A 5-day passage takes a little time to recover from, you are in a bit of a jet lagged state from four hours on and four hours off and, for the boat, it is just long enough (and in this case rough enough) for things to have gotten a bit untidy. As a result, we were feeling a little rough when we arrived from Cadiz early on Friday morning.

So, we first did a bit of sleeping and then spent the rest of the day doing the necessary boat tidying jobs. The next day, feeling a bit more chipper, we decided that it was time to explore Lanzarote. We picked out a few things that we were keen to see and do and rented a car that would make those plans possible.

The landscape of Lanzarote

While all the Canary Islands are of volcanic origin, Lanzarote is the one that has had the most recent volcanic eruptions, from 1730 to 1736.

These eruptions produced lava flows and pyroclastic deposits that covered a quarter of the island’s surface, smothered the most fertile soils used for wheat and cereal production, destroyed 325 farms and houses, and in the process produced 32 new volcanoes.

The island’s bishop at the time reported that the eruptions converted a prosperous and productive island into one of poverty, hardship and emigration.

Most of this volcanic landscape is now protected in Timanfaya National Park, and the surrounding Parque Natural de Los Volcanes. This was certainly worth having a look at!

Hiking through a volcano landcape

The first hike we did was a 9km walk up to and around the rim of Caldera Blanca, one of the highest points of Lanzarote.

Here, we had spectacular views into the (extinct) volcano itself, as well as the surrounding, black lava fields.

At the top, we were joined by a few Common ravens and Berthelot’s pipits who were obviously accustomed to getting a few snacks from visitors to their territories.

We obliged, sharing a few bits from our muesli bars, in return for some close-up photos.

The next day, we did two shorter hikes, one (Montaña de las Lapas o del Cuervo) that took us inside the Caldera de los Cuervos together with many-many other tourists, but worth doing for the strange experience of being inside a volcano, and the gorgeous structures and colours of the crater and surrounding landscape.

Having lunch at the parking lot, we were again joined by a bird, this time a great grey shrike, that enjoyed our lunch, the cheese more than the bread. Interestingly, it cached bits of bread and cheese in the prickly bushes around the parking lot, much like a butcher bird does with its prey at home in Australia.

The second hike took us through an old quarry in the lava fields and then out towards and around the Caldera de la Rilla. This time we got to walk without anyone else around, making for a quieter experience of a dramatic landscape.

Bodegas (wineries)

The volcanic landscape of Lanzarote also contains a unique type of agriculture, namely the cultivation of grapes on volcanic sands, with the grapevines being grown in depressions in the soil and surrounded by half-circles of basalt blocks. This approach allows the vines to be planted directly into the rich, moister, and consolidated soils that lie deeper in the ash layer while simultaneously protecting the plants from the relentless and desiccating trade winds.

Apparently, this works, although the vines we saw from the road didn’t look particularly healthy nor abundantly productive, but what would we know. If anything, it makes for fascinating and mesmerising patterns in the landscape.

The most famous variety of Lanzarote’s wines is the (white) Malvasía Volcánica. When David learned that in 1478, George, Duke of Clarence, chose to be drowned in a barrel of Malvasia (Malmsey) wine after being sentenced to death by his brother, King Edward IV, we had to buy a few bottles! We haven’t tried them yet, so we can’t comment on whether being drowned in Malvasia might be a nice way to go but any wine in which you can drown nobility is worthy of consideration.

Lanzarote’s famous people

The Lanzarote landscape inspired one of its most famous citizens, César Manrique, who was an artist, sculptor and nature activist, not to mention an out and proud libertine. He became influential in shaping the development of tourism, and development more generally, on the island in the 1970s and 1980s.

This began with his push to preserve and foster the traditional architectural styles of the island and moved on to activism that saw the banning of lazy, mass-tourism focused developments on the island. His activism resulted in a ban on high-rise hotels, and official encouragement for private dwellings to maintain the traditional forms and colours of the island, namely white with green or brown trim (very classy colour choices – D). To this day virtually all buildings adhere to this code and sunglasses are necessary if you are anywhere near a building.

His two houses on the island, including his Volcano House at Taro de Tahiche (1968) which is build on and into a lava flow, are open to visitors, and his art installations and architectural work can be seen around the island.

For the car lovers amongst our readers, Manrique is also known for designing one of the BMW Art Cars with the German artist Walter Maurer in 1990.

Unbeknownst to us, another famous person coming from Lanzarote is the Old Man, as in from ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, the novella by Ernest Hemingway.

Supposedly, Santiago is based on Gregorio Fuentes who was a close friend and skipper for Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, and was born on Lanzarote. At least, that is what is says on the information board next to the large sculpture of a marlin fisherman at the round-about near the Arrecife Port.

Jardín de Cactus

Manrique’s final project was the Jardín de Cactus, which sounded rather tacky, but proved to be a fascinating garden full of, yes, cacti and succulents from all around the world.

According to their website, the garden has ‘4,500 specimens of 450 different species, of 13 different families of cactus from the five continents’.

While Lanzarote itself does not have any native cactus, the Spaniards spent a couple of hundred years importing them from their colonies in Mexico and Central and South America and they are now a common component of the landscape.

Some cacti, such as Prickly Pear, were historically cultivated commercially for cochineal dye, while the succulent Aloe Vera is still being grown for use in for cosmetic products.

The weirdest prickly plants, however, surely come from Madagascar! Unfortunately, not on our current route to Australia, except if we eventually decide to go full circle and around the world with Yuma. A plane ticket may be easier…