Many countries are renowned for their street traders selling anything from watches to sun block along their beaches.

Puerto del Carmen has a different type of trader – the flashing toy merchants.

They prey on unsuspecting families around the harbour after dark, their wares flashing away in bright colours, in the hope that the small children will be so fascinated that their parents will be unwilling to say „no“ on holiday.

One of the tricks it to get a small child to actually take the toy, making it even harder for the parents to avoid having to pay for it.

A favourite spot seems to be the playground near to the boules. Here they do not like taking no for an answer – in any language!

It took me three visits to Lanzarote before I got on a camel. In fact, it was my daughter that really wanted to ride on one, having seen them on our previous holiday and being, in our opinion, too young then.

So this time we returned to the camels in Timanfaya and were surprised to see so many of them there. The reason was obvious: a number of coach tours were going on the same day, so extra camels had been laid on.

We headed to an area away from the buses and were duly assigned to our camels. The price was 12EUR per camel, with each camel able to take two people.

Camels at Timanfaya

The trip up the side of the mountain and back down again took a little over 15 minutes. There are fairly new facilities built under the lava with toilets, a bar and a gift shop.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and I was also interested to read in a local publication (pp.32-33) that the camels are not only well looked after, but that their working hours are also strictly limited.

The Euro may have been around for 7 years now, but it seems that some shops on Lanzarote have not yet given up on Pesetas. Some still display signs showing that the old currency will still be accepted.

One bookshop in Arrecife even issues receipts that show prices in both currencies:

Does anyone know of other examples?