Gran Canaria - Las Palmas and Maspolomas

This is going to be a short one. Due to some personal developments and some inclement weather, this trip didn't turn out as expected and I wasn't able to go surfing or paragliding. However that's not to say that I haven't fallen for the charms of Gran Canaria, or more specifically Las Palmas.

I arrived by a tiny propeller plane to Las Palmas. The flight was pleasant, smooth and the staff at Air Marroc were the best I've come across. I then checked into my hostel, The Little Surf House, which was amazing, clean, bright and welcoming  without feeling clinically put together like a chain of hotels - everything a hostel should be!

Rosa, the owner, met us and had learned from this very blog that I grew up in Ramsgate, somewhere she had lived for 9 months. For people from a small town this is a MAJOR NOVELTY, and I am nothing if not a victim of novelty. So we chatted about Ramsgate and what to do in Las Palmas. It has to be said that Rosa was amazingly helpful, even getting me signed up to an international hostel group to help me save money. 

Over the coming week I, along with a friend, did a tour of Las Palmas, visiting the old quarter, Vagetta, which holds a tapas night every Thursday. You can actually get tapas and beer for two euros! It's beautiful and full of large imposing Dutch architecture, I sincerely wish I could live in one of these beautiful period homes!

We also went to Maspalomas, which for my taste is too touristy. That being said I did pick up an awesome Back to the Future tshirt which I would have added a picture of if Blogger worked properly with Google Drive! Anyway, Maspalomas doesn't really have a soul or any Spanish spirit, but what it does have is night life. We ended up arriving for the last night of gay pride. While it's not my cup of tea, I did meet some great people from Albania who worked at one of the bars. I am still in touch with them, so that's good. I'd say they were my first new travelling friends. In that I met them and not that they wear sovereigns and bad fake tan!

The shopping in Las Palmas is good, they have a big shopping centre on the sea front with restaurants and lot of sports outlets, plus a gym and what's really great is that it's open late. I went there at 9pm and there was no sign of shops shutting, which is what I like to see. I also came across something I'd never encountered in European shops. If you go into the main supermarket with a plastic bag, you have to use a machine to seal another bag around it - one assumes to prevent shop lifting, though you could quite easily break this outter bag if you wanted and carry on your pilfering ways, if that's your intent.

All this aside, what I really want to talk about is the activity in Las Palmas. As someone who enjoys being active this place was amazing. Within a stones throw of the hostel I could go rock climbing, do yoga, visit several gyms, visit a dance studio. Plus, still within stones throw is the beach, where you can use a number of outdoor gyms or run the length of Las Canteras coast with the swathes of other joggers taking in the views of the sea, harbour and the island's biggest auditorium. Finally as if that wasn't enough, Rosa is on hand to arrange paragliding, surfing, wind surfing, kayaking, mountain biking and I'm sure a whole host of other activities. 

The eternal spring weather also means that activities are on most of the time, though there are still some times when they have to down tools to keep people safe. 

All in all, I'd definitely stay here again. In fact I plan to. Maybe a little earlier in the year, but not by much as temperatures still went up to 30 degrees at times, which is high enough when you're being active. I'll also be back to visit my new found friends and have a big night out in Maspalomas, though it will be Las Palmas I'll be returning to as the lifestyle has really captured my heart.

World travel day 2 - Road to the Sahara

Mists over the Atlas Mountains

I wasn't planning on making another video on my second day, after all I was spending 10hrs in a car... However I underestimated Morocco and it's amazing scenery, dramatic weather and very interesting people, for that Morocco I am sorry.

The day started at 6:30am, which I was surprisingly awake for. I was met by my driver Hicham and we quickly made our way through the winding back alleys of the souks to the car, a big 4x4 with a safari snorkel.

It was still very cold and just around sun rise. This meant that the mists were still low and hugging the Atlas Mountains when we got there, creating beautiful views and an unexpected rainbow, all set to the background of burnt red rocks and deep green trees. As the day went on the sun burnt the mists away and the vast views of the mountains and later on the wide expanses of desert were epic. 

En route we stopped at a few cafes and tourist shops where the local people were actually less pushy with their wares than I thought they would be. 

Throughout the journey Hicham highlighted points of interest, including the country's main filming location, where they shot Gladiator and some scenes from Babel. This and the ever-changing scenery made the journey pass very quickly and we were soon at the desert. 

The real fun started when we went off road. Hicham picked out the path with an obvious knowledge and understanding of the area, throwing the car around very safely over hills, along long since dried river beds and even through a sand storm that brought visibility down to a couple of feet. Hicham said that they were expecting a sandstorm as there had been snow and mists on the mountains that morning.

We arrived at 4:30pm and I was quickly shown to my tent, which far out stripped my expectations. I then unpacked did some video editing and was considering going to bed when I was informed dinner was ready, I then realised it was only 6:30pm.... It had been a long day and surprisingly tiring, but a lot of fun, which did bode well for the day ahead. 

If you want to find out more about sand boarding I'll be posting another blog with the rest of my experience soon, plus you can check out the camp's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ErgChigagaLuxuryDesertCamp

The World Is Not Enough - the first step

Hi, if you don't already know me (Hi mum) my name is Niall, though I mostly go by Ni.

I'm planning to take 18+ months out of my daily life to go back packing around the world, a trip I have been planning and saving for over the last year or so.

A world tour is one of my two main life goals, the other being raising a family. I'm hoping it's going to be a trip to remember, but to ensure it's a trip that I ACTUALLY remember, I'm starting this blog, with less than a week until I leave my life here in the UK behind.

So I suppose there are two things I need to cover off here, who the hell am I and what the heck am I doing...

Ten things about me
1. I'm 30 years old
2. I live in London, but grew up in Ramsgate, Kent (England)
3. I'm half Irish and half Sri Lankan (Go hybrids/mongrels)
4. I'm an identical twin (his name is Eddie)
5. I've sky dived from 13,000ft and bunjee jumped from a crane (can't remember how high that was)
6. I'm a public relations professional and was once named Employee of the Year by a former agency
7. I was the face of my university for a year (Luton, now Bedford University)
8. My interests include the gym/fitness, drawing, manga & graphic novels, films, etc
9. I am a victim of novelty - I'll give pretty much anything a go
10. I consider myself to be a bit old fashioned, as in I'll hold a door open for a lady or assist an old person with their bags, etc
Bonus. I was once nearly run over by Stephen Hawking in the London Science Museum

What I'm doing
Basically I'm backpacking around the world with the exception of Europe, which I plan to do when I get back to the UK and start working again. I'm not planning everything out too much as I want to go whereever the wind blows, but plan on Africa, India, Sri Lanka (I've never been) Nepal, East Asia, Polyneisa and down to Australia where I have a year working visa. I'll then do South and North America before going to Greenland and finally heading back to the UK.

My first stops will be; dune boarding in the Sahara Desert, surfing and hang gliding in Las Palmas, volunteering at a Gorilla and monkey sanctury in the forests of Cameroon before making my way to South Africa.

I'm going to be vlogging my experiences too and have created my first video which I hope you'll enjoy - even if it is a bit terrible - I promise to at least try to get better and all comments are welcome : )

Live long and prosper,

Ni