Lanzarote - not as flat as you think!!

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Total miles travelled from Santos: 4648 nautical miles

We docked in Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote at 10am, not a cloud in the sky, fluffy or otherwise. Up in the buffet some people seemed to be wearing sweaters, jackets, and even coats as they all descended like piranhas mopping up what the locusts had left behind on the breakfast buffet before venturing out on either an organised tour, taking the shuttle the 4 miles in to Arrecife town or to negotiate a price for one of the army of taxis scattered along the quay. Wherever they were off to, the temperature was going to be around 21 degrees C. There are no mountains in Arrecife unlike Tenerife so as Phil Collins stated: No jacket required!!

Originally when we were here last October we had decided to hire a car. An Avis car hire office stands a few yards along the quay. It was then deserted and due to my sprained ankle we just took the shuttle bus in to Arrecife. This time, we were going to take the official tour to Timanfaya, the moonlike landscape that is a national park on Lanzarote and has been shaped after millions of years of volcanic activity. Although there are demonstrations of the heat still generated by the underground lava flows by raking bundles of straw down an open fissure for it to be ignited by the intense heat, the landscape is so barren, I didn't feel there would be many decent photo opportunities. We then decided to take a tour to the north of Lanzarote to an attraction called Jameos del Agua. This involves a cylindrical cave formed by molten lava spewed out from the nearby La Corona Volcano. It is home to a small visually impaired albino crab. This species can only to be found in this part of the world. There is also a swimming pool designed by the world renowned architect and designer Cesar Manrique. On checking out the available tours, there were none suitable. The only tour that visited Jameos del Agua was an 8 hour excursion that called in at Timanfaya as well.

Looking out from our balcony, there were hundreds of passengers milling around, queuing for shuttle buses and taxis but not many entering the Avis Office. Looking beyond the office in to the parking lot, we could see there were still a fair selection of cars. Hopefully, they were all for hire and not just the vehicles belonging to the employees of the car hire company!! That was settled then. We would hire a car and do our own excursion.

Unfortunately, as this was not the original plan, I did not bring my driving licence with me but fortunately, Roisin did!! The cost for a day's hire equated to about £51 for everything (including comprehensive insurance and sat nav hire) It also included unlimited mileage although this wasn't really a deal clincher as the island is only 25 miles long. How many miles would you be expected to drive in Lanzarote in a day??!!. As the shuttle bus to Arricife was not free and cost £13 (for both of us) and the cheapest excursion cost $69 each we felt the car hire represented good value.

After faffing around with the ignition for 10 minutes before realising the brake and clutch needed to be depressed to release the immobiliser, we set off up the LZ-1, a well maintained road that runs up the east coast of the island. The plan was to head north then work our way back south to Arricife. This road took us all the way to our first stop and after ½ hour we were pulling into the car park at Jameos del Agua. Despite a huge queue to enter this attraction, we were told that this line is for the organised tours only. We were shown to a separate line and within 5 minutes we had paid our €9 entrance fee and were making our way down the uneven steps, past the 15ft cacti in to a large chamber and stood staring at a cylindrical cave about 60ft high and 300ft long. The cave was flooded but a walkway guided one around the edge of the cave. Looking into the clear water we saw what looked like fluorescent blobs. On closer inspection, these blobs were living organisms, the small crabs I mentioned earlier. Having been told about these crabs, I expected something like a giant spider crab but these were more like the small crabs found in rock pools on a beach somewhere in the north of England!! (albeit devoid of colour!) Climbing up the steps at the other side of the cave, a small swimming pool came in to view. This was surrounded by the volcanic rock and the colours used, brilliant white and electric blue together with strategically placed palm trees, gave the illusion of a tropical paradise' another example of Manrique's work!

The most Northerly attraction, Mirador del Rio is Lanzarote's most famous viewpoint is situated on Famara Cliff, 475m above the sea. The stone structure's semi-circular shape and large domed roof offer breath-taking views over the northern coastline, and the island's oldest salt plains. This has to be worth a visit and is only a further 9km further on than Jameos del Agua. We (when I say we, I mean Roisin, of course!) followed a bus down road LZ-201 in the direction of Mirador del Rio. This was a single track road with plenty of pass-bys scattered every few hundred yards. All motorists were very considerate stopping to let us past. This road was on the flat but it was not long before it stated to rise. (not good!) I should have become suspicious when I noticed the words: Monte Corona on the map with a small triangle indicating a ‘peak' slap bang in the middle of the road we were taking. But it was too late!! We started to crawl up and around the side of a mountain. Now where have I heard the name Monte Corona before? Oh of course! It is that volcano that formed the phenomenon at Jameos del Agua!!

‘I don't know why you're panicking', I said to Roisin. ‘It's probably extinct by now!!'

With less than a kilometre to our destination, the bus in front of us turned in to an even smaller road that looked down on the landscape below, our intrepid driver said: ‘Sod this!' and continued driving. After still rising for a further mile or so, we gradually descended to join a major route, (coloured red on the map) the LZ-10. I suggested we head for Teguise, a town in middle of Island, for some lunch.

I now know major routes can also cut across mountains. The close knit wiggly route the red road took on the map should have been a clue. This was hair raising for both the driver and the passenger. Looking ahead and up, the road weaved its way up the side of rather s steep incline. ‘That mightn't be the road we're taking', I tried to reassure Roisin rather unconvincingly.

‘There's a bus coming! A bus! Oh my God, there is a bus!' screamed Roisin.

‘I heard you the first time', was probably not the correct response at this juncture!!!

Roisin's next few sentences would have meant me going on an intense course in understanding the art of contortion!! As we approached the hairpin, so did the bus. The bus stopped and let us past. After a further 10 minutes of twists and turns, effin' and jeffin' and suggestions as to where I can stick my map (the sat nav was giving me the silent treatment at this stage!) we started our descent toward the town of Teguise. As we entered the town boundary, the sat nav kicked back in to action and led us straight to the main car park.

The town of Teguise was like a post-apocalyptic community. Every building was whitewashed giving it an immediate ‘collective' feel. On our descent from the mountains and volcanos, looking at towns clustered in the valleys below, I noticed that this seems to be a very characteristic trait with most towns on the island. Not many buildings outside of Arrecife extend more than two stories. In this particular town, the empty streets and square gave the impression of the presence of a deadly virus. There was no one around but all doors to shops, cafes and houses seemed to be open as if one moment life was carrying on as normal and in a split second eradicated from history. It had a feeling of the ‘village' a la Patrick McGooan's Prisoner series!!

We eventually found some life down a side street at a small café where we stopped for a crêpe lunch (well actually it wasn't that bad!!) We all took time to calm down, let the adrenalin drain from our bodies. With our batteries recharged from the warmth of the sun on our faces we were all set to carry on.

Our next stop which was relatively on the flat was to Al Campesino. This small rural community is the home of a sculpture by that man ‘Manrique' again, dedicated to all the farmers on Lanzarote. Let me tell you a bit about this guy, Cesar Manrique. He was born on the island and fought in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer on the side of Franco. He studies art and painting and when he graduated as a teacher he moved to New York when he received a grant from Nelson Rockefeller. Moving back to Lanzarote he was influential in recognising the potential of Lanzarote as a tourist destination but was successful in proving the island could be successful without the introduction of high rise apartments and hotels, this feature I have already noticed during our gum ball rally. Most of the islands art and sculptures have been designed by this man. He was tragically killed in a car accident in Lanzarote in 1992. I've happy that we learned this fact AFTER we hired the car and were near the end of our tour. We called in to a filling station on the way back to the ship squeezing €10 of fuel back in to the tank to ensure we delivered it make to Avis with a full tank of fuel as per the agreement.

It there is one thing I take away from todays experience is that Lanzarote DOES have mountains!! Whereas Tenerife has basically 1 volcano/mountain (Mt Teide) dominating and rising up from the centre of the island, Lanzarote is a land mass made up from over 300 volcanic craters, and it feels like we have experienced, first hand most of them in a single day!!

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Comments

[Miguel from Lanzarote Informatio]

I enjoyed your post about our island, thank you so much for the write up! I know exactly what you mean about the switchback road up from Haria heading towards Teguise - you should try it on a bicycle! Kind regards Miguel