October-5 2005

October

We hired a car for the day and have been touring around the Lanzarote sites. We eschewed the camel rides with incredibly long queues (lines) of pallid English and German tourists waiting in the hot sun to be spat at by the camels. We settled for Timanfaya National Park and the view of Graciosa from the northern cliffs. Even so, the whole island can easily be covered in a day except for the art galleries.
Timanafaya National Park covers the area of the most recent volcanic activity on the island. From 1730 to 1736 the south west corner of the island saw the cultivated fields transformed into one of the most extensive lava fields in the world. More than 20 villages were buried and events were carefully recorded by the local priest in Yaiza in his journal. The most recent eruptions were in 1824 and the area is now quiescent.

The vast lava fields and numerous craters and vents can only be viewed by traveling in one of the National Park coaches. This can be a little disappointing to the average photographer but you can see why they have done it. They have inflicted minimal damage on the environment and can ensure that the tourists do likewise.
There are craters that look just like any child imagines a volcano should and in all sorts and shades of colours. At one point the road has been placed right through the middle of a lava tunnel which had lost its roof but is still big enough to allow the passage of a large coach. The sides were layers of rock which had been dripping down in many coloured layers.
At another point we stopped right next to an enormous lateral lava vent that had fed a similar tunnel. Everything looks very recent and as though there could be eruptions again at any time. Vegetation and animal life is just beginning to be evident again after all this time.

The ground beneath the craters remains incredibly hot in many places and this is demonstrated at the central point where you board the coaches. Here the ground is 140° Celsius just 10 cm below the surface. Go down 6 metres and it reaches 400° Celsius! The park rangers demonstrate this by feeding dried twigs into a hole in the surface of the old volcanic mound. Within a few seconds there is dense smoke and then the whole lot bursts into flames. We were left wondering how far down you would have to go to find magma and when the volcanoes might become active again.

Going north we passed through the wine-growing region and were fascinated by the way little walls of stone were used to concentrate the sun’s warmth and provide shelter from the wind. Often these were in little semi-circles but other shapes were also used. The vines grow in the volcanic dust.