# 4 Canary Islands, Spain

Mar 1

The Canary Islands are an archipelago of eight islands that belong to Spain, located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa – 100 km west of the border between Morocco and Western Sahara. The islands were formed by ancient volcanoes and shaped by the winds from the Sahara desert. When we were living in England, a lot of Britons visited the Canary Islands. I am actually unsure if I met someone from England who had not visited one of the Canary islands during their lifetime. Most of them returned from their holiday sunburnt and missed their structured team times. Jokes aside, it was a fun weekend getaway.

Because we didn’t have much time to spend here, we took in as much as we could on Gran Canaria.

I love hiking so I made a special trip to Roque Nublo, which translates to the Rock in the Clouds. It sits 1,813 metres above sea level. It is an 80-metre tall volcanic rock and a former place of worship for the island’s indigenous inhabitants. Fresh air and hiking fills my soul with love and happiness.

We also visited the Maspalomas Sand Dunes. The dunes are famous for being a ‘mini desert’, in certain places, all you can see is hills upon hills of sand. The dunes were formed by sand from the bottom of the ocean during the last ice age. Wind blew the sand towards the coast of the island where it piled up in the huge dunes we see now. The building of holiday resorts encircling the dunes has disrupted the wind pattern and experts worry that the dunes will turn to pebble within the next 100 years.

We wished we could have extended our trip and stayed longer. This will be a place we return to and explore more!