Guise and Ayose Viewpoint

Two bronze kings stand on the platform with the whole middle of the island laid out behind them. The hills are bare, folded and coloured in rust, brown and ochre, and the eye runs across them to the ocean on one side and down to the houses of Betancuria on the other.

Guise and Ayose ruled the two halves of Fuerteventura when the European conquest began, and the panel next to the statues tells how that ended. It gives the view a story: this is the land they divided between them.

The wind belongs to the visit. It comes across the ridge hard enough to make you lean into it between the car and the statues, and it carries a chill even when the sun is out.

• The platform takes strong, cool wind. Bring a jumper or a jacket, even on a sunny day.
• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the viewpoint or nearby. Fill up before you come.
• Parking spaces are few. The car park is busy at some times and has room at others.
• A ramp leads up to the viewpoint for visitors with limited mobility.
• Hold the car door firmly when you open it: gusts can catch it.

You arrive by car. Two free car parks on asphalt sit about 30 and 40 m from the viewpoint, so the statues are in sight as soon as you step out, and a ramp takes you up to the platform. The short crossing is where the wind first hits.

Without a car, the nearest bus stop is Betancuria, about 1.7 km away in a straight line; the distance on foot is longer than that.

Best: a clear day, early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Low sun brings out the reds and browns in the bare hills and throws long shadows into the valleys, so the relief reads far better than under a flat midday light.

Avoid: days of calima or storm cloud.

Saharan dust haze flattens the view and hides the ocean, and when a storm builds over the hills the exposed platform is no place to linger.