Mini break in Fuerteventura
A weekend of sun, fun and surf
Over the years and after some negative experiences at work, Charlie had gotten used to travelling on her birthday. She also had spent that day at the best surfcamp in Fuerteventura before and had really enjoyed it. Therefore, she decided to take a mini-break just over the weekend of her birthday to swap the busy London life for two days of surfing.
Flying out just for the weekend
Charlie pays attention to flight prices anyway, but ever so much if she’s only going abroad for a few days. For some reason, prices for flights to Fuerteventura had increased remarkably that year. David and Ann from the Billabong Surfcamp confirmed Charlie’s impression and they had seen a decrease in guests because of that. (What a shame for such an awesome place!)
Ever tried Birmingham airport?
Amongst the numerous London airports, Charlie couldn’t find a reasonably priced flight this time, but she remembered that the train to Birmingham where she had visited a friend a few months earlier would stop at Birmingham International. That was only a two-hour train ride from London Euston (not much more than you need to get to any London airport). Perfect! And there was a flight for a reasonable price that would leave Friday morning and return on Monday. That was what Charlie had been looking for. One caveat was there though: She would have to get to the airport the night before to catch the flight at 6 in the morning. But Charlie was used to sleeping at airports anyway. Thanks to the restaurant Bennie & Frankies at Birmingham airport, Charlie slept quite well for being in an airport as they had a padded bench that was still up for grabs as Charlie arrived at midnight.
The flight to Fuerteventura went without anything that would be worth mentioning but Charlie learned a lesson upon arrival: Even if you travel to a place where you’ve been before and you almost know the bus times by heart, it is still worth checking beforehand as you might be arriving on a bank holiday. Despite the little wait though, Charlie arrived at the Billabong surfcamp that Friday at 1 p.m. and took care of some grocery shopping before the other surfers would return to the camp. Charlie was looking forward to meeting new people.
Whom she met at the camp
The first people she met as she was preparing her lunch were Olga and Lorenzo. Olga was staying at the camp for 6 weeks as she had some time in between jobs. Lorenzo had been at the camp before and was just spending a holiday there to meet up with some other surfers. As Charlie, they all had been at the Billabong Surfcamp before. Charlie was impressed to see that some people managed to meet again as it seemed that the surfers Charlie had met before all had the intention to return and meet again but never found a suitable time for everyone.
The guys Lorenzo was meeting up with at the camp were Benji who was from Switzerland, Louis from Austria, and Simon from Sweden. They all had been at the camp many times and had surfed in different parts of the world. Especially Benji had been clearly living the dream! He had spent several months in California to learn surfing.
Charlie also had a quick chat with Sarah and Kyle. Kyle was from Scotland, and Sarah was originally from Italy but lived with him in Scotland. Her English was proper Scottish if you know what I mean. Towards the evening Charlie had a little nap in the hammock and started to feel a bit chilly. Sarah noticed and came to cover Charlie in a blanket. That’s why Charlie loves this place so much! The people are always lovely, and they care about you even if you’ve just met them.
In the afternoon, Charlie also met Helena and Erika. Charlie didn’t even hear the whole story about how they had met, but she was again impressed by the things other people she met on her travels had to tell.
Paddle boarding in front of the camp
Olga had the idea to go out with the paddle board in the afternoon as the sea was very calm that day and more than inviting for a paddle. Charlie decided to join her together with Helena, Erika, and Ana. Ana was at the camp for a few days only as she was living in Gran Canaria and wanted to dip her toes into a proper surf experience.
This time they paddled around the bay, towards the harbour, around a boat that looked like a pirate ship, and returned as opposed to the last paddle with Grace and Leanne when they only went out a bit to secure the boards at the buoys and chill in the sun. They stopped several times in between to refresh in the water as it was a very hot day with almost no winds. Charlie clearly enjoyed a little swim in the warm Atlantic waters.
Sunrise paddles
Olga also went out paddling Saturday morning at sunrise and Charlie was surprised as she hadn’t even thought that this was possible before Ann or David would open the office. But Olga had asked for the keys the evening before and they had made an exception in return for her assistance in opening up in the morning. When the others noticed, they decided to go for a morning paddle all together on Sunday morning. They watched the sunrise from the camp and got on the water as soon as the sun was up. It was very calm, almost like a lake rather than the open sea, and offered the perfect opportunity to spot the manta rays in the water. (Helena looked up later what kind it really was, but Charlie doesn’t remember.) They paddled along the coast towards Rocky Point and got a view of the island Charlie hadn’t seen before. Back at the camp, they had breakfast in front of the house together before they went out surfing at 10 a.m.
Getting back on the board
It had been a few months since Charlie had been surfing the last time and she wasn’t sure how much her muscles would remember. The waves that weekend were quite small as everybody was waiting for the next big swell. Some of the others were a bit disappointed when they arrived at Giulio’s secret spot in the morning and noticed the size of the waves, but Charlie was more than happy to be back on a board again and she had a lot of fun both days.
On Saturday they were in the group of surf instructor Fede who usually starts the lesson with some theory. He explained how to get speed when the waves are small and less powerful. He showed the proper pumping technique and Charlie had something to practice over the weekend.
On Sunday they were in the group with surf instructor Giulio and he gave Charlie some useful tips on how to make her paddling more efficient to get more speed when catching the waves. For the first time, Charlie had the GoPro with her in the water and got to record her surfing and that of the others in the group. Back at the camp, everybody was very excited to see how those shots had turned out to be. Over a Tropical (the beer of the Canary Islands), they laughed at each other’s poses in the water.
Lunch places for surfers in Corralejo: La Lonja and Citrus
On Friday, they all had a self-prepared lunch together at the camp. On Saturday, Charlie went for Lunch with Olga, Helena, and Erika. Olga knew about a traditional place next to the harbour called “La Lonja”. It was a building with impressive graffiti (of similar quality to those in London) that had been built to host boats if they were not at sea and you could see that the fish that was served in that place came directly from the boats. Erika remembered her hometown in Brazil where they had a similar restaurant by the sea and sometimes had to wait a long time for the food to be served as the fishing boat hadn’t returned yet. (Another destination to add to Charlie’s ever-growing bucket list.)
At “La Lonja”, the four girls also had to wait for a bit, but it was not for a fishing boat but for other guests to finish their meal and vacate a table for four. It might be a bit annoying to wait if you’re hungry, but it is always a good sign if a restaurant is busy. Charlie can highly recommend this place. The tapas and Paella they shared that day were very tasty and they had a handsome waiter who seemed to be in a flirty mood.
Meeting old and new friends
On the second day, Charlie joined two British girls for lunch that she had only met that day: Suzanna and Michelle. Suzanna had been at the camp many times and had met her boyfriend there with whom she was now living in London. She also still remembered another surf instructor who used to work there, Kike, and who was also visiting that same weekend. Charlie had had her very first surf lessons with him some time ago. Again, Charlie was very surprised that all the surf instructors remembered that she had been there before. That is impressive if you think about how many people they have met over the years. But it is nice to return to a place where people remember you and greet you with a hug.
With Suzanna and Michelle, Charlie had lunch at Citrus. That was a little bar around the corner from the camp where Charlie had tried to have lunch before but last time it had been closed for some strange reason. She remembered the people she was with back then, including an Italian guy who thought he could walk a short distance without shoes. Don’t ever do that in a hot country as the asphalt can get very hot! He learned his lesson that day and the girls carried him back to the camp. (Yes, you are allowed to laugh as you are reading this!)
Charlie immediately noticed that she had a good connection to Suzanna and Michelle. They both were equally well-travelled and had been working as dancers for many years. Suzanna was also living in London and they agreed to meet up sometime. After some really good conversations at lunch, Charlie felt as if she had just made new friendships to take home. Similar to one of her closest friends in London, Jagoda, whom she had also met at the Billabong Surfcamp.
Evenings amongst surfers
She spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening with Suzanna and Michelle. They had rented a convertible and were about to get to El Cotillo which is another great surf spot on the west coast and from where you could see the sunset. Suzanna had seen the sunset there before when she met her boyfriend in Fuerteventura. She now wanted to share this experience with Charlie and Michelle. All the others wanted to stay at the camp that evening as Lorenzo had offered to cook a traditional Italian Pasta. Again, Charlie had a little deja vu of a few Italians trying to make Carbonara at the camp which ended in messing up the kitchen and having an interesting meal from a previous stay at the camp.
Sunset road trip
The three girls went on a little road trip in the evening towards El Cotillo. On that occasion, Charlie will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Upon return to Corralejo, they were very hungry but had missed the meal at the camp that had been prepared by Lorenzo and was very tasty, according to those who had eaten it. The three girls were in the mood for a burger and went to a place that David had recommended that same day to Charlie: Single Fin. Charlie couldn’t believe that she had never eaten there before, and it was certainly a good choice. It is located right opposite the Karaoke Bar Flicks, where Charlie had also spent some fun nights before.
They then returned to the camp to enjoy a beer and honey rum with the others. Later that evening, there were also some Mojitos involved that Simon had prepared after Lorenzo had just made it on time to the supermarket to get the missing limes. An Italian guy running fast to leave the camp can mean many things but in this case, the reason was the opening times of the nearby supermarket. He had had 4 minutes. The quality of the Mojitos later though caused some debate around the table. Charlie clearly enjoyed it though. Simon had done a good job!
Three completely different evenings with the same people
Charlie had in total three evenings at the camp this time and all three were completely different. Friday night they all went out for dinner at Tapas Oscar – Tapas were always a must when in Corralejo. After dinner, they went to Buena Onda which is THE surfer bar in town and therefore a must as well. The guys clearly were onto something that night as they started mixing wine, beer, and several cocktails. As Charlie had spent the previous night at the airport, she was unfortunately too tired to stay out past midnight, but she heard that they all had had a great night out at Waikiki and returned to the camp just before sunrise.
This resulted of course in a massive hangover on Saturday so that the following evening went relatively quiet. Fede the surf instructor stayed for a bit at the camp and talked about his band. They were in the process of recording an album and he played some tunes they had already on tape. Charlie was very impressed by what she heard. If you want to listen to it, give it a like on Instagram: @ilex_sounds.
The boys went out for dinner, but Charlie had clearly eaten too much for lunch (which was also a late lunch at 4 p.m.) at “La Lonja” and just had some snacks at the camp. For the fact that it was a quiet night, they still stayed up quite late and Charlie enjoyed several Tropical and shots of honey rum with Simon and Benji. A night full of honey rum is another must when on the Canary Islands. Some more songs were added that night to the surf-evergreens: Last time, it was Hero by Enrique Iglesias and Knowing Me, Knowing You by Abba, this time it was Fool’s Garden with their Lemon Tree.
Until we meet again
As they said their goodbyes before Charlie took off Monday morning, they were sure they all would meet again at the Billabong Surfcamp in the future. Charlie had made some new friends and what was in reality just a weekend break felt like a full holiday as so many things had happened in just 2,5 days. Charlie hadn’t even mentioned to anybody at the camp that it had been her birthday that weekend, but it had been the perfect celebration.
PS: As Charlie passed the passport control upon return at the airport, she was asked the usual questions: Do you live in the UK? Where did you travel from? How long have you been there? Charlie answered: Yes. From Fuerteventura. Just for the weekend. Was that for your birthday? Happy Birthday! Border controls can be surprisingly pleasant.
