Back in the autumn Sue decided that she would need to escape the gloom of a Scottish winter for a week's sun and preferably some good birding. We initially looked at Tenerife as there are flights from Edinburgh, but decided that searching for pigeons in laurel forests with 2 small boys (3 and a half and 14 months) might be a bit tricky. I then suggested Fuerteventura (flights from Glasgow) on the grounds that desert birding might be easier, being mostly car based ... Next question was which part of the island. We settled on Costa Calma, being adjacent to arguably the best bit of desert habitat (certainly for sandgrouse) and a resort with little nightlife. We were too late to find a suitable villa, so took our chance on an apartment at the Costa Calma Beach Resort (most guests on all-inclusive packages). In the event this turned out to be very good, with a nice flat with sufficient facilities for self-catering and an adequate supermarket within easy walking distance. The sofa beds that Sue and I slept on were beds that convert into sofas rather than the other way about, hence perfectly comfortable. The hotel is at the north end of the sandy beach and had a suitable kiddies pool and play area. The beach was good for both waders and sandcastles!
We hired a car for the week (VW Golf) which was entirely adequate and coped well with the desert tracks (doubtless in violation of the terms and conditions!). The roads are excellent, having presumably been blessed by the EU money fairy!
In additions to the ubiquitous Clarke and Collins we used a variety of internet gen, of which I would single out Rich Bonser's 2003 report for good site info., and thanks to Woodchatshrike for information from his trip in December. With 2 small boys this could never be a dawn-to-dusk birding extravaganza but here's how we did...
Rob
cant wait to hear what happens
Looking forward to hearing what you saw-am heading there in June-but with a grumpy teenager in tow rather than 2 small kids