In 2010 I was beginning to travel more, and the more I did, the more I wanted to explore. At that time I was still with Mike my ex boyfriend and while we would go away together twice a year, we would always stick to the UK as Mike doesn't have the travel bug.

However that was about to change! After much pestering from myself (yep, I know, what a shocker ) we agreed to go abroad for a week and Mike was to pick the 'where' of it.

As it turned out, one place he had enjoyed visiting with his friends was Gran Canaria and he was happy to return and show it to me...namely the mammoth sand dunes. We were staying in Maspalomas with the beach about a 30 min walk away so we had a blast exploring the dunes on a few different days and I have to admit they were pretty impressive.....though the amount of naked ramblers was a little disconcerting......eek...where to look

In the past no matter where we would holiday we would always end up at wildlife parks and Gran Canaria was no different. We visited Palmitos Park which I have to say is one of the best parks I've ever been to. It was in a stunning valley location and had a huge range of animals from Parrots, to Birds of Prey to Dolphins, to Monkeys, to Meerkats to Alligators and even a Komodo Dragon! The weather was gorgeous and the only thing we had to worry about was stepping on the tiny lizards/geckos on the paths underfoot! Some were so small it could easily happen.

Another day we did a jeep safari excursion taking us up into the mountains followed by lunch and a very uncomfortable camel ride. On our way back to Maspalomas we also did a little off roading which we really enjoyed even with the rather steep drops to one side and the track being wet from the rain. Luckily though, with Mike's love of drifting I was pretty well prepared for this, unlike the 2 ladies in the back of the jeep with us....one of whom did not fair too well at all.

And despite me not being a fan of water towards the end of the week I somehow got talked into going to Aqualand....Which of course I enjoyed once there (insert-rolling of my eyes). And even though we had dismissed the idea initially, when we heard over the tannoy that there were still spaces in the afternoon 'swim with sea lions' session, we of course decided to part with some more cash after all.

It was a great experience to be in such close contact with these amazingly gentle sea lions but also very intimidating! After all they are living breathing creatures with minds of their own and the water is their environment and not ours! Something I'll always remember and treasure!

Anyway after a week in Gran Canaria I can tell you that it isn't my kind of place at all. But given all we got up to it was a very enjoyable week and one I'm glad we did.

"Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone."

― Wendell Berry