Dublin & Canaries Xmas Cruise - 17/12/2014 - Arrecife, Lanzarote Page

Dry land again & warmer but there was some wind. We went on a tour towards the North of the island (i.e. opposite way from the Fire Mountains). They had had much rain in November by local standards & some last night, so there was quite a lot of green about. Our native guide, Franscesco, was a mine of information. The first stop was the original capital, Teguise & very quiet it was. We only saw two locals, one running a dress shop. The church had an over-the-top interior & a castle overlooked the town from a nearby hill.

Teguise Church	Inside Teguise Church	Drummer statue
Teguise from by the church	Teguise

We went on a hair-raising road, not as it climbed but as it zig-zagged down to Haria, barely wide enough for a car to pass the coach. Apparently, the island was usually critically short of water before the desalination plant got going but a local artist, Cesar Manrique, who everyone thought was mad, planned for a tourist invasion, doing a lot of infrastructure & planning law proposals, which means that ‘private enterprise’ has not wrecked the place. Only three villages are allowed hotels & otherwise, buildings are maximum two stories. We went up to the Mirador del Rio, a viewpoint over to the island of La Graciosa, the ‘river’ being the strait between it & Lanzarote. The view is spectacular.

Cliffs to the East

Cliffs to the West

Modern mobiles in the café

Next stop: the Jameos del Agua. This is a cave essentially, made by a volcanic gas bubble but it has been landscaped by Cesar Manrique, so one goes down through a steep garden to a café (good coffee €4 for 2) & down again to a lake. Then, up the other end of the gas bubble, is a pond & another café & a geology museum we did not have time to visit. It has all been done splendidly.

Not many flowers	Blissfully undeveloped coast	"The Crown" volcano from Jameos del Agua
The door is a recycled rudder	Down the steps	Café most the way down
Through the cave	The second stair	Cave wall
Through the cave	Concert Hall (!)	Lake at the top

The last stop was a (according to Franscesco) a ‘Horrible Hole’ between Mala & Guatiza, which Cesar Manrique had transformed into a Cactus Garden, his last hurrah before dying in a car crash at 73, with terraces & a huge collection of cacti.

Cochineal bugs squashed	Into the garden	Exotic cactus

My wife, Avis thought this was the best tour we have ever done but I think she has forgotten one or two others. Back before 13:30 & out after lunch on the shuttle bus to Arrecife, largely a mistake. It was hot now & we bought Avis a baseball cap for €10, as she had no Summer headgear. The Charco basin is nice but we went further into town & it is a dump. We came back a different way round the Chaco & took the shuttle back.

Fort from the ship	Charco	Charco other way
Church by the Charco	Church from in town	Inside the church
Main Street	Plesiosaur sculpture	Town Hall

There was a sail-away party on the quarter deck at 16:45 & we departed about half an hour later. A good nautical show we had not seen by the Show Team.