Lanzarote
Alan Thomas

In January 2006, I went with my family, to Costa Teguise, Lanzarote for a 7 day holiday.
This was my first holiday a broad and first time on holiday in my wheelchair, so this was a major event, for me.
I flew from Cardiff Airport, which has good access, for wheelchairs. It provides wheelchairs (for mobility impaired people) these are situated inside the entrance doors. Check in is on the ground floor, afterwards you proceed to the first floor, to shops, restaurants and the lounges. There are lifts at the end of the ground floor.

My flight was with Thomson their wheelchair assistance at this airport was very good, first in the queue.  I was told to “listen out” for  an announcement  to tell wheelchair users (of this flight)) to go to the boarding gate, to allow us to board the plane ahead of other passengers.  The cabin crew were very good,  assisted me to my, 2nd row, seat.  Flight was on time and took, roughly, 3 ½ hours.

Landing, at Arrecife, was strait forward and comfortable.  There was a wheelchair waiting for me, outside the aircraft door.  A staff porter was their to push the wheelchair, to the arrivals and collect our luggage, (the thing I was not too happy about was they took me to transfer to a seat, at the first opportunity, not close to the toilets and far away from the pick-up point).  I managed to stumble, to the bus, taking me to the hotel.  It was dark, but I could tell the coach was fairly new, there was not many people on-board, so I knew that our, coach, journey wasn’t going to take long.  Our hotel was the second stop, a 30 minute drive away.

At the Hotel, Galeon Playa, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote,  Reception was quite busy, dealing with all the guests wanting to check in. It has a small fish pond in the centre, reception counter to the right,  and it is here that has 4 computers for the guests to use and check their email!!, to the left, a holiday rep, information desk and a pool room The wheelchair, that I had hired, on-line from a company on the island, was waiting for me, a quick transfer, into it, and onto our apartment.

Out of the reception, via double doors, turn right, up a gentle slope (10 metres), turn right and (1 metre) in front of us was the door to the apartment.  The 2 bedroom apartment was light and clean, it consisted of 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchenette, dining/living room all with marble tile floor, a patio door to a small veranda.

Costa Teguise is a fairly newish resort, as such there is only a minimum amount of obstacles for a wheelchair, mainly “short steep” ramps.  It is made up of , mostly “low rise” buildings,  on gently sloping terrain. Plenty of bars and restaurants, and small shops.

A small “sandy” beach, with rocky outcrops, and sheltered from strong winds by a rock was a very short walk from the hotel.  There are a few beaches, with sand or rocks with various activities taking place.

Costa Teguise has many restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and shops.  There are Coach trips to other villages, taxis are plentiful, fares don’t seem to bad either!! Or hire a car, (you need to have your wits about you, when driving, as the local driver s don’t have a lot of patience.

There are plenty of places to visit, on the island, but alas, I didn’t have time, but my next visit will be here very shortly (early 2007).