Month of Change
Heading into October and I always think it’s the month of change. It seems to be the month that the weather can be a little odd as soon as the clocks change but lets’ keep our fingers crossed the weather continues to stay good.
We are back on the island after an extended trip to France and I want to thank all the friends in the village who sent me little snippets of information while we were away, without you I would have been struggling for things to add.
The newsletter is a bumper edition this month, so many things going on.
Good morning from Charco del Palo, its the 1st of October the sun is shining. What a month September was, the weather was stunning most of the time, warm and a breeze that just about kept things under control. We have had a few showers but nothing to make a huge difference to peoples holidays. Then on Friday 23rd we get a weather warning about Tropical Storm Hermine that originated around the Cape Verde Islands south from us which can sometimes cause major problems but luckily the storm headed out to sea and we got just the edge of it, plus there were no high winds and it stayed very calm, but rain we had, and a lot of it. The main government body of Lanzarote quickly agreed on a total shutdown of any outdoor activities until at least Tuesday, School and sporting events closed. This also had a knock on effect with the Mala Fiesta which has been suspended. On Saturday 24th at 10.30 it started raining, it finally stopped at 09.45 Monday 26th and the sun came out, 33 flights were cancelled in and out of the island and all inter island flights were suspended. Now we wait for plants to spring up everywhere. The picture below is not something you see everyday over here.
Village News
Number one on the agenda today is, ‘Wanted, someone to take over the Newsletter’. I know this will be a big ask and to be honest it would have to be someone who lives here on the island. During this last summer I came to realise that being away on any sort of extended trip made it very difficult to put out the newsletter, plus I was always begging friends to find out what was going on in my absence, and thats unfair.
After the last few years of lockdowns and all the other restrictions that went with it we feel we want to spread our wings and travel more. This year alone we have been in France for 10 weeks and we already have plans made for next year, so I have come to the decision to finish the newsletter. With the Nudelanza website plus the Newsletter we have been keeping people up to date for 12 years with what has been happening in our part of the world.
If nobody takes over I will call it a day after the 1st December 2022 edition.
So if anyone out there wants to give it a go then I will be only too happy to pass the newsletter onto them. Please let me know.
One thing that will not change Wendy will still continue with bookings and any general information: wendylanzarote@gmail.com
We arrived back on Thursday 1st September and I was looking forward to having a beer/coffee with the new La Plazita owner only to find that after opening for business a few weeks previous he had gone on holiday for a week! But he is back open and doing well.
The Tropical has been closed for many weeks due to a family bereavment which took much longer than they expected but as from Wednesday 21st they will be open again.
Lili’s is open and Carlos is doing a great job of keeping things running.
The Cuerva Paloma is also open and doing well.
The supermarket is also doing a great job, just check when arriving of opening times, as I have said before things change daily in the village for all things, especially bar times.
At the time of writing I have no news regarding the village sign other than it was taken away and will be replaced. Someday!
I received a mail from the village committee regarding the possibility of a Fibre Optic internet connection being available in the village. The committee sent an email to all residents in the village but only got back 24 replies, and it was an equal number who wanted it and those that were not bothered. So if by chance you did not receive a mail from the village committee please get in touch with them on email: charcovecinos@gmail.com and let them know if you would be interested or not. Plus this will be talked about at the next village meeting probably in November.
Barefoot Retreats
Well things are moving along with the work and a few days ago a huge truck arrived with eight Washington Palms on board and were duly planted around the pool area and towards the front of the building where the hot-tub will be. Something I learnt many years ago that if you want to transplant palm trees before they are moved you must find and mark the tree pointing to North on a compass. Then when replanted they must be put back exactly in the same orientation, if not they are likely to die. I had a walk around the whole site with the owner a few days ago, there is still a great deal of work to be done but it’s getting there. I did raise the question regarding the menu available and being mainly Vegan. I think he was surprised from the feedback I have received that quite a number of people were disappointed that a more normal menu was not being considered. So he is now giving it a lot of thought.
My thanks to Neil Ventress for the photo’s.
Fiesta in Mala
The Fiesta de las Mercedes in Mala started on Friday evening 16th with a mens card competition followed by children doing various singing and dancing.
Wendy decided to enter the cake competition and with the death of HM Queen Elizabeth she made a very patriotic cake to show her respect for the Queen. Alongside the cake she put a very special card which was sent to her Grandmother from the Queen to celebrate her 106 birthday, she did in fact get another on her 107th birthday. This was followed by Bingo with people coming from far and wide just to win a toaster or other various appliances.
Friday 24th and it’s been another beautiful day and the Fiesta has been in full swing but with the news that after this evening the fiesta will be suspended due to the weather warning, people turned out in force for the evenings entertainment. We had a great evening meeting friends from Mala who almost without exception all wore traditional dress, the tables were all decorated and it looked fantastic. The music is of course a mix of traditional and Latin America beat which is almost impossible not to have your feet tapping away in seconds. A great evening had by all, it’s just a shame that the main Saturday evening was cancelled. Monday evening and the storm has passed we took a trip to the Cantina and were told the remaining Fiesta activities would now be cancelled.
Out & About
Who remembers the bank in Guatiza? Well if you have forgotten or you have no idea it was almost opposite the supermarket and just to the left. Like many of the smaller banks it was closed and then just a ATM was left behind, then a few years later that also dissappeared, the building was then left empty for many years. But now its been brought back to life not as a bank but an artists workshop called Lanzarote Art. I did not see any opening times while there just keep an eye out when passing.
As you all seem to like clicking on the various things I put up, have a look at La Garita beach Arrieta from the webcam:
https://www.ayuntamientodehari…
Fiesta Mancha Blanca
The weekend of 10th/11th saw the amazing festival in Mancha Blanca, pilgrims from all corners of Lanzarote, thousands of people nearly all dressed in traditional clothing walked to this small village to see the image of Our Lady of the Volcanoes. This is the biggest event on the island and it never fails to impress, people arriving some extremely tired but all smiling. Once the official part of the day is over the whole village then explodes into a huge party with dancing and the people from Lanzarote generally just having a great time. There is another side to the fiesta, many people bring boxes of food which is collected then distributed to the less fortunate people on the island, literally tons of food was donated this year. The whole event culminated in a huge concert on the evening of Wednesday 14th attracting an estimated 60,000 people, they were entertained by the famous Asturian singer Melendi.
