First, and most importantly for me, was El Parque del Timangaya o Fuego. Like all the Canary Islands, Lanzarote is volcanic in origin. The vulcanicity took a different form though and there is also recorded evidence of major eruptions. For six years between 1730 and 1736. It then repeated the trick again in 1824 when there were huge eruptions. However, these did not take the form of explosive pyroclasitc flows such as happened on Mt. Saint Helens in 1980. The eighteenth century event pushed out large amounts of lava and ash which created the characteristic landscape of smallish cinder cones dotted around. The 1824 eruption was more like the volcanoes of Hawaii in that it consisted of highly viscous lava that covered the original ash and cinder landscape with solid rock though the cinder cones are still very much in evidence.
Having been a geography student and always interested in earth science I was really looking forward to visiting this park. The scenery certainly lived up to expectations with a totally alien landscape apparently devoid of almost any life. You can see the cinder cones emerging from the lava fields though there is now only one active cone – Monte Timanfaya itself. The actual experience was however a bit disappointing. The area is eclologically very fragile and all visits are ruthlessly managed both with a view to protecting the environment but also to cater to a not quite lowest common denominator for the tourist. We eschewed the camel trek and drove up to the visitor center near Monte Timanfaya. There you are herded onto a coach which drives you round a road that takes in the best sights with a minimal recorded commentary in the usual three languages.
The scenery was spectacular though and we managed to get some photos that caught the desolate feel of the place. The things that we notice most though were the proliferation of a sort of lichen growing on the lava flows along with thick succulent cactus type bushes growing out of the ash slopes. It occurred to me that the position of Lanzarote in the desert belt of around 30 degrees north and its very low rainfall has had the effect of preserving the lava in the form it took after the eruptions. When a temperate or tropical volcano erupts such as Vesuvius or Hawaii the rain breaks down the rock to form extremely fertile soil which further erases the evidence of the cataclysmic events of the past.
I think that the way the park authorities could improve the experience for seriously intersted tourists such as us (read geeks really) would be to lay on occasional “experts” tours where someone could take select groups on a more detailed tour explaining the details of the specific geological activity going on under our feet rather than simply pouring water into steel pipes let into the rock to create an artificial geyser. I am sure there would be plenty of takers for that and it would provide some income for impoverished geology graduates working on their theses!
Our next destination was to the north of the Island to see both Orzola and Jameo del Agua. Orzola is the small port from which the ferry to Graciosa departs. It is written up in the cruising guide as somewhere that intrepid yotties might stop. Given that it is a ferry harbour and the breakwater has been extended, I wanted to see if we would consider visiting. The thing that most struck me was how small a town it is and the harbour is tiny. Truly, it would be a very “interesting” place to visit and would truly not be for the faint hearted so I don't think we will be going there. We did however enjoy an excellent local lunch there. Next time we come here we will hopefully be fully armed with a permit for Graciosa so can perhaps take the ferry ride to Orzola so as to see what the entrance is like from the sea.
En route we passed some of the farming works they carry out here.
There are two attractions at the northern end to which we had tickets. Jameo del Agua and El Mirador del Rio. It was a bit of a toss up about which to do after lunch but Jameo won out as it was closer and on the way back to the marina. This site consists of an old lava tunnel which dips below sea level and so has a large pool of salt water in it where a unique species of sightless crab live. It is also famous as being where the local population hid when pirates were seeking to capture them to sell into slavery. Those said pirates were probably Sallee Rovers from the site of our visit to Morocco – Rabat.
Visiting this site brings you into contact with the very influential local artist Cesar Manrique who was born in Arrecife and was extremely influential in the early development of tourism on the island. I think that most of his intervention was for the good. In particular, he worked to stop developers building concrete jungles as was done on the Costa del Sol. He had a strong part in designing the development of the caves at Jameo del Agua. Some of this appears frankly pretentious and it would have been better to leave the cave in a more natural state as this invariably gives greater grandeur to nature's work than human intervention. However, it is still very dramatic and the bars and such like will bring in useful revenue to allow for the ongoing conservation work needed to keep such a structure open and prevent it from collapsing.
This little pile of stones was on the beach at Jameo del Agua but I don't think Cesar Manrique did it. He did the octopus below!
Tomorrow we will be visiting the Mirador del Rio which was designed by Cesar Manqrique and overlooks the channel between Lanzarote and Isla Graciosa. We will also be using the car to do some shopping.
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