Khujada 2

Ahead of our departure, now three weeks away, it’s not all CNED (schoolwork), boat preparation and beach outings.

The archaeological dig at La Cueva Pintada, a site dedicated to the preservation of and research into pre-Hispanic life on Gran Canaria, proffered the opportunity of some extracurricular historical tourism, and what we parents hoped was a more engaging learning experience than some of the drier CNED manuels.

Right in the centre of town in Galdar, in the shadow of their holy mountain, what was once a village of dozens of houses has now been encompassed within a single new construction.

Audiovisual exhibits and reconstructions endeavouring to recreate the archaeologists’ (somewhat idealised) vision of what life would have been like before Spanish colonisation destroyed the idyllic (as portrayed) existence of the Guanches almost wiping them out entirely, filled out the ruins and the finds into a well-rounded visit that gave us a very clear picture of what life may have been like before the modernisation imposed on the island by its Castilian colonists.

We then struggled to find a decent restaurant before meandering back through the island’s interior.

We could have picked a better day to hire a car to explore the island. 34°C in the shade of the boat as we prepared to set out, and 36°C and rising as we drove south from Las Palmas, so we opted to explore the coast rather than the interior.

Maspalomas and its sand dunes beckoned as the best option to combine tourism with the beach. Not quite La Dune du Pilat but still a great playground for the children.

Arriving at the edge of the dunes on our approach to the beach we were a little shocked to be confronted by regular instances of naked men seemingly thrusting towards both the sun and us passers-by.
Whilst we’ve nothing against nudism per se, the male bias and frankly in-your-face stance of some made the experience a little distasteful – a bit gross but all part of life’s rich tapestry, right?

We soon found space on the great beach and made the most of the breakers rolling in from the acceleration zone off the island’s southern tip.

Don’t worry, it’s not us, but there was drama in the marina this afternoon when a motorboat caught fire.

After a productive morning of catching up on schoolwork, our reward was lunch in the restaurant.
Our 3.30pm departure suggests we are adapting to at least one Spanish custom.
Leaving the restaurant shortly before six meant we were a little late for the beach, so an afternoon of rowing round the marina and fishing beckoned … until distracted by a fire a couple of pontoons down.

It took the fire brigade sufficient time to arrive before turning up and doing their thing for us to be entertained by:
1) have-a-go pontoon dwellers throwing buckets of water onto the rapidly accelerating fire
2) brave marina staff towing the stricken vessel out and away to eliminate the risk of the fire spreading, nudging it towards the boatyard travel hoist dock, before

3) the eventual arrival of the RNLI (equivalent) who chugged in once the fire was out and the excitement over!

This morning the tender was inflated for a quick trip over to marina reception (it’s a LONG way round on foot) before lunch. Arriving at 13.30 to find the office was closed left us non-plussed since Saturday morning’s opening hours are from 0800 to 1400 … still adapting to Spanish time!

Day One of home schooling for the children and Skipper is taken aback to learn that ‘triangle quelconque’ is a genuine geometry term taught in the lycee (was insistent it had to be ‘scalène’ with proper Greek roots).

After years of conjugal criticism of the British for dumbing down specific scientific terms for lay colloquialisms (varicelle / varicella versus chickenpox), what good fortune to have the ‘whatever’, or possibly ‘wotevver triangle’.

The children are working hard to start catching up with their respective syllabi, and it’s not straightforward to hold three different classes (5eme, 6eme and CE2) in the same small space, nor is it easy for the children to maintain the discipline of the classroom, particularly when each one is having different lessons and it’s 28-30 degrees outside.

At least the facilities for la récré aren’t too shabby!

And the canteen offers plenty of variety.