Isle of Lanzarote – Weblog

The Canary Islands belong to the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain. They are situated in the Atlantic Ocean about 100 km away from Morocco and the Western Sahara.

Lanzarote is the island which geographically has the least distance to the Moroccan border. A few years ago I spent there one week and liked it a lot. The mountainous area of the island was really impressing. My best friend and I enjoyed one day in the Timanfaya National Park. It was a pleasure to get lunch in the restaurant El Diablo where the barbecue was heated by the volcano. We also took the chance for a camel ride through the park which was a real adventure.

Another day we went on a round trip by bus and saw a few more places of interest. We took some pictures of ourselves in front of the lagoon El Golfo, went to the salt evaporation pond Salinas de Janubio, had a fantastic forecast from the viewpoint Mirador del Río and inspected the lava tube Jameos del Agua.

Mirador del Río and Jameos del Agua belong to the works of art of César Manrique, an artist and architect who had great influence on the visual appearance of the island. He was the one who avoided the construction of high-rise buildings there.

Unfortunately we could not realize a boat trip to the Papagayo beaches due to weather turbulences. However, it was wonderful to relax on the beach in front of our hotel in Puerto del Carmen where we also enjoyed night life and got in touch with many nice people from all over the world, especially the English tourists in discos and pubs.

Dear reader,
holiday offers each time a beautiful recovery time. I would like to tell you something about my last trip to one of the biggest canary island.

General facts
Everybody of us loves sun, fun and recreation. And we all love holidays of a very beautiful island. My last trip went to Lanzarote. It was my first time on a canary island. I have not missed Germany. It was a beautiful time of one of the biggest canary island. Beautiful weather, people and a beautyful enviroment.

Time, weather and tour
Also in November I had beautiful weather in comparison to Germany. On the first day I had done a sightseeing tour. I have seen the “Hacha Granade”. The mountain is about 560 meters high. But not only the culture is beautiful also the mentality. You can buy beautiful things.

The water
And the water is very blue and very warm. You can make a diving tour and it is very interessting if you see the coral and the rare fish where you only know from the aquarium. If you dive you forget the time very fast and you will be fascinated like me I think.

Hiking tour into the country
I also recommend a hiking tour into the mountains and the country. There you can learn a lot of the culture. Everybody can go there and will not back to home. I know you can’t imaging what I tell you but try it and you will not be disappointed.
Love

Lanzarote is really bizarre. I’ve been there last year in March, the best month to travel there, I think.

Lanzarote is the fourth largest of the Canary Islands and is located in the north-east of Fuerteventura. The island has a dramatic landscape: no trees, no bushes, less water. What’s interesting about Lanzarote is its volcanic origin, its volcanic lakes and caves.

I’ seen a lot during the fourteen days and all the time I seemed to be on the moon and sometimes was surprised to see the ocean next to me. But nevertheless the meagre island has vegetation: Cactuses! Cactuses in all shapes you can imagine! Some of them were in full bloom!

Once I made a tour through the famous winegrowing area La Geria. There were deep semi-circular cones made of black volcanic ash with lush green grape-vines in it. I tasted the wine at the vineyard and it was really good, so I bought some bottles for my next relaxing evening in the hotel.

From the Timanfaya National Park, which is the mountainous area of the island, I drove straight up to the north to see the “Mirador del Rio”. In the hotel they told me, that this is a must, a highlight, I should see it. And they were right! The immensity of the Atlantic Ocean is impressive, I could also see the island La Graciosa in the distance.

Back to the south I visited “La Cueva de los Verdes” near the volcano Monte de la Corona. The area has created a spectacular system of underground grotto. Its volcanic gallery is the longest in the world, about 6 km long!

A must is also the “Jardin de Cactus”, a cactus garden which shelters about 10,000 types of cactus.

Lanzarote is the fourth largest of the Canary Islands located just off the coast of Africa.

To me Lanzarote is the islands of the group that holds most attraction. Just as the other islands, it is of volcanic origin. But on Lanzarote there was important volcanic activity during the 18th and 19th century. The arid climate and almost complete lack of erosion has left the traces of the volcanic eruptions intact and the landscape of the island has a touch of a lunar landscape.

During my last vacation I had the opportunity to visit the Atlantida Cave system which was formed due to volcanic activity aproximately 3,000 years ago. It consists of one of the largest volcanic tunnels in the world and an impressive cave. In former times the area was used by the inhabitants to shelter from the frequent pirate attacks.

Contrasting with the volcanic scenary of the island we find quite a few lovely sandbeaches, where sunshine and a mild seabreeze invite the visitor to enjoy a bath in the deep blue ocean.

Several resorts have developed in Lanzarote over the years. Playa del Carmen, Puerto Blanco and Famara offer good acommodations and all the amenities a modern tourist expects. However everything seems to be a bit more laid back that on the neighbouring islands of Tenerife and Gran Canary. An island ideal for a relaxing vacation.

For some hustle and bustle we like to visit Arrecife. The island´s capital also has a very beautiful beach that is lined with palm trees and reminds us of the tropics.

There are many bars and places that offer night entertainment in this area. I always enjoy stopping at one of the street cafes for a cortado, the traditional coffee and then continue on to the town center for shopping. The Canary Islands have a preferential tax status which allows the visitor to bring home tax free items like cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and perfume.

We visited Lanzarote in Summer 2008 when it became more and more popular to go there. It was a beautiful and warm year and we enjoyed every moment of our holidays.

We stayed in Arrecife in a beautiful hotel very close to the town, where you can get souvenirs and really nice food.

Allthough our hotel was “All-Inclusive” we enjoyed going out for meal, which was not too expensive in the restaurants.
In some of the hotels nearby it was possible to go to bars and have a great night dancing and drinking.

But as we love adventures, we rented a car which was also very cheap and the gas prices were not as high as back home.

Lanzarote is a relatively small Island and so we were able to go by car all around it as there is only one main road around the whole isle.
Most of it was inactive vulcanos and dry land which was quite boring.

What we enjoyed most was the Cactus Park “Jardin de Cactus” and Jameos del Agua which was one of the island´s artist´s work.

Cèsar Manrique made an artificial pool and a museum all about vulcanos inside magma caves.

Once a week this area was opened as a club and we could enjoy drinks in a very unique area. I would really recommend this sight.

The Island´s vegetation is very dry and rough. It´s significance is distinct in the vulcanos of which some are still active.
It is possible to visit the vulcano that is still active in the “Parque Nacional de Timanfaya”.

Staying in one place on that island is almost a waste of time. You should get a car and see all of the island!