April 3, 2023
Today we visited Las Montañas del Fuego (The Mountains of Fire) in Timanfaya National Park. The park's spectacular landscapes were formed by volcanic eruptions in the early 1700s. In their most recent eruption in 1730, the Mountains of Fire erupted for 2,055 days! Amazingly, no one died in this long eruption, but entire villages and valuable farmland was lost. In fact, the entire island of Lanzarote is one big shield volcano different cones and vents throughout the island. The most recent eruption was in 1824 at the Nuevo del Fuego vent. It lasted for 3 months.
As we drove through Lanzarote on our way to Timanfaya, we passed beautiful white buildings. All the houses and other buildings in Lanzarote must be white. The island's best known artist, Cesar Manrique, convinced the government to mandate this as part of his vision for creating a tourist destination that would attract people from around the world. As we drew close to the national park, the land grew more barren with long fields of rocky lava along the sides of the road and beautiful mountains in the background.
As we approached the entrance to the park, we saw a row of camels awaiting riders to take into the fields of lava rock. Our tour today did not include a camel ride.
Upon entering the park, we headed to Islote de Hilario, the visitor's center of Timpanaya. The Islote is an area of higher ground that was not engulfed by the lava, but where the heat of the volcano is still very much present. In fact it features a restaurant with a barbecue pit where food is cooked by the underground thermal energy. Cesar Manrique designed the restaurant, El Diablo, to blend with the volcanic environment. The emblem of the restaurant, is also the symbol of the park - a devil symbolizing the inferno under the island.
They give other displays of the volcanic heat permeating the area. In one section, they scoop up rocks with shovel and pass around a few to each guest. It is like handling a hot potato.
Then, you walk up to a large pit. They use a pitchfork to stick some of the long straw-like grass into a hot section of the pit and it bursts into flame.
Finally, we climb up to the final station where a pail of water is poured into a tubular hole in the earth. At first nothing happens, but as more water is added, a geyser erupts.
The views from the islote were incredible.
We then drove through Timanfaya. The rugged landscapes with little life except for lichen and a few persistent plants were fascinating.
Our next stop was the La Geria wine region. Very little rain falls on Lanzarote, but the soil is very fertile. To make sure the grape vines have enough water, the farmers use a single small round pit for each vine. the high walls protect it from the wind and the porous lava gravel it is dug in hold in the water from the fog and morning dew so it doesn't evaporate. It also allows the roots of the vine to grow down into the soil below.
Our final stop was Monumento al Campesino. Cesar Manrique restored an old farmhouse and extended it, creating a beautiful monument representing traditional Lanzarote architecture with a restaurant and a museum down a spiral staircase surrounded by walls of volcanid stone. At the entrance is the Sculpture to Fertility created by the artist to honor the farmers of Lanzarote.
We enjoyed the scenery on the ride back to the port.
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