Lanzarote Memories

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 1 Dec 2008 08:00
 
Lanzarote and Our Memories
 
 
We had never planned to come to the Canary Islands, but weather stopped us from heading to Madeira, so we put in Morocco, then need to fly urgently brought us here. When you arrive in Lanzarote the eye sees essentially a monochrome landscapealmost sepia at times. Yet there is a certain beauty when the black-and-white landscape is set in juxtaposition with bougainvillea, brick red geranium or paradise flower. It has to be said that when the inhabitants of Lanzarote want to grow shrubs they need to work at it, but once they have, the stark beauty of contrast between it and the dark, gravel-like volcanic substance needed to nurture it is a pleasure to the eye and a photographers dream.
 
 
  
 
 
Lanzarote is an ideal holiday location to escape and chill for a week or two, total relaxation, peace and quiet to recharge the batteries from a stressful life. It also offers very tourist areas with loud British Bars serving meat pie and chips, cottage pie and Sunday roast, "Eastenders in the sun" or "Land-so-grotty". We have seen both sides and chose the quiet and found amazing scenery, stunning skies, stars and sunsets.
 

Lanzarote

Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 kms off the coast of Africa and 1,000 kms from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 kms², it stands as the fourth largest of the islands. The first recorded name for the island, given by Angelino Dulcert, was Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, after the Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello, from which the modern name is derived. The island's name in the native language was Titero(y)gaca, may mean "the red mountains".

 

  

 

Geography Lanzarote is situated at 29°00' north, 13°40' west. It is located 11 kms north-east of Fuerteventura and 1 km from La Graciosa. The dimensions of the island are 60 km from north to south and 25 km from west to east. Lanzarote has 213 kms of coastline, of which 10 kms are sand, 16.5 kms are beach, and the remainder are rocky. Its dramatic landscape includes the mountain ranges of Famara Massif, south of which is the El Jable desert which separates Famara and Montañas del Fuego. The mountainous area of Lanzarote is called Timanfaya National Park. The tallest mountain is Peñas del Chache elevating 671 m above sea level and Ajaches at 608 m to the south. The "Tunnel of Atlantis" is the largest submerged volcanic tunnel in the world. The island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve protected site.

 

     

 

Geology Lanzarote is of volcanic origin. The island was created about 35 million years ago by the Canary Hotspot, Alfred Wegener arrived in 1912 and studied the island and showed how it fitted in with his theory of the continental drift. The island along with others was created after the break up of the African and the American continental plates.

Demographics As of 2006, a total of 127,457 people lived on Lanzarote. The seat of the island government (Cabildo Insular) is in the capital, Arrecife, which has a population of 55,203. The majority of the inhabitants are Spanish, with a sizeable number of residents from other European nations, British, Irish and German. Other populous groups include immigrants from Colombia, Western Africa, China and India.

Ethnic Group

Population

% of Lanzarote's Population

         Spaniard

    99,929

          73.9%

        Colombian

    5,703

          4.2%

        Briton

    5,420

          4.0%

        Moroccan

    3,606

          2.7%

        German

    3,450

          2.6%

        Irish

    3,378

          2.5%

        Ecuadorians

    1,950

          1.4%

        Other ethnicities

    11,758

          8.7%

The island has its own international airport, Arrecife Airport - pronounced Arra-see-fee, through which 5,626,337 passengers travelled in 2006. Tourism has been the mainstay of the island's economy for the past forty years, the only other industry being agriculture. Lanzarote is part of the province of Las Palmas and is divided into seven municipalities: Arrecife, Haria, San Bartolome, Teguise (includes La Graciosa and four smaller islets), Tias, Tinajo and Yaiza.

 

   

 

Climate Lanzarotes’ climate is benevolent and relatively stable throughout the year, with an average annual temperature of 21.4°C in 2006. During the summer months, June to September, daytime maximums can reach 32°C, but rarely more, whilst night time temperatures remain around 20°C. Winter daytime temperatures vary from 15 to 25°C, and can drop at night to 14°C, although seldom below that. Lanzarote is in the path of the North Atlantic trade winds and profits from their cooling effect on daytime temperatures. Without this benefit the island's climate would resemble that of the neighbouring Sahara. Every year sandstorms originate in the desert and cross the thin stretch of ocean to the Canary Islands, where temperatures can rise dramatically and visibility can drop to just 100 metres. The locals call the wind that causes these storms siroco and the resulting floating dust calima. Annual precipitation for 2006 was 1,171 mm, although the bulk of this fell in October (164 mm), January (281 mm) and February (488 mm). Due to the particular orographic layout of the island, most of the rain occurs in the north-western half, including the Famara Massif, while the south-eastern half is mainly dry. Surface water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean reach 23°C during the summer months and can drop as low as 13°C during the winter.

 

   

 

Flora and fauna The vineyards of La Gería, with their traditional methods of cultivation, are a protected area. Single vines are planted in pits 4-5m wide and 2-3m deep, with low, curved stone walls around each pit to protect the vines from the constant wind. I had better be prudent here, or a Janet and John event may erupt. This agricultural technique is designed to harvest rainfall and overnight dew and to protect the plants from the winds. The vineyards are part of the World Heritage Site as well as other sites on the island. There are five hundred different kinds of plants and lichen on the island. 17 of the plants are endemic and there are 180 different lichen that get the Lichenology experts excited???. They need to get out more. Lichens survive in the suitable areas like the rock and introduce its own weathering. These plants have adapted to the relative scarcity of water, the same as succulents. Plants includes date Phoenix Canariensis which are founded in damper areas of the north, Pinus Canariensis, ferns, wild olive trees. The laurisilva trees which once covered the highest parts of Risco de Famara are rarely found today. After the winter rainfalls, the vegetation comes to a colorful bloom between February and March. Earlier, as now, that's the last time I touch a Berber lake, the rain has followed me. That'll teach you to get down and dirty with the natives. Steady I can feel one coming on. Careful Bear Careful.

The fauna of Lanzarote is more monotonous than the plant life, except for bats and other types of mammals which accompanied humans to the island, including the dromedary (own blog) which was used for agriculture and is now a tourist attraction. Lanzarote has thirty-five types of animal life, including birds, falcons, and reptiles. Some interesting endemic creatures are the Gallotia lizards, and the blind deep-water Remipedia crabs found in the Jameos del Agua lagoon, which was created by a volcanic eruption, (both own blogs).

       

 

The parade of shops at the back of the marina. With Christmas coming the marina staff have been very busy decorating and lighting.

History Lanzarote was probably the first Canary Island to be settled. The Phoenicians settled there around 1100 BC. The Greek writers and philosophers Herodotus, Plato and Plutarch described the garden of Hesperis, the land of fertility "where fruits and flowers smell sweet in this part of the Atlantic". The first known record came from Pliny the Elder in the encyclopaedia Naturalis Historia on an expedition to the Canary Islands. The names of five islands (then called Insulae Fortunatae) were recorded as Canaria (Gran Canaria), Ninguaria (Tenerife), Junonia Mayor (La Palma), "Plivalia" (El Hierro) and Capraria (La Gomera). Lanzarote and Fuerteventura were only mentioned as the archipelago of the "purple islands". After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Canary islands became abandoned until 999 AD when the Arabs arrived at the island and was known as al-Djezir al-Khalida and other names.

In 1336, a ship arrived from Lisbon under the guidance of Lanzarote da Framqua, alias Lancelotto Malocello. A fort was later built in the area of Montana de Guanapay near today's Teguise. Jean de Bethencourt arrived in 1402 on a private expedition to the Canary Islands and brought slavery to the island as well as raw materials. Bethencourt first visited the south of Lanzarote at Playas de Papagayo. In 1404, the Castilians with the support of the King of Castile came and fought against a rebellion among the local Guanches. The islands of Fuerteventura and El Hierro were later conquered.

In 1585, the Ottoman admiral Murat Reis captured Lanzarote. In the 17th century, pirates raided the island and took 1,000 inhabitants to slavery in Cueva de los Verdes. 1730 to 1736 (for 2,053 days), the island was hit by a series of volcanic eruptions, creating 32 new volcanoes in a stretch of 18 kms. The minister of Yaiza Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo documented the eruption in detail until 1731. Lava covered a quarter of the island's surface, including the most fertile soil and twenty villages. One hundred smaller volcanoes were located in the area called Montañas del Fuego. In 1768, drought affected the island and winter rains did not fall. Much of the population was forced to emigrate to Cuba and the Americas. Another volcanic eruption occurred within the range of Tiagua in 1824 which was not as bad as the major eruption that began in 1730. In 1927, Lanzarote as well as Fuerteventura became part of the province of Las Palmas.

Notables Among the notables who have lived on the island are Cesar Manrique, an artist; Jose Saramago, a Portuguese Nobel Prize for Literature winner, and Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark and her husband, Carlos Morales Quintana. Odd for us to explore an island so "young" as to have no major monuments, churches etc. compared to previous places we have visited, more than compensated in the natural harshness. Spectactular laval creations was new to me.

 

        

 

Our flight back was very different, now plane full of 'off season' bargain hunters of a certain shape, all with middle England accents. The shopkeepers have told us they hate this time of year, the tourist don't spend, only eat and drink (clearly evident). The clientele changes back again nearer Christmas. This week mind, they won't be returning with a tan, just two afternoons of full sun, the rest of the time overcast or rain but warmer than England. Don't these in the photos have friends OR mirrors????

We all that remains is our final jobs before we move over the next couple of days.

 

       

 

Bear sorting the the fluxgate compass to the gyro, not the sight I had expected, at least after he was caught on film he closed his legs.

 

       

 

Bear fitted our Moroccan lamp, well now I've got my tools out - I'm saying nothing, my lips are sealed but it does look rather splendid. Beez is happy to have permanent reminders of her voyages.

 

       

 

I had 'a bit of sorting and stowing' to do, but first my new troll line, I snipped the holding string and it exploded on me. By 00:45 onions wrapped and put in hammock in office, ditto the potatoes. Floor washed, hoovered throughout, bathrooms scrubbed................

 

     

 

Puerto Calero looked after the girl whilst we were away in UK, the fountain showing the Christmas lights wrapped round the coconut trees. Beez happy in her parking space, guarded 24 hours a day.

 

All in all given its reputation, we have enjoyed our time here more than expected, exploring all there was on offer, but now time to move on.