La Gayra Agritourism, The Plow

In november 2012 we stayed at casa La Gayria in Tiscamanita on the isle of Fuerteventura. Tiscamanita is ideally situated in the middle of the island, and (luckily) far away from the big tourists centers. We loved the casa, with its (very small) winery and beautiful rooms with a real 'agro feel'.The owner, Pepe Santana, was very kind and invited us on sunday, with many other people, for a lunch with his own wine ánd nice food on the casa. When we told him that we were birdwatchers, he took us to a feeding station for Egyptian Vulture (Gayria) nearby the village. Here we saw 20-25 of these beautiful birds, a speciality of Fuerteventura, and this feeding station is established to help these birds survive in modern times. Tiscamanita has two restaurants. Both good, but our favorite was Casa Louis, Very good (and much!) traditional food, for very reasonable prices, and including the very special coffee of Louis! We also liked the windmill museum. Fuerteventura is dry and barren, not a beautiful tropical island. But it has its very special birds, As the only island in the whole of Europa it has one bird species that can't be found anywhere else on the world: the Canary Island Stonechat. In fact this bird was discovered for science very near Tiscamanita, at Tuineje, at the end of the 19th century. This tiny bird is not rare and can be found especially in the 'barrancos'. We could make some good pictures. Another speciality is the Houbara. This beautiful bird is heavenly hunted almost near extinction in Arabian countries. On Fuertenventura (and Lanzarote, elsewhere in the Canaries it is extinct) the Houbara's seem safe. The birds are very shy and wary and we did extensive searches. In the end we saw some Houbara's near La Oliva, El Cottillo and Antigua. No photo's of the birds, but we were happy to see signs near the roads/tracks which houbare on it ans warning not to get off the tracks. As nature lovers and fond of ruralturismo we strongly recommend Casa Gayria.

The Agroturismo La Gayria is a wonderful way to get a glimpse of the real Fuerteventura - away from the tourist resorts. The house itself is has been skillfully restored and is very comfortable, the kitchen well equipped and the owner Pepe Sanatana extremetly helpful. He is passionate about his island, and the importance that sustainable tourism holds for Fuerteventura and gave very useful advice about the area. We stayed on a half board basis - eating wonderfully in the nearby village of Tiscamanita - with memorable suppers at Casa Luis and breakfasts at the neighboring cafe of Tio Pepe. Being a travel journalist I have stayed in many places throughout the world - but I have to say that my stay at Casa Tamasite and the people I met there and in the village of Tiscamanita easily place it easily amongst my top ten locations for a relaxing break.