Lanzarote’s Montañas del Fuego
Active Volcanoes in Spain’s Canary Islands
Lanzarote's treeless volcanic landscapes may seem barren wastelands, but to travelers who marvel at the forces of nature, this still-simmering island is paradise.
While most national parks protect forests, wildlife and growing things, Lanzarote’s Timanfaya National Park protects the Montanas del Fuego, a landscape so devoid of plants that it could be the moon. Montanas del Fuego means mountains of fire, and these volcanoes, which last erupted in 1736, are just that.
Visitors to the summit of Islote de Hilario, a volcanic cone, can see just how close the molten lava is to the surface, as it sets fire to brush, explodes in geysers of steam and roasts chicken over a hole in the ground. All around is a terrain of jagged rock and volcanic sand, an unearthly landscape of lava hardened as it was spewed out of the mountain, then broken and jostled by hot lava flowing beneath it. The landscape is new, created by repeated volcanic eruptions between 1730 and 1736, when lava and hot ash buried 11 villages.
Touring Timanfaya National Park
The best place to begin a tour of the park is atop Islote de Hilario, site of El Diablo – a restaurant designed by Spanish artist Cesar Manrique -- and the park activity center, where bus tours of the park begin (these are included in the park admission fee). Park guides demonstrate the power and heat that lies just underfoot, where the temperature reaches 140 C only a few inches below the surface. Dry brush thrown into a hole springs into flame, and water poured down a pipe spurts back out as steam. Over an open barbecue pit, racks of chicken sizzle on a grill, cooked by heat from the volcano core below. The chicken is served in El Diablo, and you can accompany lunch with a wine from the nearby La Geria wine region, where the vines thrive in volcanic ash..
The narrated Route of the Volcanoes bus tour weaves through the bizarre landscape, stopping to show fissures, lava formations and volcanic tubes. These giant tunnels were formed by molten lava and gases generated by volcanic explosions. Trapped beneath the surface crust, which formed as the upper lava cooled more quickly, the lava underneath continued to flow, usually emptying the tube into the sea. The remaining shell hardened into brittle, black lava caves. These hollow tubes, called jameos, can be explored in other parts of the island, where they have been turned into living spaces and even a concert hall by the artist Cesar Manrique. Those in the park, however, are kept in their natural state,
Camel Rides and Model Volcano
Learn about the volcanoes, the island’s geology, and how it transformed local culture and economy, at the Museo del Visitante at Mancha Blanca, an outstanding museum that demonstrates the science of vulcanology with a cutaway model of a volcano. Interactive displays include a relief map showing ages and activity of all the volcanoes in the Canary Islands. Other exhibits tell the fascinating story of how Lanzarote's Malmsey wine (Malvasia) growers made use of the volcanoes. Outside the museum, a viewing platform is built over a typical malpais – the local name for a black lava field.
Purely for fun – and the novelty factor – is the Echadero de los Camellos(Camel Park) where visitors can take a short camel trek along the side of the desert-like volcanic cone, At the information office there, a small museum shows examples of earlier camel saddles, including one with a water barrel mounted on one side.
Camel rides, lunch cooked on a volcano, homes and concert halls in volcanic caves – it’s all in a day’s travel on Lanzarote.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
