of the prom and saw this house, which is typical of Lanzarote in many ways - the green window frames and shutters, the white building, the lava walls, the cacti in the garden, ...

 

Down at the end of the harbour wall, there is a statue of a man staring out to sea. The view has also inspired dozens of romantic couples to fasten love locks along the chainlink fence running along the promenade.

There is a small lighthouse on the end of the jetty and, as I took a photo, I was photobombed by something rather surprising ...

a yellow submarine !

Unlike the big commercial yellow submarine that we went in for our submarine safari, this is a small submarine for personal enjoyment. One man's midlife crisis maybe ?!

We walked across a tiny beach covered with fishing boats then headed onto the rocky beach beyond.

We grabbed another quick geocache then headed back to the bus stop ...

... while the man in the submarine headed back to his life of ease in the sky of blue and sea of green !