Lanzarote: A Canary Island Full of Pigeons and the World's Most Inaccurate Rock Thrower

The four days previous the weekend were full of the German permacloud, however; we were graced with consecutive days of intermittent snow showers. On Thursday, a total of twelve centimeters fell in our little town, although; when I picked Julie up from work, our accumulation was evidently isolated. There would be no flight delay or difficulty reaching our vacation destination, Lanzarote, the eastern most Canary Island off the southwest coast of Morocco. Our trip was two-fold; we would spend a day sightseeing, while the remaining time would be devoted to libation and relaxation.

Parking lot at Timanfaya National Park

Rocky terrain

Spotted our first greenery

Situated on the Canary hotspot, the origin of the island is volcanic in nature, a unique terrain observed on our drive to Timanfaya National Park. Lanzarote has one remaining active volcano and shares its name with the park. Bus tours of Timanfaya introduce tourists to a landscape molded by eruptions over millions of years - the most recent, a six-year event starting in 1730. The arid climate and volcanic soil limit the flora and fauna - a biome composed of succulents, birds, lizards, insects, and lichen; a sparse, yet extraordinary environment. The bus ride plays audio describing the area in three different languages (English, German, Spanish), but one is easily distracted by the serene, almost alien surroundings.

Montanas del Fuego

Panoramic views

Mars...?

The entertainment continued when we returned to El Diablo, the restaurant atop Timanfaya. Utilizing the convenience of the hotspot, the cafe cooks food over a well exposed to the underlying hot earth. For further proof of the excessive core temperature, a guide greeted the gathering tour group and placed a small amount of rocks in everyone's hands. Immediately, each person dropped them due to the surprising calefaction. Next, he placed some tumbleweed into a hot vent, within seconds the bale ignited into flames. If fire and burnt hands weren't convincing enough, the final act included a makeshift geyser. With metal pipes protruding from the ground, a small amount of water was poured down a spout and subsequently smoked like a chimney. When the entire bucket was poured into the vent, a geyser spewed the unwelcome water three meters high, temporarily camouflaging our guide behind a wall of steam - concluding our visit to the park.

Volcano kindle

Hooray, the volcano is doing things, everybody look

And now for my disappearing act

Making my getaway

A short drive down the highway, overlooking Montanas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) we found a pull-off area with a museum and some unexpected ungulates. We lost interest in the museum as soon as we saw the series of camels saddled for rides. In total, there were twenty-four camels separated into groups of six and could each carry two passengers (sounds like a math problem...the first group of camels departs at 11:23 traveling at 1.618 kph; a second group departs 5.8 minutes later and travels at a speed of 3.141 kph. what is an ungulate?). For the next fifteen minutes, we rode the docile Hilario, the camel caboose of the group, named after the fabled nomad who planted a fig tree in Timanfaya's volcanic soil that never bore fruit.

Fire Mountains

Camel path

Unwinding ungulates

Julie with Hilairo

Returning to the day's itinerary, Julie penciled-in El Golfo, a small fishing town on the southwest coast. While driving, we got the feeling we were on another plant - a rigid, harsh landscape enveloped with coarse soil; the Green Lagoon near the sleepy maritime village only added to the extraterrestrial impression. The shore is covered with black lava stones, bordered by turquoise ocean, while white-caps ceaselessly crash into large red rocks. Parallel to the shoreline, the Green Lagoon rests at the basin of a seemingly lunar mountain (lagoon gets it's color from algae in the salt water). Enamored with the beauty, we prolonged our visit and sat on the cooled molten rubble. I attempted to shatter a few of the pebbles by throwing them at a larger formation where the waves broke.

El Golfo

Green Lagoon

and again...

Laughing at her rock throwing ability

"Beach" picture

More rocks

Seated to my right, Julie decided she would do the same, grabbed a rock, placed her arm at her side like an Olympic athlete preparing to throw a discus - then heaved with all her might. Her efforts were most impressive, not in that she reached the mass ten meters in front of us, rather, she hit me square in the face. I don't know how Newtonian physics fit into the equation, but I do know that if she were to throw the celebratory first-pitch of a baseball game, it would land somewhere between first and second base. Apparently, if Julie is throwing rocks, the safest place to stand is directly in front of her, but she is now a under a temporary projecttile ban.

Martian surface

Salinas, but closed for the day

For the remainder of the weekend, we remained relatively sedentary, enjoying on our oceanside balcony - reading and relaxing to the ebb and flow of the waves oscillating below. The hotel was all-inclusive and we shared the wealth with some local wildlife. Over the next day and a half we made two new avian friends, pigeons. Later, we met a third who was particularly inept, unable to associate bread with food - we named him "Mush," symbolic of the bird brain within. Sadly, the weekend had to come to an end, but our island visit was the perfect combination of adventure and leisure.