A few days into our holiday we decided to hire a car. It gave us the freedom to explore the island without relying on public transport or the overpriced tours which were being touted on every street corner.
We set off to drive to Timanfaya National Park which covers 51 square kilometers of the island. Back in the early 1700s Timanfaya was an extremely fertile area which supported crops and numerous small villages but that was all to tragically change. In 1730 a series of massive volcanic eruptions began. This was one of the most important events in the history of vulcanology, mountains rose out of the earth spewing lava and ash for miles around. More than 20 villages were buried and the once fertile land was replaced by a sea of lava and rendered useless. the bulk of the major eruptions ended in 1736......6years!!!!!! These early eruptions were faithfully recorded in the diary of the parish priest of Yaiza, Andres Lorenzo Curbelo. The last recorded eruption was in 1824.
As you can imagine, this has shaped the landscape in a very brutal way. I have never seen so many volcanic cones and craters all in one place. It bears such a resemblance to how you would imagine the surface of the moon to be that I'm pretty sure that they filmed part of Moonraker there. There is an excellent visitor centre and your 8 Euro per person entry fee to the park includes a 30 minute coach tour around the Montanas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) and several demonstrations involving buckets of water, bits of old bush and chicken fillets show how hot the Earth is just below the surface.
Despite the barren looking landscape Timanfaya is still beautiful in its own way. The lava fields support over 300 kinds of lichen, reeds and other hardy endemic floras. When the sun goes down there is a faintly red glow which comes from the dusty earth.
On leaving Timanfaya we drove north to the district of Haria and had some lunch at a small restaurant. We ate outdoors and watched the world go by, the head waiter was a bit of a character.. We continued north until we arrived at Mirador del Rio on the far north coast. Mirador is a stunning balcony over the precipice of Famara (it's quite a drop!!!!!) At Mirador you can get a panoramic view of the small island north of Lanzarote, La Graciosa. There is a coffee shop and a gift shop and a few good roads where you can stroll along the coast in safety.......without the risk of falling off a cliff.
On the way back to Puerto del Carmen we stopped at Taro de Tahiche and visited the home of the artist Cesar Manrique. A native of Lanzarote who studied art in Madrid, he returned to Lanzarote and used the unusual features of its landscape to create his work. He designed the Timanfaya visitor centre, Mirador del Rio and Cactus Garden in Lanzarote, El Palmarejo lookout in La Gomera, Martianez Coast in Tenerife, La Pena lookout in El Hierro and undertook a couple of major projects in Madrid. The home of Cesar Manrique now houses the Foundation of Cesar Manrique which works to promote cultural, environmental and artistic activities.
All I can say is that it is stunning what you can create out of a jet black lava field. In the underground level of the building, Cesar Manrique has used several volcanic lava bubbles and made them into comfortable living and entertaining space. It is a must see for anyone visiting Lanzarote and I have to say that artless as I am, I was impressed.
We managed to get back to Puerto del Carmen in time for a wash and brush up before heading over to Playa Blanca for tea. Lanzarote is a small island and is easy to cover by car in a day. Had we set off earlier in the morning I would have liked to have called at a couple more places, but I do think that we did quite well and it was a lovely day out.
We set off to drive to Timanfaya National Park which covers 51 square kilometers of the island. Back in the early 1700s Timanfaya was an extremely fertile area which supported crops and numerous small villages but that was all to tragically change. In 1730 a series of massive volcanic eruptions began. This was one of the most important events in the history of vulcanology, mountains rose out of the earth spewing lava and ash for miles around. More than 20 villages were buried and the once fertile land was replaced by a sea of lava and rendered useless. the bulk of the major eruptions ended in 1736......6years!!!!!! These early eruptions were faithfully recorded in the diary of the parish priest of Yaiza, Andres Lorenzo Curbelo. The last recorded eruption was in 1824.
As you can imagine, this has shaped the landscape in a very brutal way. I have never seen so many volcanic cones and craters all in one place. It bears such a resemblance to how you would imagine the surface of the moon to be that I'm pretty sure that they filmed part of Moonraker there. There is an excellent visitor centre and your 8 Euro per person entry fee to the park includes a 30 minute coach tour around the Montanas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) and several demonstrations involving buckets of water, bits of old bush and chicken fillets show how hot the Earth is just below the surface.
Despite the barren looking landscape Timanfaya is still beautiful in its own way. The lava fields support over 300 kinds of lichen, reeds and other hardy endemic floras. When the sun goes down there is a faintly red glow which comes from the dusty earth.
On leaving Timanfaya we drove north to the district of Haria and had some lunch at a small restaurant. We ate outdoors and watched the world go by, the head waiter was a bit of a character.. We continued north until we arrived at Mirador del Rio on the far north coast. Mirador is a stunning balcony over the precipice of Famara (it's quite a drop!!!!!) At Mirador you can get a panoramic view of the small island north of Lanzarote, La Graciosa. There is a coffee shop and a gift shop and a few good roads where you can stroll along the coast in safety.......without the risk of falling off a cliff.
On the way back to Puerto del Carmen we stopped at Taro de Tahiche and visited the home of the artist Cesar Manrique. A native of Lanzarote who studied art in Madrid, he returned to Lanzarote and used the unusual features of its landscape to create his work. He designed the Timanfaya visitor centre, Mirador del Rio and Cactus Garden in Lanzarote, El Palmarejo lookout in La Gomera, Martianez Coast in Tenerife, La Pena lookout in El Hierro and undertook a couple of major projects in Madrid. The home of Cesar Manrique now houses the Foundation of Cesar Manrique which works to promote cultural, environmental and artistic activities.
All I can say is that it is stunning what you can create out of a jet black lava field. In the underground level of the building, Cesar Manrique has used several volcanic lava bubbles and made them into comfortable living and entertaining space. It is a must see for anyone visiting Lanzarote and I have to say that artless as I am, I was impressed.
We managed to get back to Puerto del Carmen in time for a wash and brush up before heading over to Playa Blanca for tea. Lanzarote is a small island and is easy to cover by car in a day. Had we set off earlier in the morning I would have liked to have called at a couple more places, but I do think that we did quite well and it was a lovely day out.