It is perhaps a bit unusual that I had been coming to Lanzarote for 10 years before I finally took the tour of Timanfaya National Park, and for many tourists it is probably one of the first places that they take an excursion to.

But for whatever reason, I had only driven past the entrance until now, which does not mean that I had not seen photos and films of what to expect.

The day of our visit must have been a popular choice, because the cars were queued back onto the road (LZ-67) when we arrived. An efficient member of staff was going along the queue, handing out leaflets and enquiring as to the number and age of people in the car. This allowed him to have our tickets ready for us by the time we reached the front of the queue.

But the queuing was not over here. We then had to wait on the next piece of road to continue up to the car park.

At the car park there were at least three people directing the traffic and making sure that everyone found a parking space as soon as possible. Once we stepped out of the car, one of them immediately asked us which language we spoke and directed us to one of the faded orange coaches that was going to take us around the park. (more…)

On my last visit to Lanzarote I discovered a book called “Cuando ardieron los Volcanes”, or “When the Volcanoes spewed Fire” as it is called in English.

Published on the island itself, it is only a small book – 32 pages long and available in Spanish, English and German.

It contains the notes written by one Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo who was a priest on Lanzarote during the volcanic eruptions between 1730 and 1736.

His chronicle includes details of where on the island volcanoes were erupting and when, along with other seismic events and even which direction the lava was flowing and the villages that it had reached.  Later he also talks about how the inhabitants took shelter on Gran Canaria.

The book contains some stunning aerial photos of Lanzarote’s volcanoes, but also drawings of the island made to document the volcanic eruptions.  These not only bring home the scale of the disaster, but are also of interest to linguists.  In 1730 the island’s name was spelt “Lansarote” and one of the volcanoes was called “Chimanfaya”.

I have been unable to find the book on Amazon, but I did find a website on Tenerife listing the Spanish and English editions – albeit currently out of stock.  I picked up my copy for 5EUR at the Librería España in Arrecife.

ISBN Numbers
Spanish: 978-84-89023-29-1
English: 978-84-89023-30-7
German: 978-84-89023-31-4

El Golfo is situated at the south-west end of the island. Itself a small fishing village, it has one big attraction – the volcano crater with the green lagoon.

The crater in itself is fascinating enough – parking at the shop and restaurant just outside the village, you walk along a narrow path with a handrail on one side and the rock face on the other until you reach a natural viewing platform.

At this point you are in the crater – only half of it is missing, wash away by the Atlantic ocean.

Looking landwards the remaining side of the volcano towers above you, black and red layers of dried lava and other rocks make for a stunning view. It is not hard to imagine the power that this volcano once had.

But that is not all – down below is the green lagoon, a naturally formed pool of water that shines bright green. The effect is caused by minerals left over from the volcano’s active days. The water flows in from the ocean by an underground channel and mixes with these minerals to give it it’s green colour.

On the way back to the car park you can pick up a piece of green rock for a reasonable price from one of the collectors’ tables – often unmanned with just a collecting tin to put your money in.

For more elaborate souvenirs there is the shop at the car park, as well as Teguise market.