Who knew that (after Mallorca) the Canary Islands were the most popular German vacation destination? Not me, but I soon discovered this fact when I walked into our hotel on Fuerteventura… one of the biggest of the islands, which are part of Spain, of course, and located a mere 100 km from Morocco… and noticed that everyone there, including the hotel staff, was speaking German. Go figure.

We stayed at the Iberostar Park (apartment hotel), down on the southeast side of the island in Jandia. Jandia is 100% tourist development. Our hotel had a spa, which was my only criteria other than a suite so that Sophie could sleep separately. I turned over a new leaf by going on a “Kur” (as the Germans call it… cure, in English) - I gave up all caffeine, sodas, coffee, meat/poultry, alcohol, and cut way back on sugar (the hotel food had many vegetarian options - and great Canary cuisine!! - mojo garlic sauces are my new fave). Soenke went on the steak-and-ice cream diet. He felt great, I came home with a cold.

Possibly my favorite time spent was at the casual beachside “cafe” (shack) with outdoor tables in the sand. Somehow it felt like home. We ate lemon sorbet and watched the waves with our toes wiggled into the sand… a little slice of heaven.

Here are photos of our weeklong getaway:

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It was REALLY windy there on many days, but that didn’t deter our little girl from dominating the playground:

Photos from our little road trip through the island…

Nice view, but most beaches were too rocky to swim:

I loved this! It was in the middle of one of the many, many roundabouts on the island:

We wondered too…

The only form of wildlife we saw:

Dry, dry dry…

A very charming little town we passed through:

Not exactly expecting to see a camel amble through town..

I always wonder what’s going on behind beautiful entrances like this:

Another ice cream break (seemed like Soenke organized those about 3x/day!)

Bye bye Pajara:

So many choices on our way back to the hotel…

(Thus concludes our little road trip).

Back at the ranch, Sophie enjoys the fantastic “Kinderdisco” every evening! (hard to get meaningful photos of that experience…)

And at the end of the kid’s program, out game this giant dog named “Smiley”, who was mobbed with relish by little ones:

At one of our meals, Sophie shows us her view from the high chair (yes, she somehow figured out how to take a photo):

Me!

Sophie learns how to bask like a pro:

Our trip to the local zoo called the Oasis (and that it was!) near the town of Costa Calma. It was fantastic, very tropical with lots of fountains and running water features, and our tickets were good the entire stay!

Sophie’s favorite exhibit - she even stood on one foot to show us how it works:

Our new friend:

Staying out of trouble at a Chinese restaurant up in Corralejo (north side of the island), where we discovered all the Brits were staying:

We discovered a beautiful, swimmable sandy beach up on the northeast of the island. The only weirdness was that all the women were topless - multi-generations of families with grandmas, no kidding, all topless, playing ball in the water with everyone. Too much for me! (ahem, sorry I was not willing to photograph that!)

Sophie kept her top on:

A little video excerpt from our island driveabout:

Sophie has a little too much fun behind the rental car:

A little flavor of the Kinderdisco (Sophie was still trying to figure it all out…):

Last weekend a few ladies (with little ones) rented a vacation house out in the German countryside. It was peaceful and idyllic and wonderful, and Elizabeth took one of the Cutest Baby Photos Ever Taken …

Justus, Sophie S & Sophie E all happily rinse off a day of outdoor fun:

If this isn’t what life is all about, what is !!!!!!!!!!!?!