Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

The moment we stepped off the ship this morning we were blown away…literally. Apparently because Lanzarote (lan zah wrote eee) is so flat the wind blows here fast and furious. 

The island of Lanzarote is among the newest of the Canary islands. Created by volcanic actions millions of years ago. The island is covered with volcanos.  And many of them have erupted and caused a lot of damage. One fourth of the island is covered in lava fields and are considered part of their national park. 

Our tour guide today was Eva. A born and raised Lanzarotan.  She loves her island and all that natural (and traumatic) beauty that exists here. 

We drove over one of the biggest lava fields I have ever seen to get to Timanfaya National Park - or the Fire Mountains. They call it that for obvious reasons, but as we discovered later those mountains of fire are still alive and kicking.

We reached the visitor center that was designed by Cesar Manrique. He's a local architect who used the natural landscape in his work. Everything we saw of his this trip was built into a cliff, or built into the lava fields to display the natural beauty and to enjoy it at the same time.

Anyhow, at the visitor center Cesar had designed it for visitors to witness the fury of the volcano. Each station displayed the one of the 4 elements: land, water, air, and fire The first station we all stood in a wide circle that had been drawn on the grown.  A worker then shoveled up from the ground in the middle of the circle some volcanic rocks. He handed each of us a handful and I'll be darn if those rocks were smokin hot. It was then I thought, "I'm standing on an active volcano!!"

The next station was about fire. There was a hole in the ground about 10 feet wide and as deep as anything. Off to the side of the hole was another hole. The worker grabbed a pitch fork and a tumble weed and put the tumble weed into the second hole. Within seconds that tumbleweed was on fire.

The third station was about water. There were these long tubes made of metal put into the ground. The work would walk over to one and put a bucket of water into the tube and within minutes the water would burst out as steam. 

The last station was air.  Cesar built a "chimney" if you will over this massive hole. It looked a lot like a fire pit…and on top was a grate covered in potatoes.  The hole that was below was so deep…you couldn't even see the bottom. Our tour guide said the temp coming out of the hole was about 400F…thus cooking of the potatoes. 

It was insane to see the activities at the visitor center. It really brought to live the fact that the earth is still very much alive and at any moment one or many of those volcanoes could explode. 

We left the visitor center in the bus and they put on a crazy recording that had funky music and the story of the first eruption.  Apparently in the 17th century is when the most aggressive eruption happened. A priest in the only village that wasn't covered in lava (they lost 4 villages during the 6 year eruption) had kept a diary so the story was told from his perspective. 

Anyhow, the bus drove this narrow road through the lava fields, the ash fields, more lava fields and all the while a story was being told.  I got to see bizarre craters, streams of lava, and fields of ash that were mixed together to make a nearly unrealistic lunar landscape. If I thought we were on Mars yesterday in Tenerife…this landscape would certainly qualify more. 

The called this route, appropriately enough, the "Lunar Route" and kids, it was freaking amazing. It went deep inside the heart of the national park and really was so well created and set up to see the landscape up close and personal. 

Landing back from Mars we then headed to the vineyard region. Lanzarote has no water and they get about 20 days of rain a year. So, as you can imagine, growing crops of any sort is almost impossible.  So through trial and error they discovered that the volcanic soil would suck the moisture out of the winds that blew through. So they grow the grapes in deep holes surrounded by a semicircular volcanic stone wall that protest the delicate vines from the winds. 

The wine region is called La Geria where the famous Malvasia grape is grown and cultivated into a wine.  We stopped to taste the wine and naturally I had to buy a couple of bottles. It has a nice mineral taste and was pretty darn good. 

Then we went to lunch in Mancha Blanca.  It was a buffet style lunch that offered fish, veggies, paella, potatoes (one of the few crops that they grow here) and a few other things. It was different, and tasty. The restaurant was called Los Dolores because the patron saint of Lanzarote is Dolores - I have no idea, I'm not Catholic. 

After that it was off to the Mirador del Rio viewpoint.  Cesar Manrique built this viewpoint into the cliff. From it you can see the "little" islands:  La Graciosa, Montana Clara and Alegranza. The view was amazing. And the "river" wasn't a river but more of the ocean between Lanzarote and La Graciosa. 

If you know anything about volcanoes, or have ever been to the Big Island of Hawaii, you know about lava tubes.  The largest lava tube is called Jameos del Aqua. The lava tube was also transformed by Cesar Manrique into a beautiful paradise. It has a small pond of sea water in it and these lovely little white crabs (that are apparently blind and only found here) dotting the bottom of the lagoon - it looked like a starry night. 

From there we headed back to the ship. It was a fantastic day full of landscapes that were both beautiful and rugged.  

Back on the boat and we had reservations for Tappenyaki tonight. Craziest night ever. We had a ditch lady on one side of the table who lost her wine ticket and was freaking out. Then a family of 5 from Israel showed up 30 minutes late - and had only made reservations for 4. And lastly an extra couple showed up and it turned out one of the couples at our table had made reservations for 8pm and not 5. Janet and I just sat back and drank our yummy Japanese Martini and watched the crazy going on around us. 

Tomorrow is a sea day and we both feel like we need it. Three stops in a row and we're pooped.