Hike. Antigua to Betancuria, Fuerteventura, February 7, 2019

Antigua and Betancuria are two main towns in the central part of Fuerteventura. Taking the bus from Costa Calma to Antigua was not easy. Many buses arrived to the bus stop, and there was a lot a people running around. When our bus finally arrived and I was going to pay for my ticket I realized that my valet had been stolen in the bustle and hustle of the bus stop. We then had to go of the bus and try to block my Visa card (in the valet). So, in the end we were delayed more than 3 hours, and it was rather late when we arrived to Antigua in the central part of the island. And it was very late and dark when the bus finally arrived back to Costa Calma.

In the eighteenth-century Antigua was the most prosperous town of Fuerteventura. Antigua was rivaling with the Capital Betancuria, exceeding Betancuria widely in population.

The church in Antigua

Inside the church in Antigua

Lisbeth had a delicious dish with snails in a café just opposite the church in Antigua

The church in Antigua

If one thing in particular defines Antigua’s countryside it is the windmills that break up the flat landscape with the blades, just like bygone times, moved by the gentle, warm, trade winds.

From Antigua to Betancuria we walked at the trail used by the "Pilgrims" walking via the same trail to Vega de Río de Palmas. https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/von-antigua-nach-vega-de-rio-palmas-10616108

We took the trail used by the "Pilgrims" and reach Betancuria via the path of “la Villa”.

The mountain pass on the pilgrim trail between Antigua and Betancuria

On our way down to Betancuria

On our way down to Betancuria

Some delicious larvae for the waiting fledglings

Betancuria is a small town in the western part of Fuerteventura.

Shrikes are carnivorous passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 31 species

Betancuria is a small town in the western part of Fuerteventura.

Betancuria is named after Jean de Béthencourt, who conquered Fuerteventura from the canarians and founded the town in 1404. It was the original capital of the Kingdom of the Canary Islands, and later capital of Fuerteventura. In 1424 Pope Martin V erected in Betancuria brief Bishopric of Fuerteventura, which encompassed all the Canary Islands except the island of Lanzarote.

The Bishopric of Fuerteventura was abolished only seven years after it was created in 1431. Betancuria was razed by pirates in 1593, but remained capital of Fuerteventura until 1834, when Antigua became capital.