Lanzarote: March 2005

The weather when we went was pretty much perfect - Lanzarote had just had the wettest winter in 40 years and everything was fairly lush - so I don't know what it is 'normally' like. Temperatures were warm enough to sunbath in, but cool enough to walk about in without getting uncomfortable, there was occasionally rain overnight, and one cloudy day, but otherwise, as I said, perfect :)

You won't get an entirely accurate picture of the island from these pictures - we've all seen pictures of the sandy, palm-treed beaches, and yes they are there, and yes they are filled with sun loungers and surrounded by bars, and no we didn't spend much time there but I'm sure they're lovely, if you're into that kind of thing ;-)

For your interest...

  • Language: Spanish
  • People: Charming and friendly!
  • Currency: Euros
  • The local beer normally costs about €1.50 at the beach-side bars. 
  • You can pay up to about €4.00 for a pint of Guinness, which is on the pricey side.
  • Our hotel food was lovely
  • The best meal we had was in Orzola, a fishing village in the north, which was about €25 for gigantic portions of fish, served with bread rolls, which came with 2 pots of red and green sauce which we foolishly ate with the bread but was intended for the fish (!) and a  couple of drinks. Or maybe four drinks. Can't remember.
  • Do not go to Lanzarote if you have a pudding-dependency; while there are some lovely treats to be had from the bakery, 'puddings' as such seemed to be provided to humour we tourists, in the form of jelly and ice-cream, rather than any local delights :) 
  • We decided self-catering would be a good option (we went 'all inclusive' this time) since local food is good and not too expensive.
  • Car hire cost us €70.00 for three days. The roads are quiet and drivers laid back. Drive on the right hand side of the road. The island is small and (out of season at least) parking is simple. Nothing is very far away! 
  • Petrol (unleaded) costs about  €12.00 for half a tank in a VW Polo.

Pictures

If you want larger versions of these pictures, for any reason, let me know - or ask, if you wonder if we have one similar, since I haven't put them all on this page. If you do use these pictures anywhere else, feel free but don't charge any money for them! I'll be very excited to learn if they are being used, so please let me know ;)
If you want to do 'the right thing', please state that they were taken by Tom and Thirzah in 2005 - a link to this webpage would be good :) Cheers.

 
VOLCANIC STUFF
The last major eruption was about 200 years ago (you can google for the facts ;-))

The land around this point is awe-inspiringly desolate; entire valleys covered in the sharp, un-weathered rocks, on which the only thing to grow is a very pale lichen. 
The terrain is entirely composed of the dark, almost black rocks, contrasted against the reds that came from some other kind of chemical outburst (sorry, no technical jargon here!). I think I'll leave it to the pictures to say the rest ;-)

The process of... er... habitation (for lack of a better word) is: Volcanic rocks absorb dew. Lichen grows on dew. Bugs grow on lichen. Birds eat bugs/lichen etc. Birds poo. Bigger plants grow on bird poo -> etc etc.

Pretty amazing that the whole thing is based on the rock matter spat out by the 'destructive' volcanoes. Okay, okay, I'm slightly fixated by the wonder of it, truth be known: Big scary explosions, molten rock >> LIFE!! Wow, crazy cool :)
To the north of the island, where the land is a bit 'older',  everything is a lot greener - I think this is a view down on Halia - the valley of a thousand palm trees - if it isn't there, it's somewhere nearby!!

You can see in the picture, there are 'black fields' - this is because the volcanic rock stuff is absolutely amazing at absorbing moisture from the night time dew - enough is held in the 'soil' for plants to grow and flourish: the 'black stuff' is spread over the fields every so many years, to help the land hold water.

Below the view looking out from the north west of the island, from a view point just down the road from the 'tropical park'. Across the water you can see the islands of La Graciosa and, um, the other little one.

Top Tip from Rosi (website here - warning, it's a karaoke site, but don't let that put you off!! If you want a guided tour of the island, drop them a line :) ): To get this view (it really is amazing), follow the signs to the tropical park, but when you get to the car park, carry on by, down the road, until you get to the end, where the view point is. When you get there, TURN AROUND  before parking - coach trips come down and block the turning point, so position your car for exit, if you can - trust me, you will be glad you did ;-)
PLANTS (Manrique's House)
Some of the weirdo plant life in the Gardens of Manrique's House (just outside Arrecife). As you can see, it all grows in the dark dark volcano debris....

In the field below, you can see the walls they put up to provide shade and help the plants retain moisture.
   
Jameos del Agua
This is an amazing place: The 'natural wonder' is the short length of tunnel, left behind by a tongue of Lava, which houses a small lake, which in turn houses some blind, albino crabs, which can be found nowhere else on earth (or, I imagine, the entire universe ;-))

HOWEVER, cameras being cameras, and photographers being photographers, the cave photos didn't come out that well, so instead you have here two pictures of the equally awesome, manmade wonder at the far end of the tunnel - as you can see, a paradise if ever there were.