Island Life

The opportunity to visit the Canary Islands came along in February. I didn’t think twice about taking on the challenge. The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa. They have long been a popular destination for running and cycling training camps.

With pleasant weather all year round, these seven rugged volcanic isles set the perfect backdrop for trail adventure. I spent just under three weeks exploring two of the main islands, Gran Canaria and La Palma, with the trip culminating in running the 65km Trans Gran Canaria.

TRAVEL CHALLENGE

You can't fly directly to the islands from South Africa. You need to connect either over Europe or Africa. This makes the travel quite lengthy and getting there with KLM took me just under 24 hours. Air tickets are not that expensive and it’s pretty much