"Did you really expect me to spend my holidays just sitting on a chair? Not in a million years. As everyone else, I also have obligations waiting for me at home. But not here. When I come to this island, I leave work behind, far behind. These are days to keep my mobile off."
For I need a break sometimes to escape to my shelter island. A shelter where the sun shines practically throughout the year. Thirty minutes after I set foot on Gran Canaria I become an entirely different person.
On the island, I find the time to have fun and practice sports. All the sports you can imagine, for the fine weather motivates you to try new things. I return every year willing to try what I did not dare the last time. This is an island customized to the needs of sports freaks. And not just because of the weather. In Gran Canaria you may experience a little of everything.
This is Europe’s windsurfing capital, which explains why I spent hours on end flying with my board and sail during my first summer there. The following year I took up mountain biking, and invested my time pedalling across pine forests. Lots of places and things to choose from. You may enjoy kite-surfing, rock-climbing and trekking. Swimming under the protection of a line of volcanic rock. Or diving.
Surfing, no less, was on the agenda for these last holidays. After twenty years without practising it, I gave it another try. At first, my wife saw me get into the water with my board and could not help but laughing. Afterwards, upon seeing me standing over a wave, she had to accept this unknown side of her husband. Yet another one.
I have even tried sports fishing, something I had never expected to enjoy so much. But hey, you find yourself on deck fighting against a swordfish and then you being to understand… you even end up dreaming about hooks and roaming like a sea wolf along the pier at Puerto de Mogán.
I must admit I have yet another reason to be hooked to the island. A quite simple one. I enjoy fine food. And you find good restaurants here. Of all kinds. Or did you think us sportspeople did not enjoy the good life? "
