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| At the entrance of Jameos del Agua |
A time not long ago, I went to spend some time in Gran Canaria ( I'll write more about it soon). As I was living there it was very easy to ravel from one island to another and out of the islands I visited I must say Lanzarote had a little something. It's located on the furthest east out of the seven islands (La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife , Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote). This makes it also as the closest island to Africa a, which influences widely its vegetation and landscape. The rough winds from the Sahara desert make this island almost desert and the volcano eruptions make it very arid. Some hundreds of years ago, in 1730, massive volcano eruptions destroyed most of the fertile soil in the island along with a dozen towns. The volcanic soil eventually became a blessing when this unique quality made it possible to grow wine grapes , which givesproviding the island with a very particular kind of wine. Known for its volcanoes and reddish and black soil, otne of the symbols of the island is the devil, and you can find key chains, pins, pencils and several other handicraft work .
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| Monumento al Campesino |
As the other Canary Islands, Lanzarote has beautiful dunes, but unlike the others, the sand is red and black, which makes it really special. When I went the first time, my friend and i took a camel ride and it was fantastic, I totally recommend it. Lanzarote offers several activities that you can do, besides the obvious visits to the beach. I mean, the beaches are fabulous and if that's what you're looking for, Playa Papagayo is a great place to get sun bathed after a 15-20 minute walk. Cars aren't allowed so close to the beach. Around the island, you're gonna hear the name César Manrique a lot. He was an arquitect born in the island, and plenty of his work was done in the island, constituting the most popular trail around the island. So, my favorite spot would be Jameos del agua and La Cueva de los verdes. It's like walking into a sculpture. La Cueva de los Verdes might be claustrophobic for some people, but I found it delightful and so different from other spots around the island and other places I've been to. Down on the caves, there's an auditorium where I've heard the acoustic is awesome to hold concerts. I guess the caves give a nice sound. There are two chambers, one below the other, and the trail will take you as well to some pretty low ceilings and you must bend over just to get through. So these caves were formed after volcano eruptions and adapted by Manrique for visitors. I'm pretty sure you'll be amazed by the greatness of this place.
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| If you feel like shopping.... |
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| Arrecife. This is one of the very few lovely streets to walk around |
The biggest city in Lanzarote is called Arrecife (well it's still pretty small). It has a few shops and nice restaurants near the beach, while you enjoy the nice and clean architecture. It's a small town, so you won't need more than an afternoon to see it. If you have the time, the view from El Mirador del Rio is amazing, worth seeing...you can see Isla La Graciosa, a a small island near Lanzarote.
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| The winery. You can try and buy the wine in here. They have red and white wine for you to try before you buy it. |
Finally, one of the most important places to visit in Lanzarote is the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya. A bus will rive you around some of the volcanoes and a tour guide will tell you what you need to know about this place (trust me, they do a better job than the one I'm doing). Besides, there's a restaurant where they cook using the heat released from the soil near the volcanoes. There are also geysers as tour guides will show you as well as lighting up on fire a piece of straw just by placing it underneath the very soil you're standing in.
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| La Cueva de los Verdes: One the hallmarks |
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| View of Isla La Graciosa from El mirador del Rio |
The Timanfaya Park ... |
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The biggest city in Lanzarote is called Arrecife (well it's still pretty small). It has a few shops and nice restaurants near the beach, while you enjoy the nice and clean architecture. It's a small town, so you won't need more than an afternoon to see it. If you have the time, the view from El Mirador del Rio is amazing, worth seeing...you can see Isla La Graciosa, a a small island near Lanzarote.
