Puerto de Rosario Fuerteventura (Part 2)

Puerto de Rosario is not a very large town but we still had a chat to the Tourist Office to make sure that we weren’t going to miss anything important. On the way into the harbour we had seen some old buildings that looked like fortifications with strangely low canon ports. We discovered that these were actually old lime kilns and apparently the best ones were close to the beach off which we were anchored.

Making our way around to that area we noticed some signs just above the beach. The last thing we had expected the signs to read was “don’t feed the squirrels” but apparently these little stripy squirrels live close to the beach and are a potential menace. We thought that they looked quite cute but I guess that’s part of the problem.

Lime kiln   

The lime kilns were quite large and the one close to our anchorage had been restored so we could see it in full size rather than as a ruin. The lime produced was primarily used for colouring paint which was particularly good for sealing the inside of stone water tanks and painting houses white. The lime was produced here in industrial quantities and was then exported all around the Canary Islands.

The man in the Tourist Office had also told us that close to the lime kiln we would find a series of whale paintings. We found them and we thought them very good indeed. A short distance away we also saw a turtle painting standing over 20 foot high.

Walking back into the town we passed a car park with the huge wall painting above. There is clearly a lot of artistic talent in Puerto de Rosario. On first glance at the photo it’s hard to work out where the real cars stop and the painted ones begin.

All in all, as industrial as it might appear at first glance, we decided that we rather liked Puerto de Rosario with its whole town sculpture park and wall paintings theme. They have clearly made a big effort to revive the face of the place and the roundabouts, small parks and even the benches have received close attention to make them more than presentable. It would be interesting to come back in a few years and see what further progress has been made with the initiative.

The town also provided a café scene that seemed to keep Alex and Lucy happy but in the evening we all retreated back on board BV to rustle up some more tapas, rum cocktails and wine. Our Serrano ham from La Linea was popular and the regular carvings were starting to make it look to be more bone than ham. [Ed: We must get another before we leave the Canary Islands].

Puerto de Rosario bus station market   

During sundowners, we had made a plan to leave in the morning and move on further down the coast. However, we still had one task before we left Puerto de Rosario and that was to visit one of their markets to get some of the famed Fuerteventura Majorero goats’ cheese. It bears a denominación de origin label and is both the first Canary Island cheese to receive this accolade and the first Spanish goats’ cheese to do so as well. Our next sailing destination was likely to be too touristy to get the really authentic stuff and we didn’t want to miss out. The resultant walk to the outskirts of the town was a bit of a trek but we eventually got to the main local market hall which sits over the top of the bus station. We’d been told that this was where all of the local producers brought their wares to sell primarily to the locals. It actually wasn’t quite as large a market as we had expected but it did have everything that we needed. We bought some fresh vegetables and Pimientos de Padron (to flash fry for our sundowners tapas), avoided the fiery-hot looking scotch bonnet chillies, and then watched the fishmonger fillet a huge fish as large as a 3 or 4 year old child. This he did expertly and was clearly enjoying the attention of the onlookers, right up until his lethally sharp cleaver glanced off a water hose, splitting it open and spraying the whole area with a fountain-like jet. After containing the problem he then, somewhat sheepishly, finished off his main task of filleting the fish.

Fuerteventura Majorero goats’ cheese   

Water display over, our sights were then set much more clearly on the various cheese stalls. The one pictured above caught our eye and we were treated to a mini tasting session of all that they had on offer. The cheese is available in a variety of ages of curing and also with a number of different coatings. The more traditional cheeses had oil, paprika or gofio (corn meal) to help preserve them but there was even one with a curry powder coating. We weren’t sure if that was just to keep the British tourists happy or if the locals liked it too. After our tasting, we decided upon a semi-cured variety with lots of local oregano in it and an older firmer variety with the gofio coating.

The Town Hall (we think)   

Shopping complete, we wandered back through the town past some of the older buildings and squares.

Mein Shiff 4 somewhat dominating the harbour   

Back at BV we noticed that we had been joined in the port by Mein Shiff 4, one of the cruise ships which seemed to be following us, its arrival explaining the sudden influx of people in the town. The majority of passengers were probably already on their way to a guided tour of an aloe vera plantation, one of the other major exports of the island. We, however, needed to move on, so we deflated the dinghy, stowed it on deck and got BV ready for going to sea. The late start would hopefully mean a good sailing wind to get us to our next stop, a town so significant town that it doesn’t rate a mention in our Lonely Planet Guide to the Canary Islands!

Puerto de Rosario, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands