The area around the village of La Oliva is spectacular in its reddish colors.
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The landscape is barren and almost devoid of settlements, just a house here and there.
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Moon-like landscapes abound.
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Would you like to live there?
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A typical bus stop along the road. Main roads are, btw, very good - paved and in a good shape.
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The whole island is full of this little red plant. I have no idea what it's called, but it makes for a colorful foreground.
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Fuerteventura is a very windy island so people have made use of the wind power since ancient times. And yes, that's me. :)
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Los Molinos is a small villages of maybe ten houses set on a beach and surrounded by magnificent cliffs.
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Typical colors: white and green.
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An older house. I love the lamp.
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The village square.
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Deserted sandy beach.
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I don't know where all the inhabitants were, but we didn't see a soul.
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Waves crashing against the rocks.
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There's a path to the nearby cliff which you can climb with some great views.
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The thunder of crashing waves is deafening.
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Our next stop was the village of Las Playitas.
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It reminded me of some Greek islands.
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A very imaginative letter box.
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Apart from green, blue is also a popular color for house paint.
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It was scorching hot and the promenade was deserted.
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Las Playitas from the inland side: it looks like a white village in the middle of the desert.
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We heard that there is a lighthouse not far from Las Playitas. We drove along this valley ...
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... and saw an imposing structure on top of a hill. "What the hell is this?" we thought.
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It turned out this was the lighthouse we were headed to! On top of a 200-meter cliff, it offered fantastic views.
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There was a lookout point ...
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... high above the sea ...
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... with nothing but the desert and the water all around.
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An obligatory fish-eye shot. ;) Yes, the sea is almost 200 meters down below.
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The position of the lighthouse is really impressive.
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Several dirt roads deep down in the valley.
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Later on we stopped in the town of Pájara. Peter wsa dwarfed by a giant cactus.
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The church in Pájara with a lush and shady park.
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It seemed odd to us that all towns and villages were incredibly deserted. There was nobody in sight. Did we land in the land of ghost towns?
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The return trip back to the north where we were staying was spectacular again. The road between Pájara and Betancuria, lined with picturesque white stones, twists across a pass.
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Curves.
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The road on the other side of the valley.
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Flower.
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You can only stop at a few designated places.
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The harsh landscapes with sparse vegetation is very scenic.
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One of the stops has regular visitors - little ground squirrel, which are so used to people they come running when they hear a car stopping.
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They eat out of your hand or try to grab hold of the goodie to eat it somewhere hidden where there's no danger another squirrel will steal the food.
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The village of Vega del Río de Palmas has a picturesque plaza with a church.
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I noticed an unusual structure at the side of the church.
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An inn? We never found out, the place was closed and there was absolutely nobody. Completely abandoned.
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At another lookout point at the top of another pass there were two giant statues of men in thongs. :)
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Expansive views back towards Betancuria ...
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... and towards the north.
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The landscape amazed me.
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Rolling hills.
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On the road close to La Oliva we basked in the late afternoon light.
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Just before returning home we drove to the village of El Cottilo to admire the cliffs and long, wind-swept beaches.
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