Exploring Lanzarote part 5

During my visit to Canary Islands, I decided to spend a week in Lanzarote. I had a choice to go by air or by sea. There is a boat service 'Armas' that can be used to hop between island. I used it to go to another island, Gran Canarias, and also wanted to go by this boat to Lanzarote as well, but it takes more than five hours by sea and the timings were late at night, therefore I decided to go by air, Binter airways, and reached the place in 45 minutes.

This island is very different from other islands. While Tenerife and Gran Canarias are very green and colorful, this island in comparison is very brown and hilly.

85% of Lanzarote is a protected area, full of lava from volcanic eruptions with only a narrow tar road for traffic to move at a slow pace….it seemed like I was on an outer planet...

At some places, it was too scary with open craters and lava stone. I was tempted to pick up some rock from the path, hoping to hit a fortune, but nobody is allowed to pick up the stones :))

You can imagine the strong winds in these open spaces, it is impossible to stand straight without support, hair are mess, skirt is flying high up (ha! ha!) Lava sand slapping against your face while you look for a comfortable posture to be able to click a picture...oops!

Some of the craters of the volcano Montana de Fuego ("Mountain of Fire") are still active, and have temperatures as high as 400 degrees. 

There are different shapes of hills and rocks, At one place I saw this rock that looked like a cloak.... I craned my neck to see if Virgin Mary was inside...

Even though it is so isolated, a nice smooth road is built for motorway which was quite narrow at some places but very safe.... When the driver took a steep turn, I was busy praying for my safety....

We passed through the tunnels, through narrow paths and through dangerous slopes but had an experienced driver who knew the road well enough to drive carefully...

In the place like this, what can one possibly grow? just algae? But farmers are intelligent and they have turned part of the island into green zone by using stones as barriers to control against the strong winds and have put soil in blocks....

 Some part of the island had large salt pans using the sea water

A milk diary had their goats in their farm

We passed the village that has 1000 palms. Legend has it that for every male child born in the village, one palm tree was planted and for every female child born the village, two palm trees were planted ...

The part of the island that is developed for tourist is beautiful. Tourism is the main industry here and paths next to sea shore are converted into beautiful promenades where you often find musician performing for a fee. I often went down the path and sat down on the rocks to read a book

What is peculiar about Lanzarote is that the houses are just one level and are white in color with green windows. This combination of white and green is uniform throughout the island except in the main town which had multiple story government offices and banks and colorful buildings.

During the day one can spend the day at the beach but in the evening, it is a pleasant walk by the seashore, there are many restaurants along the promenade. I used to sit for hours sipping coffee in the cool sea breeze and do people watching.

The other islands are so close by that they are visible from the sea shore. 

Fuerteventura is just 20 minutes boat ride from Lanzarote. There is Isla de Lobos on the other side of Fuerteventure.

From the north of the island, I could see another island called Graciosa. The island looked bare but there was a cluster of hotels closer to the beach

More details on points of visit in Lanzarote
Exploring Lanzarote part4: 'Jameos del Agua' Caves in Lanzarote

Exploring Lanzarote: part 3: 'EL Golfo' in Lanzarote

Exploring Lanzarote: part 2: 'The Mountain of Fire' In Lanzarote
Exploring Lanzarote: part 1: 'Camel Ride at Timanfaye National Park' in Lanzarote

Jameos Del Agua Caves In Lanzarote

Caves are boring places unless you like romancing the stones. It’s so dark and gloomy deeper inside the cave that one is afraid of tripping on rocks. Many years ago, I had visited ‘Howes caves’ in Albany, deep down some 156 feet under ground. I remember going down in the elevator. Except for that adventurous boat ride and some carving inside, it was just a dark enclosure.

Therefore when I stood outside ‘Jameos Del Agua’ in Lanzarote, I didn’t know what to expect. I was expecting one more cave with a boat ride. People warned me to be careful while walking down the steep steps. I was in two minds, should I go or should I not? There were wooden rails for support, the minute I stepped down few steps I was transported in a different world. A soft Lute (Pipa) music echoed inside the caves.

The influence of the local artist Cesar Manrique is inescapable on Lanzarote. A Jameos is a collapsed lava tunnel and the Jameos del Agua forms part of the largest such tube in the world. Locals used it as a rubbish tip before Manrique transformed it into a stunning concert venue and nightclub.

I walked down the steep steps, resting at regular intervals at the stone benches and chairs before continuing my walk. Part of the cave is below sea level and therefore it is filled with seawater that percolates through the permeable rock. The pool is inhabited with species of blind albino crab that is unique to Lanzarote.

There was an impressive auditorium inside the cave with proper seating arrangement. If you climb down then you must climb up and that was the difficult part. I needed help to climb up the huge rocks to reach to the other side of the caves. 

I was rewarded with most beautiful view of pristine and bright swimming pool. Few more stone steps up and I need coffee to wet my dry throat and refresh a bit.

Exploring Lanzarote: part 4

Read more of this series at 

Exploring Lanzarote: part 3 

Exploring Lanzarote: part 2

Exploring Lanzarote: part 1

El Golfo in Lanzarote

This is a unique part of the coast where a volcanic crater had fallen forming a spectacular green Lagoon...there was a steep walk to go up to other side to see the blue lagoon and it was too windy, ...I was wearing skirt and you know what...it flew up shamelessly...I immediately ran to souvenir store close by and purchased shorts to avoid more embarrassment....

While I shopped for shorts, rest of the group walked up the hill to see the green lagoon on the other side. It was too late for me to join the group on the top of the hill to see the green lagoon. Later, when I came home, I googled to see what I had missed, my bad! I missed the most beautiful view.

image source:Google

This lagoon is in a semi-circular volcanic crater left by an extinct volcano. The rest of the crater has been eroded away by the sea. The green colour of the water is caused due to microorganisms in the crater.

I sat in the restaurant instead to enjoy a cup of coffee and breathe in beautiful view till the group came back from their short walk up in the hills.

Exploring Lanzarote: part 3

Exploring Lanzarote: part 2

Exploring Lanzarote: part 1

The Mountain Of Fire At Lanzarote

From far they looked like metal cylinders pierced into the ground. I went closer to have a good look. The man with the bucket asked me to stand on one side. It was impossible for me to stand straight without support. The wind was fierce and wild; it was getting difficult to keep my balance. I walked towards a huge rock and rested my back against it. Soon the crowd gathered around the cylinders. The man with the bucket poured the water into the cylinders. In two minutes there was a loud explosion as the spray of water spumed out from cylinders up in the air.

I could never have imagined that there was so much heat under the earth, where I was standing. Just centimeters from the surface the temperature gets as high as 400 degrees centigrade.

A bit further away from these cylindrical pipes was a small crater. The man started to demonstrate the effect of the heat from these craters. He pushed few dry twigs into crater and the twigs begin to burn with flames up in the air.

A restaurant up on the fire mountain has monetized on this idea. The section of this restaurant has a ‘Volcanic barbeque’ where selection of food like meat and potatoes are cooked on a grill over one of the volcanic vents with juices dripping into the crater. I peeped into the crater to feel the heat and saw thick layers of grease from the roasted meat coat the rock.

Exploring Lanzarote: Part 2