LANZAROTE, CANARY ISLANDS – 4 – 6/10/26
After yesterday’s 5-star tour, we’ve got some pretty high expectations for the next trip. For some unknown reason, I thought we would be taking a ferry ride and there would only be the four of us. Sadly, it was a similar situation to yesterday, a double-decker bus and a shit load of people. Ah well, we were spoiled by the Collette tour in the Azores.
Tour #2 – 4 October
Our first stop was the Teguise Sunday Markets. Now, anyone who really knows me knows that this isn’t a Marilyn thing. Too many people, numerous stalls all selling the same things, and too many people … did I already say this? Thankfully, Rhonda, Ray and Christine weren’t into markets either. Although I did find myself a new sun hat, Rhonda was giving me a hard time about the god-awful hat that I’d been wearing for the last three weeks. Thankfully it was only a 2 hour stop over and soon enough we were on the way to the ferry to take us to the Island of La Graciosa.
Originally La Graciosa was considered an islet of Lanzarote, but in 2018 it was officially declared the eighth Canary Island. It is administratively dependent on the island of Lanzarote. The population is around 700 and there are only two settlements on the island are Caleta de Sebo in the southeastern part of the island and summer-residence Casas de Pedro Barba.
When the ferry left the port of Órzola, I wasn’t sure how far off the mainland we were, and then Rhonda and I look over to the horizon and saw this big island and figured we should both take a seasick tablet. Then we rounded the corner (after taking the tablets) and discovered this teeny tiny island coming up, maybe 1k away. Ah well!
When we disembarked we were taken to the only church on the island.
Inside the church, a large marine theme in the church. It must have cost a small fortune importing all that wood onto the island.
We then went back to the port and boarded another boat for lunch. Have to say this was the most unsatisfying lunch we’ve had on the whole trip. Mind you, there were a lot of people and their resources would have been pretty small.
After lunch we decided that we wouldn’t swim on the beach (not comparable to Oz beaches I’m afraid) and searched for a bar to drown our sorrows. No bars without ordering food so eventually we came back to where we started and decided to get some Tapas in order to get some wine. I have to say the Tapas was extraordinary, so not a bad call after all.
We were a little intrigued by the group of women.
We thought they were just there having lunch, and then they pulled out the ukulele and started singing (in Spanish).
And then out came the tambourine and some other instrument, was so cool. I used my 50 year old Spanish to ask them where they were from, wondering whether they were locals. None of them spoke English and then someone from another table helped me out, turns out they are from one of the Canary islands, Gran Canaria. Honestly, I could have sat there all afternoon and listed to them or joined in with the music.
Looking over to the Northern point of Lanzarote – looks like they used to direct electricity to the island in days gone past.
The coast of the Island, nice sandy beaches.
Christine gave this tour a big thumbs down, but I thought the tapas and the singers brought it up to a solid 4 out of 5, but the chances of meeting those women in the bar again are pretty slim.
Tour #3 – 5 October – Christine had booked golfing for Ray and Rhonda and a doon buggy experience for me. I’m not a “doon buggy person”, she seemed to think that I would be driving a buggy all over hell and back … I was pretty sure that wasn’t “me”. Anyway, I rocked up at H²O Sport office and mentioned to the staff that I just wanted to be a passenger – bonus for me, I got to ride with the guide – yaaaaa!
It’s a case of “the kids and me”, the only grandmother on the trip! As you can see, it’s a cloudy day, looks like it should rain but wont happen!
We basically drove on public roads with about 50m off road (really big ditches, really happy that I was being driven) and sometimes he floored the accelerator, I’m sure at one straight road I looked to the speed dial and it was 115k – if I’d been following them, I would have either slowed everyone down or gotten lost. The first stop was La Caldera de los Cuervos.
This photo (not mine) shows you the caldera of de los Cuervos. According to historical records, it was here that the eruptions of Timanfaya began in 1730 (the eruption that continued for six years). I have my doubts about this as the previous guide for the NP didn’t mention the significance of this volcano at all! Anyway, the reason for this image is that you can see on the rh side of the volcano where the lava broke the edge of the volcano and spewed out across the plain. Apparently, the volcano filled up in the caldera to such a height that it could no longer be contained. We walked on the track (that you can see), around to the right and then entered the caldera.
You cannot see the spot that we enter, it’s on the far right of the volcano.
The big chunk of rock that you can see in the middle of the image on the far rh side, apparently was part of the side of the volcano when it erupted. Described in the information board “… it comes out of the giant narrow pass in which we enter, a solidified stream of twisted, prickly and rugged lava that has dragged the colossal chunk of wall (from the crater) that covered the pass and stranded it in the position the lava previously held, about 150m from the place it was situated.”
Walking into the caldera – I tried to wait for a clean shot with no tourists but they just kept on coming. Anyway, what I find hard to understand is why, where the girl in pink (at the level of the plain) is way higher than down at the bottom of the caldera. Why isn’t the base as high as the plain?
Down in the caldera now, it’s shaped a bit like a curl,
A piece of lava at the entrance, all knobby.
Another piece at the entrance showing how the lava flowed and twisted. The lava doesn’t come out all at once, some comes out and then cools down and then more comes out over the top of the cooled lava.
I have picked up some rock/gemstones that I will use in Christmas decorations. They are called olivine (aka peridot) and they are found in lava rocks. I did come across some of this olivine in a rock on the side of the caldera, this piece is about the size of a bread plate. The crystals are very small though, the smaller they are, the quicker the rock cooled (I think).
This is one of the spindly bushes that are pretty much all that grows here, small yellow flower the size of a 5c piece. I did also find a geranium plan growing. Pretty much all the vegetation on the island is “introduced”.
We’re back at the buggies after an hour of exploration, and I’m wondering where we’re going now. The guide says we’re going to a canyon … mmmm that’s interesting. Turns out it is Las Grietas de Montana Blanca, ie a canyon on Mount Blanca I think. When I Googled it I found a comment on a blog reading “If, like us, you love rock formations and slot-canyons, Las Grietas de Montana Blanca is a must-see on Lanzarote. It’s a place that’s still not very well known, and the crevasses in the slopes of the Montana Blanca volcano are magnificent.” Well, for whoever wrote that blog and gave directions of how to get there, it’s definitely a place that’s VERY WELL known! Nevertheless, it was worth the visit.
The entrance isn’t that impressive. The rock apparently is sandstone, but certainly isn’t like the weathered sandstone in the Aussie canyons.
This is more like what you’d find in Zion NP in the US. Stunning.
Easy to walk through, about the size of a large person.
Very cool.
The bottom of the canyon is volcanic ash, no idea where it’s come from, not really light enough to be brought in by the wind.
This was the end of it, you can climb the rocks to get out of the canyon section, I didn’t because it was quite slippery.
And, this is where it is, you can just see someone going into the canyon, there are rope “fences” to prevent people going in from the side and falling. It’s only about 70m long, not much but impressive. Honestly, you could drive past this and not know it was there, apparently there are quite a few on the island.
We did a big of off road to get to this feature (about 100m of off road but that was enough for me, I felt I was going to be thrown out on some of the humps we went over). And then it was full speed ahead (literally) to get back to base.
Given that I wasn’t all that keen to do the tour, I have to say it was a 6 out of 5 trip! Thanks Christine!
Tour #4 – 6 October – Our stay at Lanzorote is fast closing today is our last day and so Christine organised something totally different. A 4 hour cruise on the White Beach. This is the cruise which would only be the 4 of us, so nice not to be surrounded by other tourists! We were picked up from Reception and it was a 45 minute drive down to the port.
We were so fortunate to have Hannibal (pronounced Annibal) as our skipper. Hannibal grew up on the Canary Island of La Palma. And he was there for the eruption at the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge (on the southern half of the island which took place between 19 September and 13 December 2021. It was the first volcanic eruption on the island since the eruption of Teneguía in 1971. At 85 days, it is the longest known and the most damaging volcanic eruption on La Palma since records began. The total damage caused by the volcano amounts up to 843 million euros.
Hannibal’s father had been for 3 other eruptions and he suggested that Hannibal and his young family leave the island “before chaos made it too hard to leave”. Hannibal monitored the site (there’s an app for this), by monitoring how deep the magma was and 3 days before the eruption he convinced his wife that it was time to go, so they packed up and went. His house wasn’t destroyed and over the next three months he was able to go back and forth and clear out all their possessions. He lives on Lanzarote now and says he’ll only go back to La Palma for holidays. Apparently, it’s a beautiful island (all green).
Ready to board, I didn’t realise that I was so short!
And there we are! isn’t it nice!
And there’s our driver taking the above photo!
Whilst it wasn’t bright blue sky (it still looked like rain), the sunrise on the water was stunning.
We first sailed south and passed many towns, mostly set up for tourist, so many hotels.
Another tourism town.
Before we got into choppy seas, we turned north and passed a lot of coastal geography. All sandstone, so no lava tubes to see. Nice little coves though.
Tourists on one of the five or six beaches we passed. Big walk in the heat down to the beach.
Could be a cave LOL.
Then we dropped the anchor and Rhonda and I had a swim. The water was surprisingly not cold! When we got out of the water we had cheese, salami and watermelon, and more wine, which we’d started at 11am LOL.
Again, this was really nice, so relaxing that I fell asleep on the way back to the port. Christine, once again, you’ve outdone yourself.
We leave tomorrow for Barcelona and so a few notes about Lanzarote …
- There were more English speakers in the Azores than there were here on Lanzarote, so polish up your Spanish! Mind you there are so many Pommy tourists, all you need to do is stop someone in the street and 90% of the time they’ll be English speakers.
- Whilst it’s nice to have a car to get around, get your hands on a really good map or make sure your phone/sim card and the car you hire are in sync.
- Double check if are going to rely on Maps or Google Maps double check that your (Optus or Telstra) mobile roaming works in Spain.
- The public transport system is very good, the #3 bus seems to go through Puerto del Carmen every 20 minutes.
- Whilst I’m not a fan of commercial tours, we learned so much from the guides that it was definitely worth it, things that we would have driven past, and you get to skip waiting lines, they get the tickets for you.
- It takes a few days to get acclimatised (ie where you are), a week is a good time to stay, you know where you are and where you’re going. Also, do a lot of research before you go.
- If you’re into volcanoes this is the place to go.
I am really pleased that we came here, whilst there were too many tourists for me, it’s a destination that most Australians just wouldn’t think about. Well done Christine!