Going home

Our island holiday came to an end on Saturday when we packed our bags and drove back to the northern part of the island for flight back to Malaga. We arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare so we checked in our luggage, got our boarding passes then ate the picnic dinner (sandwiches, cookies and bananas) provided us by Abama.

Soon after, we went through security and were walking towards the gate, when suddenly we saw on the screens that our flight was cancelled. We were surprised so we headed back to the check-in counters to find out that indeed the flight was cancelled due to engine problems. There were seventeen of us on that evening direct flight to Malaga and we were all told that the only option available was to stay one more night in Tenerife then take a very early flight the next day to Gran Canaria, wait a few hours then connect on the flight to Malaga. Most, if not all the passengers were indignant that we were not being flown back on a direct flight but as we were not given any other option, we had no choice but to agree.

I went back to pick up our checked-in luggage and while I was there, my husband overheard one of the Iberia supervisors speaking about a direct flight to Malaga and so insisted the we be put on that flight as we were traveling with an infant. After about an hour to sort out all the new boarding passes issued, we all piled into a bus to go to Santa Cruz (Tenerife's main town) and spend a night at the three-star Hotel Taburiente.

The next morning after breakfast, we took a taxi back to the airport and checked-in again for the Iberia direct flight to Malaga. Before boarding, I noticed this poster about passengers rights and decided to take a photo of it - if we had only known what our rights were the night before, we would have had a chance to either demand a refund of our ticket or asked for a compensation from 125 euros up to 600 euros per person because of a cancelled flight. Interesting to note that these passenger's rights are for all of the European Union and that there is a Top Ten for passengers on the web page and a freephone number to contact - 0800 6 7 8 9 10 11. Good to know for our next flight.

BEACH CLUB at ABAMA

The next morning, we were up early and went straight to La Veranda where the daily breakfast buffet is served. After a full breakfast - fresh fruit smoothies (banana plantations surround the hotel property where the Canary banana is grown), a vegetable omelet, toast and cappuccinos, we decided go down to the beach.

As the property is quite large, one can walk down the road (a 10 minute walk downhill) or take a buggy. We did the latter loaded down as we were with magazines, beach toys, a stroller and two kids. The buggy dropped us off at the cable car station where we all got in the special cable car that goes down the cliff to take us straight to the beach below.

The beach at the ABAMA was worth the trip - a small private cove with powdery sand and clear blue waters. There are sun loungers, towels and cold bottled water on offer to all hotel guests. Alongside the beach is also the hotel beach restaurant - Beach Club.

We spent the morning at the beach, reading and lying around while the baby had a nap and our son kept busy building sandcastles. After a refreshing swim (water temperature was 23C), we had lunch on the terrace overlooking the Atlantic and nearby Gomera island in the distance. Lunch was simple and delicious - grilled langoustines with garlic and herbs for me and grilled chorizo for A which were both accompanied by grilled vegetables and papas arrugadas (wrinkled baby potatoes which are another Canary island specialty) served with salsa mojo (either a red or green spicy sauce like pesto). From the kid's menu (most of the ABAMA restaurants have one) J had some pasta with tomato sauce.

After lunch, we went swimming towards the lower cliffs where a natural swimming pool has formed. I stayed in the water while both my son and my husband climbed up the ladder and jumped off the cliffs several times. Then we sat around some more reading magazines while J played and C started to take her first steps on the sand. This is what beach holidays are made of.

ABAMA

We had a very early start on Monday morning, waking up at 3:45 a.m., to make our 7 a.m. direct flight to Tenerife. After leaving our car at the long-term car park, we were at the check-in counter at 5:30 a.m. with an hour and a half before our flight was scheduled to leave. When we were checking-in, we were asked for the credit card we used to purchase the tickets (I did this several months ago). I mistakenly left that particular creidt card at home and even if I had the receipt Iberia emailed me, the five e-tickets, all our passports and residency cards with names matching the five tickets, the lady at the check-in counter refused to help us or make an exception and told us to go to the Iberia sales office and sort it out there. The office didn't open until 6:00 and we didn't want to wait half an hour to find out whether we could leave or not. In the end, we begged the sales representative to allow us on the flight and to our great relief, we were checked-in at 6:15. It got to the point where we thought we had to lost those five e-tickets and purchase five new ones.

Finally, we arrived at the Tenerife Norte airport on time, picked up our rental car then drove off to the other end of the island (nearer the Tenerife Sur airport) towards Guia de Isora where our resort, the Abama, is located. The drive over was easy with the highway flanked by low hills on one side and nothing but the blue sea on the other. We got there right before 11 a.m. and since we had been travelling for several hours, we decided to go straight to the breakfast buffet before unpacking our bags. Several cappuccinos later, we went to our rooms (2 adjoining double rooms), and quickly unpacked before spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out by the pool.

End of summer holiday: Tenerife

Before the summer ends, we're going off to Tenerife for a short family holiday. It's the week we've been looking forward to since summer started. We can't wait to get there and spend the whole time chillaxing at the Abama resort with its' 160 hectare grounds of golf course, 478 guest rooms, nine restaurants, six bars, tennis academy, kid's club, seven swimming pools and private beach. With all that, I'm sure that each of us will find something to do that we like. (What I'm looking forward to is sitting on a sun lounger in the shade and reading a book). Next post will be from the sunny Canary islands.