Formentera day 7

Today has been our last day on the island.  Another warm day with clear blue sky and only a slight breeze.

There are 2 restaurants in the resort - the main one where most people eat most of their meals, and a smaller, more exclusive one that is not part of the all-inclusive package we had booked.  By all accounts, we were led to believe that the food is slightly better than the main restaurant (it is a-la-carte), but the service is slow and the prices are unrealistically high.  So we did not go there for any meals, except breakfast this morning.  We were given a "freebie voucher" to have breakfasts there, but we only used it today.  It was as expected ... food was nice, ambiance was pleasant, and the service was slow.  Pleased we didn't waste our time or money going there for any other meals.

Most of the day was spent beside the pool, as before.  Someone had placed half a slice of bread on the wall, intended for the seagulls, but it was mid-afternoon before one of them discovered it.  By then it was hard and dry, so the clever seagull carried it to the shallow water at the edge of the pool and dunked it in to make it softer and easier to eat.  Two other seagulls saw this and came to partake in the snack, but they arrived too late.

We returned to the room for showers sometime after 5pm, and then enjoyed a cold beverage on the terrace before supper, as has become our routine.  Supper was excellent as it has been all week.  Back in the room to pack our bags because the shuttle bus will be here to fetch us at 08.00 tomorrow morning.  Overall, we rate this as a very successful holiday, and are both feeling noticeably more relaxed than when we arrived.

Enjoy the photos.

The "other" restaurant where we had breakfast

Geraniums in the hotel

Formentera day 6

After a very un-refreshing sleep for an unknown reason, we rolled out of bed around 08.00.  Nothing special planned for the day, which is exactly what we did ... nothing special, except for converting sunlight into vitamin D beside the pool.

Took a few photos of the little lizards we see here.  They are generally shades of green in colour and fairly cute if you are into that sort of thing.  Also cute, although I was not able to get any photos, are the little sparrows that come to take a bath in the shallow water at the edge of the pool.  They are very tame, probably so used to having lots of people around.

We have not attended any of the evening entertainment shows during our visit - not really our thing.  However the show this evening looked interesting, so we went to take a look.  It was a show by 1 man and 1 lady, doing a series of acrobatic stunts and tricks for about an hour.  They were very good and put on an impressive performance.  We are both glad we went.

On returning to our room I took a photo looking down at the pool area.  Nice with the night lighting.

Enjoy the photos.

One of the lizards

Another lizard

Hibiscus 

Acrobatics show

Pools by night

Formentera day 5

We must have been exhausted yesterday - we both woke up at 09.00 after 10 straight hours of sleep!

Today was a very quiet day, much like before, but without the mind-blowingly exciting activities.  Most of the day was spent beside the pool, or in it.  Copious amounts of sunscreen were applied, and we both made some progress with our books.  I'm sure we consumed a meal called breakfast, another called lunch, and probably one called supper, at various times through the day, interspersed with several beverages and an ice cream or two.  I know I took a nap during the afternoon, and we had a video call with Nicola this evening.  That about sums up the day. Very relaxing and enjoyable. 

Enjoy the photos. 

View of the ocean from the restaurant 

Flowers growing wild along the beach

Formentera day 4

The light wind of the last few days has all but stopped, leaving the sea beautifully calm and still.  Unfortunately it also means we felt the heat more severely today because of no breeze to keep us cooler.  The day unfolded much the same as before.

After breakfast we headed for our spot beside the pool and got settled into doing very little.  A short time later a couple of the guys from the entertainment team came around and convinced us to participate in the archery activity at 11.00.  It was in the same place as yesterday's shooting and proceeded along very similar lines.  There were only 4 of us participating and we took turns in taking 3 shots at the target until we had each taken 12 shots.  Ann and I were about equal in our levels of non-skill, but the guy who got the top score was a little 82 year old man from south Wales.  His skill was quite remarkable!

After a snack around lunchtime I tool a nap while Ann stayed at the pool.  There was another shooting activity at 15.30 today, so I went to join in, hoping to improve on my performance from yesterday.  I did improve, but still only finished in 3rd place.  It was a good bit of light-hearted fun nevertheless. 

We took a walk along the beach again and were brave enough to go in the water because it was so calm.  We chose an area where there were no rocks, unlike yesterday!  All along the beach we saw lots of what we thought was seaweed that had washed up.  Apparently there are vast areas (meadows) around here where this type of underwater flowering plant, known as Neptune Grass or Mediterranean sea grass, grows in abundance.  The "leaves" are probably about 10 - 15mm wide (0.4 - 0.6") and I guess anything up to 30 or 40cm long (12 - 16").  Green in colour while it is alive, but turns a black colour when the leaves die and get washed up.  Also very interesting is the abundance of what looks like Kiwi Fruit, but are balls of fibrous material from its rhizomes, known as "Neptune balls".  Fibres of detritus from dead leaves and stems get rolled into compact balls by the wave action get washed up on the beach with the dead leaves.  These meadows of Neptune Grass are vitally important for the marine ecosystem, processing waste materials, filtering the water, and absorbing up to 4 times as much Carbon Dioxide as tropical rain forests.  So we learned something new as well.

Supper in the main restaurant was excellent, as we have come to expect, and we are now relaxing before bed.

Enjoy the photos.

Ann doing archery

Me doing archery.

Note the "action shot" as I release the arrow but it has not cleared the bow yet!

Neptune balls

The fibrous inside of a Neptune ball

Green leaf of Neptune Grass

Neptune Grass in the shallow water and washed up on the beach

Formentera day 3

Today started much like yesterday.  Up at 08.15.  Reserved our sun loungers - same spot as yesterday.  Breakfast in the main restaurant and then headed for the pool deck.  Weather and temperatures have been good so far - blue skies, gentle breeze, daily maximums of around 28 or 29°C (high 80s in °F).

Every day, the entertainment team arranges a series of activities for guests to participate in, such as stretch & flex, water polo, archery, aqua-fit, water basket ball etc.  Today one such activity was "rifle shooting", at which I decided to have a go.  I was right to expect nothing fantastic, so was not disappointed.  Beside the car park there is a small wooden shelter no more than 10 metres long.  They provided a very simple air rifle, the type that you bend in the middle to recharge it with air for each shot.  In turn, each participant has 3 shots at a small paper target (approx 15cm square, or 6") from a distance of around 8 metres or so and then the cycle is repeated for a second round and then a third round of 3 shots each, making 9 shots per person.  One of the organisers keeps a note of the scores and announces the results at the end.  Some people missed the target completely some of the time, some were better, nobody was very good.  Definitely nothing to be taken seriously,  but just a bit of a fun way to spend an hour of the morning.  I came 3rd out of the 9 or 10 people who participated.

Later this afternoon we decided to go for a walk on the beach and dip our feet in the water.  This is not a swimming beach as there is a lot of rock in the sand just around the water's edge.  While we paddled, a swell took us by surprise and Ann lost her balance, falling over onto one of the rocky patches.  She grazed her ankle, knee, hip, elbow, and will probably have a few colourful bruises in the morning.  Luckily her ever-supportive husband was there to observe the whole experience ... oh, and help her get up again!  😀

Enjoy the photos. 

The "shooting range"

My target. The bottom 3 were my first 3 shots. After that I tried to compensate by aiming higher. Hard to see clearly but there are actually 2 shots in the same hole in the 9-ring.

Formentera day 2

We rolled out of bed around 08.00 and headed to the main restaurant for breakfast, after first reserving 2 sun loungers at the pool.  Didn't see any notices to say whether this is permitted or not, and some other guests had done it, so we assume it's ok until we get told otherwise.

After breakfast and a generous smothering of sun screen, we settled down to a few hours of doing nothing beside the pool.  Weather was good, although it started off a bit hazy, but that soon cleared away.  Our day was punctuated by a few visits to the pool bar to refill our drinks, a dip in the pool to cool off, and a snack at around lunchtime.  We took a short walk along the boardwalk beside the beach before returning to the room for showers before supper.  The selection and quality of the food was excellent once again.

Now back in the room, we will watch a movie downloaded from Netflix, before switching off for the night.

Tomorrow... probably more of the same.

Enjoy the photos.

The hotel, taken from our spot beside the pool, which is to the right.

Our room is on the top floor, second from the end nearest us.

The beach, looking east.

The beach, looking west.

Formentera day 1

Our first visit to the Balearic island of Formentera started today, but the journey began yesterday afternoon.  We drove to the East Midlands airport, which was a first for us, and spent the night in an airport hotel, ready for an early start on Tuesday morning (today).  We did not want to start the day with a 1 hour 40 minutes drive to be at the airport by 06.00.  Not a good idea!

Even with the ongoing renevations, the transition through the airport was fairly painless.  We boarded and departed on time for the flight to Ibiza.  Formentera does not have an airport - too small.  2 hours 20 minutes later we landed safely and took the pre-arranged bus transfer to the port where we boarded the ferry.  The crossing took about 40 minutes, and then there was another pre-arranged bus transfer to our hotel.  We checked in at around 15.00 local time, 1 hour ahead of the UK.

Unpacked, settled and went on a reconnaissance walkabout to see what the place has to offer.  So far it looks very impressive.  Smaller than some of the other resorts we have been to recently in Boa Vista, but that's a good thing for us right now.  We had cold drinks while sitting beside the pool for a bit and took a short walk on the beach.  Decided to turn back when we realized we had ventured onto a section that is popular with nudists!

After showers, supper was in the main restaurant, which presented an extensive buffet of delicious dishes.  I am confident we will be neither hungry nor disappointed with the food on offer here!  Back to the room for an early night.

Enjoy the photos.

Breakfast on the plane

Ferry from Ibiza to Formentera 

View from our room, overlooking the pools and the Mediterranean sea