More Tourism in Lanzarote

Our second day with the hire car also proved fruitful. We visited our third true tourism site which was the “Mirador del Rio” which is a posh lookout point overlooking the channel between Lanzarote and Isla Graciosa at the northern tip of the island. As with the other attractions, it was heavily influenced by Cesar Manrique so is quite artistic. The views are of course spectacular though we looked with envy at the boats anchored in Bahia Francisco and moored in Caleta del Sebo as we would have preferred to have been looking up at the lookout from there rather than down on them. There was a yellow boat in the anchorage that we think we recognised from Funchal. Next time is something that we keep promising ourselves when we see something we would have liked to do this time but couldn't for whatever reason. We would have been there if the process of getting first a permit to enter the park and then a berth allocated had not defeated us. You are supposed to be able to apply for both of these on line but the forms do not appear on any website which means you are left with having to fax them off – not an easy process when you are on a boat with only a mobile phone for company! Still, we will make it there next time!

As ever, you had to time yourself quite carefully with the mirador so as to contrive to be there between coachloads of Germans or Brits. It seems as if they are the only visitors to the island from northern Europe. You hardly ever hear a French voice or indeed Dutch or any of the others. We were lucky this time as three coachloads of Germans were filing in just as we left.

The previous day we had spotted a nice place for a picnic lunch on the road outside Orzola and we started making our way down there. A distraction though delayed lunch as we passed a hand painted sign advertising wines. A dusty road led us to a small building where a nice man poured us some of his wine. As well as wine he also poured us some cactus liqueur which was more to Audrey's taste than mine. The wine however was very good. They cultivate a range of grapes in a unique manner as described below. The wines range from a heavy white with lots of acidity to some very sweet Moscatels. Moscatel is of course the same as the Muscat grape. They also have a variety of Malvasia called Malvasia de Volcan. This must I presume be related to the Malvasia they use in the sweet Madeira wines though here it is used to make a semi sweet wine and is unfortified of course. They also make some red wine though, perhaps because of the extreme aridity of the landscape, the white grape varieties seem to do better.

Proof that one of us at least was there!

Anyway, we bought a couple of bottles and I had a nosy round and took a few pictures. The northern region is situated around a village called Ye though they only have one quality marque (Denominación de Origin in Spanish) which is for the entire island.

Lanzarote is not very mountainous so the drive down from the Mirador and vineyard was not too precipitous and we arrived and parked ourselves next to a stony path down to the beach. There we saw the waves breaking on the long solidified lava with El Roque del Este in the distance. This is a smallish but steep rock sticking up about five miles off the coast. It gave us quite a bit of work on the night we arrived as it is unlit and we had to pass it. Although steep to, it was completely invisible and I had to take it on trust that we were safely past before altering course to pass closer to Arrecife on the way to Puerto Calero. It is very hard to convey to non yotties the angst associated with passing an invisible bit of stuff that will go bang very loudly if you hit it! Thus, seeing it from landward evoked quite strong feelings.

Lunch was enjoyable and that stretch of coastline is very beautiful.

Our next destination was to be right at the other extremity of the Island. Marina Rubicon just outside Playa Blanca is on the southern end of the island and is where the ferry to Fuerteventura leaves from. We wanted to go there partly to check out the marina as a possible alternative destination but also because there is a good chandler y there. The chandler y is certainly excellent and we spent a wodge of money in there but on things we really did need. Not least, we now have a Canary Island courtesy flag which is now flying under the Spanish one on our starboard cross tree.

Our final destination was the area of La Geria which is at the heart of the Lanzarote wine industry. It is this zone – right on the edge of the Parque de Timanfaya where they developed their unique method of fine cultivation.

Essentially, the problem they have is that there is an awful lot of sunshine and very little rain. So, conservation of moisture is of paramount importance. The trade winds also blow nearly continuously so the vines need protection from the desiccating effect of this. The solution is to cover the fertile soil with volcanic gravel and surround each vine with a low wall to protect it from the wind.

The fertile soil is protected by the volcanic gravel which, nonetheless, allows any moisture to penetrate through it being highly porous. The wall is built out of volcanic rock and is aligned with the direction of the trade winds – typically north east – and so the vine can thrive in what would appear to be a sterile desert! Of course, production is very low by this method, not least since the density of vines is very low. A book I treated myself to quotes that they can usually get 1500 kg of fruit per hectare. This is an awful lot less than in somewhere such as Bordeaux but it is possible to get good quality grapes though.

I bought myself a book which talks about the production of wine here and goes into excruciating detail on the methods of cultivation as well as the history of wine growing here. One aspect of it that really comes out is the issue of water scarcity but also how the volcanic activity of both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has influenced the development of viticulture here.
We are intending to spend a few more days here so may try and book ourselves on a wine tour and talk at one of the bodegas.

Finally, here is a picture of the car we hired!