A sightseeing tour of the island.

Somehow, despite the array of weapons we have against them, I woke up with two new mosquito bites this morning as well as rain falling out of a cloudy sky. Hmmm…not a good start to a Monday morning!

We’d planned on going up to the north of the island today to visit Mirador del Rio and Jameos del Agua so the cloudy weather wasn’t going to spoil a day by the pool. By the time we’d breakfasted and got ourselves ready it was almost 10am and the sky had cleared to a mix of sunshine and fluffy clouds. 

However, as we headed off on our journey the sky grew darker and the range of volcanoes more menacing. At times the landscape resembled Glencoe in Scotland, with the weather to match! At Yaiza we turned off onto a quieter road that ran through numerous vineyards or bodegas, each of them advertising their wines for sale. The vines are grown in hollows in the ground surrounded by a stone wall to protect them from the wind. The earth is black and in the summer when the vines are in full leaf, the contrast of the green leaves, the black earth and the gorgeous blue sky is striking.

I’d asked Keith not to direct me through the small town of Haria as from the map I could see that there were several hairpin bends, but we ended up going that way nonetheless! At one point we were very high up and we were able to see right down to the coast. There was just a low stone wall preventing us from going over and it was a bit hairy!

I negotiated the bends pretty slowly and “Lump”, as we’ve christened the Seat, did pretty well! By 11am we were at the Mirador del Rio, an old gun placement that Cesar Manrique transformed into a viewing point over to the neighbouring island of La Graciosa. Cesar Manrique was very influential on the island and designed several monuments and buildings, all of which are beautiful. He also decreed that the buildings should stand no higher than a palm tree (except churches) and that the paintwork should be either natural, blue or green. Although he died several years ago, his influence is still felt very strongly on Lanzarote.

Mirador del Rio is very beautiful, with lots of natural wood and whitewashed walls. Several of Cesar Manrique’s sculptures are dotted about. The views are magnificent but the sheer drop a real “sweaty hands moment”! I didn’t go too close to the edge! We had a drink and a snack, had a look in the tiny gift shop and then made our way to Jameos del Agua not far away. On the way over we had a good look at the Corona Volcano which is responsible for the tunnels in which Jameos del Agua is built.

You first go through to an underground grotto to see the rare blind albino crabs which aren’t found 

anywhere else in the world. Soothing music plays in the background and then you emerge into a tropical island paradise with palms and lots of foliage and flowers. In the middle an azure pool beckons surrounded by brilliant white “sands” and black rocks which contrast beautifully with each other. At one end is a fabulous auditorium where concerts are held, the acoustics amplified by the natural rock ceiling.

On a higher level is the Casa de los Volcanes where the computers are monitoring volcanic activity all over the world. The last one to erupt in Lanzarote was back in the 19^th century but if one is due to go off we’ll all have at least a week’s notice!

Lunch was taken at Restaurant “El Charcon” in nearby Arrieta which specialises in fish. We were really only looking for a pizza or a sandwich but Keith and the children enjoyed chicken while I had mussels in a “marinera” sauce, and very delicious they were too!

As it was past 2pm by the time we left we decided to call a halt to the sightseeing for one day and return to the villa to spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool.

In the evening it was off out to find a bar with wifi so we could all get our fix!