Naked men and final walks.

Before leaving for Puerto Calero there was time for two more walks; an 18km coastal walk that Scruffbag wanted to do and a walk over to the west coast for me.

The coastal walk began in Arietta, a small coastal town popular with surfers. The walk was reasonably scenic with flat and easy terrain. It passed by quite a few disused saltpans and their associated water pumping machinery.

It also passed by a purpose built naturist resort. Before we reached the resort we were stopped by a couple, the woman fully clothed and the man naked. except for shoes and a hat. They engaged us in conversation about the walk for about 10 minutes before continuing along their way. It was extremely bizarre - and would have been far less so had the woman not been fully clothed.  The resort itself was very small and the  naked tourists were engaged in all the usual tourist activities.

The walk ended at Costa Teguise, which is the usual, could be anywhere large resort, quite a shock after 18km of unspoilt coast.

The next walk was from Haria, in the centre of the island, to  Famara, on the west coast. This was probably the steepest climb we had done on Lanzarote, though by no means a difficult climb. The descent was a little challenging in parts due to the scree but this was more than made up for by the stunning views.

The town of Famara is small, attractive, popular with surfers and, on the day of our visit, so windy that as we walked beside the long, golden beach, the sand whipped painfully against our legs.

We had originally intended to anchor at the small island of Graciosa off the north coast. However, with the prevailing winds on the nose and time pressing , we decided against this. We did, however, take a trip to the Mirador del Ria, a spectacular mirador cut into the cliff 475 metres high overlooking Graciosa and designed by Cesar Manrique.

Followed by a visit to the volcanic caldera, around 4km away just outside the town of Maguez, this made for a great last trip on Lanzarote.

We then left Arrecife for 3 nights in the marina at Puerto Calero, 11km down the coast. This was a swish, purpose built tourist town complete with tourist prices. It held little attraction for Scruffbag and myself but its sheltered location enabled the rigger to replace the cap shroud so we were ready for departure.