As a solo traveller, it was a little different to go on holiday with my partner, but I knew it was going to be great. We had an early morning flight from Manchester airport to Tenerife South, which made us both feel exhausted. It was my first time on AirEuropa flight but honestly it was great, we were offered larger seats as the plane was under-booked, were given pillows and blankets and had Mr.Bean to watch as in-flight entertainment. I have had flights with these luxuries previously, but not on what I considered a short-haul flight. When we arrived in Tenerife at 7:30am we were both about ready for bed after being up for close to 24 hours, but didn't want to waste our first day in Tenerife and had hours until we could check-in to our accommodation. When we left the airport we travelled to Adeje to visit the World-Famous Siam Park, but first went for breakfast in a local cafe about 5 minutes away. I'd visited Spain a lot as a child and being in Spain again made me feel very nostalgic, so for breakfast ordered an old favourite, 'tortilla Espanola' (Spanish Omelet) which was delicious especially after not eating in hours. Not too long later we were rearing to go to visit Siam Park. It wasn't even 10am yet and it was already an incredibly warm day. When we arrived at Siam Park we started off by going on the Lazy River, getting there before any of the rides had even opened, so were pretty close to the front of the queue. Unfortunately, I have none of my own photos as I didn't bring my waterproof phone case or camera, and despite being tired it was a fantastic day. We went on nearly all the rides, sunbathed, got a little sunburnt and swam in the Wave Palace. After a long day we made our way to North Tenerife where our accommodation was, tucked in-between Tejina and Tegueste, close to the Anaga Mountains. Staying away from the hustle and bustle of the more touristy spots in Tenerife was not only something a bit different to do to experience Tenerife for what it really was, but was also a way to save a considerable amount of money especially for the time of year. I don't do normal! It was a bit of a trek, pretty much the entire length of the Island by bus, but it was much cooler (heat-wise) and the views alone were well worth the longer journey. We eventually arrived at Chalet Anagato where we were greeted by the friendly owner, Jesus, and his 3 cats and showed to our outdoor cabin. Love! On Thursday we had unintentionally slept in, after being worn out from the combination of the heat, the travelling and the frolicking about in Siam Park. We decided to visit Tejina, the village/town about a mile from where we were staying. We went for lunch in another local cafe and had some of the most delicious dishes ever and only to a grand total of 11 Euros, including drinks and dessert. I got a pleased 'best burger of my life' - quote unquote, from my partner, Jake and there's nothing I could fault with my own food. After mooching around some local shops after our lunch, the suns rays got hotter, establishments were closing for the afternoon, and we went back to our cabin to have a little siesta of our own. Later that day we ordered in pizza, watched a movie and spent the evening relaxing and soothing our sunburn from the day before, with aloe vera. Friday was a cloudier day than promised which made it a quite cool, with clouds overhead, but still went on with our plan for the day anyway. We got the bus to Puerto de la Cruz to go and visit Lago Martianez, a swimming pool complex built into the ocean. It was beautiful despite the cloudy day. Jake stayed in a little longer than me as the water was so so cold without the sun to warm us or the water. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time there, even outside of the water. We sat by the pools for a while, watching the clouds and hoping they'd pass. After a while we decided to change back into regular clothes and wander around the rest of Lago Martianez, and got some ice cream, trying to make the most of a less than warm day. Mid-afternoon, Jake and I decided to go and be tourists and look at the souvenir shops. I got my obligatory postcards for my best friend and my travel journal and even when we didn't buy anything, had a lot of fun just spending time together. As we exited one of the last shops, there was a man outside with 2 parrots, offering people to hold them and taking pictures, which was really nice for the most part, except for when he put one of the parrots on my extremely sore shoulder, suffering from what was basically self-inflicted sunburn. It hurt more than I expected, but I suppose burnt shoulders and parrot claws/feet(?) aren't the best combination. Another few minutes down the road, there was a spa where fish could eat the dead skin off of your feet - a little gross, I know - but it was quite nice, it just tickled quite a lot more than I expected. I don't think it's something I'd do again but it was something I'd always wanted to try and it was definetly an experience. With our baby soft feet, we went to McDonald's to get some late lunch/ dinner, where Jake got a gourmet burger with a rather fancy tray and a free matte blue Coca-Cola glass. I felt like my burger had downgraded and was rather inadequate. After filling our stomaches we decided to follow the leaflet from the fish-eating spa, to their main location, about a 5 minute walk away, where we had a couples' massage (they seperated us though so it was basically just like a normal massage) which practically sent me to sleep, especially after such a long day. I don't often spend out on such luxuries, but we were glad we did, and this trip was something we'd both been looking forward to all year. After the massages, we really were ready to fall asleep, so decided to make our way back to our Chalet and relax again, they were the best ways to spend our evenings after being in the sun all day. After doing more than planned the previous day, we decided to stay nearby the next day and took a bus to La Laguna. After spending the late morning into early afternoon relaxing, reading, and playing with Zelda, one of the three cats at Chalet Anagato, but definitely my favourite. We didn't do much in La Laguna but walk about and go for food, but it's nice to have some more relaxed days without wasting it, after all, that's what holidays are for. We went to a small cafe that was had an outdoors-inside kind of vibe, if that makes sense, but was really nice and had the best milkshakes. We also had a bread-bowl to share, filled with hot cheese, unlike anything either of us had ever had eaten before, but was very rich so after already eating our main meals, we couldn't finish it. On Sunday, another cooler day, we went about 3 miles from where we'd been staying to visit Bajamar and Bajamar's rock pools. When we first arrived we were both very hungry and went to a pizzeria to have our lunch before we continued with the rest of our day. It was one of the first meals that we'd had that wasn't completely plagued by flies, though they weren't completely gone. The pizza was delicious despite Jake ordering a pepperoni pizza and getting a pizza with just peppers but still enjoyed it. At the end of our meal they gave us some fresh fruit, locally grown bananas and loquat, a small yellow-coloured fruit. I was very apprehensive to try them but did just that after Jake dived right in, though it was too sour for me personally. Taking my leftover pizza to go, we made our way down to the Bajamar rock pools. They were somewhat similar to the pools at Lago Martianez but there was much less separating the rock pools from the violent sea. The wind was very strong before we'd even gotten to the shore and I played photographer and let Jake try out the waters as I wasn't feeling too well. I much preferred experiencing this one from the side-lines. I'd experienced water that cold one too many times already. Despite the strong winds, the sun was shining and you could feel the warmth a lot more when shielded from the wind. After Jake had dried off we went and got yet another ice cream, which unfortunately was plagued by flies and melted so quickly it collapsed in my hand so had to throw the last of it away *heartbroken*. After a little wandering time (and searching for stamps for my postcards, to no avail) we went for an ice cold alcohol beverage, which was absolutely delicious just as the sun was really starting to bear down, pushing us towards a siesta and a relaxed evening back in our cabin. Monday morning came and I was especially solemn that our holiday was coming to an end, as we had planned to leave early the next morning. We went back down to Tejina, to the first cafe we went to, Cafe el Ramal, to have the 'best burger of Jakes life', where I tried a burger too and spent the day trying to enjoy time relaxing before a long and busy day ahead, Packing our stuff to leave was depressing, as it always is, but was more so because I'd fallen in love with our little cabin, and with little Zelda. I still miss her now. Over the course of the week she'd begun to get more and more comfortable with us and gotten to know us more and would come to chill with us, and come to chill in a paper bag she feel in love with and refused to get out of! Tuesday morning arrived far too quickly and we had to leave our cabin early in the day, although I was very happy to be leaving Chalet Anagato a gleaming review. We made a quick pit stop to Siam Park again on our way back. Our flight wasn't until later that night and we waanted to try the rides we'd missed before but still stay relatively close to the airport. It was a lot busier than it had been the week before and it was evident the first time we'd visited we'd come at the right time. I didn't think it was possible to be much busier! I am really glad we got to go for a second time though and felt so lucky to have had such an amazing holiday with my partner.
Thank you so much for reading this especially long blog post. For me, seeing the world and getting to share it is a dream come true for me! The continued support of my readers and the fact that people are coming back to read, means so much to me! Until next time - Nik, KirbyTravels
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After many requests, I have decided to share some of the tips and tricks I have learnt along the way to travel in the most wallet friendly fashion. Budget for me is very important, because from the outside in, I travel a lot, I make some amazing memories, and whilst that is all true, there is a common misconception that I am able to do that because I have a lot of money. I don't. I have to come home and face reality, pay rent, and work as much as possible to cover the expenses of travel so that I can have those adventures to make more amazing memories.
Money does not buy happiness, but it does buy plane tickets! I am lucky enough to have partnered with both of the companies I will mention in this blog, so a quick disclaimer that if you book through the links on this blog, I will get some commission (but it also means more travel blogs! ;) ) TIA First of all, flights. Unlike a lot of people, I actually enjoy booking flights, because of my favourite tool on Skyscanner.com. This is the 'everywhere, anytime' search, or 'explore'. If you're like me and not particularly picky about dates this is perfect, it will show you to cheapest time to go to the cheapest country, but if you can't go on the cheapest dates, they always show when else is also cheap. It also makes it cheaper if you're not entirely bothered about what airport you fly from, so I always type in 'United Kingdom' and again, it will show you the cheapest first, but if that's not ideal for you, it'll show you other airports you can fly from in price order. I love using this tool because it means I never really know where I'm off to next, and I love the element of adventure that brings too! If you're partially open about when you want to go, you can select a whole month instead of just 'anytime' and it'll show you the best offers in that month. A personal 'trick' I use, is booking two one-way flights in times where it is margianlly more expensive, for example, Summer. I'll use a hacker fare, leaving from one airport and returning to a different one. It can be the difference of spending another night away, or treating yourself to a three course meal and a glass of wine overlooking the beach... for example! This time of year it can be a great budgeting tool, because it could mean going from one London airport and returning to another one in London. Not too shabby if you ask me! For a quick example; here's a little walk-through (deals as of July 27th 2018)
I'd advise to get the Skyscanner app, or to be redirected to their webpage, click on the logo above They also do hotels, car hire, and have just launched a beta train searcher (although I've never used any of these) Click on the widget below to go to Skyscanner.com now!
Next off of course, is accommodation. Hostels, hotels, a glass igloo in Lapland or a treehouse in India, they've got it all, and that's booking.com. I mostly use hostels, because as well as being budget friendly, you get to meet so many like-minded travellers, and friends for life. If I've met you at a hostel, yes I'm talking about you! Booking.com is rather simple, and as it is very well known I'm sure many people have used it! I usually search lowest price first and go from there, but the more you travel, the better deals you get. Right now I've got a code for the first 10 people to get £15 off any bookings over £30! If you'd like this code send me a message on my Instagram at @nik2655 and I'll share it with you, on a first come first serve basis. Not so much a money 'saving trick' but if I am booking accommodation in advance (to save money of course) I always make sure the booking is free cancellation and no prepayment needed. Especially when plans change or you come to a date and may not be able to afford your trip anymore, this method is perfect to not pay until you arrive, and sometimes you can save a small amount of money by paying in the countries currency depending on the exchange rates. Sometimes I may be torn between two different flights, so I can secure a reservation at the hostel before I book my plane ticket and I haven't lost a penny if plans change. Spontaneity is fabulous but reality can often get in the way of travel plans, but knowing I can cancel whenever I want and not lose a single penny. To visit their site click the banner on the side of this blog-post! Thank you so much for reading and if I've even helped out a single person, it'll all be worth it. As always, I cannot thank the people enough that read my blog regularly and continue to support me so that I can make my passion into a reality, and it is overwhelming and surreal to see the growing interest and support in something I absolutely adore. If anyone would like anymore blogs about tips and tricks, or has any suggestions, please comment or contact me on this page. Looking forward to sharing more with you all soon from Tenerife. Nik - Kirby Travels *disclaimer to remind people I receive commission from flights/bookings made through the links on this blog :) ** I have seen the spelling mistakes from my last blog now! I apologise but can't edit it now |
AuthorNik, the small town Brit. Traveller, adventure enthusiast, writer, has 2 goldfish. The norm. Archives
August 2018
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