Recently I’ve added a couple things to my travel checklist:
This weekend I took a little trip to Lanzarote, another one of the Canary Islands. It’s amazing: beautiful coast, fantastic national park, friendly people, tasty wine, and more. I was very excited to explore another island for my last weekend here in the Canaries.
I did not, however, plan this trip very well.
When I arrived on Friday, I didn’t realize it was a holiday, so I didn’t realize the buses wouldn’t be running. Total amateur move on my part. Me and a small group of travelers held stedfast against the wind until I realized our situation.
When I figured it out, I headed back to the airport terminal and got a taxi… but really, I should’ve known to check for holidays and not put myself in that position.
The Lanzarote bus website recommends an app called Moovit for bus schedules, routing, and more. Their website has big ads for this app, so I thought it was safe to trust for info.
Well, clearly I wouldn’t be writing this if that were the case.
The app guided me to the closest stop near me (awesome) but as I waited, my bus blew right by me (not awesome) as another bus stopped. I asked the driver what the deal was and he was nice enough to 1) tell me I needed to go to the next stop and 2) give me a ride.
Thanks awesome driver! No thanks to you app…
I double checked the app afterwards and sure enough, it showed that “my” bus should’ve stopped where I was originally.
I checked the main website and lo and behold, I should never have expected “my” bus to stop where the app had told me.
I had given myself plenty of time to travel, but next time, I’ll be sure to cross-check info with the real website vs. trust a third-party service, even if it’s recommended by the bus company.