Description: TIMANFAYA NATIONAL PARK:

Lanzarote was almost wiped out by a series of volcanic eruptions which lasted over six years from 1730. Amazingly eleven villages were buried in molten lava but incredibly, no one was killed. In 1974 the area was declared a national park which today provides tourists with an opportunity to see the effects of these years of volcanic activity.

One day we went to visit this famous Timanfaya National Park. This is almost like visiting the dark side of the moon. The landscape is black there is very little vegetation just miles of black rock and sand in various shapes. It cannot really be compared with anywhere else I have seen and is a must see if you are visiting Lanzarote.

A quick factfile for planning a visit:

How to get there: From both Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen, take the LZ2 to Yaiza. Follow signposts for Timanfya and the LZ67.
Opening Times: Daily: 10.00 – 18.00
Admission: €8 and Parking: Free

The park has a visitor centre further along the main road after the entrance gate to the park and this is well worth a visit as it explains about volcanic activity generally and more specifically about the eruptions in Lanzarote. It is well laid out and a very interesting and educational visit both geographically and historically.


You pay for the car at the entrance to the park and then you follow the road in the park until you reach the parking area near the Diablo restaurant. To reach this car park it is quite a distance from the gate and I would imagine that the queues really build up in summer as we were in a long line and the car park was very full.

The entrance fee includes the bus tour round the most dramatic and unspoilt area of the park, The road has been very cleverly built so that the area has kept as unspoiled by human interference as possible.


The only way through the National park is to have this bus tour which is okay but the windows do not open so photo opportunities are a bit limited and all photos have to be taken through glass which is a shame. The buses are packed full and they do not leave until they are full. You get on these buses from the reception area near the Diablo restaurant.

Atmospheric music is played on the bus as you wind your way round some very tight corners on the very narrow twisty road. The commentary includes someone reading the emotional and quite dramatic account of the eruptions from Father Lorenzo Curbelo's personal account at the time.

After the bus trip you can go and see a demonstration of the heat just below the surface as a pile of grass is stuffed into a pit and quickly catches alight. Another man pours water down a hole and seconds later a small geyser erupts nearby. This volcano is not extinct only dormant so volcanologists constantly study any changes that take place.

In the Diablo restaurant which was designed by Cesar Manrique you can also enjoy a steak (at a price) cooked on a BBQ pit heated by the volcano below where temperatures of 600 degrees Centigrade are recorded only 10 metres below the surface. Having seen the price of the steak we opted for 4 bowls of very expensive soup instead!

WE RODE A CAMEL TOO:

After you leave the actual park on the way out on the road back to Yaiza we passed the camels that we had seen on the way in Our daughter was very keen to ride one and no-one else would go with her so I agreed so we had a ride up the side of a volcano on a the camel.

The camels are led in a line. We sat two to a camel on sort of chairs strapped across their backs. They have a most ungainly walk, as they move the front and back leg on the same side of their body at the same time –it is a rolling gait and we wobbled from side to side. This is probably why the camel’s nickname of the ship of the desert.

Our camel kept insisting on getting so close to the one in front that my leg was almost under its bottom which I wasn’t too thrilled about. The camel behind also seemed to want to whisper in my ear too so it was a very close and personal experience. Our camel also seemed to be more wobbly in its gait than others and we swung up and down as if we were at sea.

You have to pay extra for the camel ride.

Summary;

This is a landscape that it is difficult to imagine unless you have experienced it. Everywhere is black and there are huge areas of flat black wilderness but this is interspersed with dramatic volcanic sculptures from time to time. The lava flowed down towards the sea and cooled at it hit the sea and this produced some very impressive shapes and sculptures.

I would certainly recommend a visit to this National Park if you go to Lanzarote as I don’t think there are many other such recent volcanic parks that you can visit.

Thanks for reading.
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