Today we are in Lanzarote, parked up well away from the main port area because Meinn Shiff 1 got the better position! Fortunately there is a shuttle back to the marina where the car hire is located, but even that gets complicated by the other ship, the car-hire yard is in the restricted area and we have to fight with authority to get in.
Happily it’s a nice new automatic today and has wireless CarPlay too! Our first stop is the national park and volcano for a completely different experience compared to Teide.
Lanzarote is the most eastern and the oldest of the Canarias, the two facts not unconnected since they are slowly drifting, and hence the oldest has got the furthest away from the original fault that created them. (About the 1/2 the speed your fingernail grows, in case you wondered!)
Quite recently, geologically speaking, Montañas del Fuego Timanfaya was formed by eruption, and was extremely well documented by a local priest, so it is well known that the eruption continued for six years from 1730, during which time the now national park was formed from the ashes.
We have to queue for ages to get in, the parking is very restricted, but the wait is worth it, and includes an extraordinarily bus ride (on specially modified short wheelbase buses) which give an almost roller-coaster experience around the park, the only permitted way of seeing it. The scenery is almost literally out of this world. Back at the visitor’s centre we see the natural BBQ cooking over a vent, and some other vents where the heat is incredible enough to boil water and set bushes on fire.
After our time on Fire Mountain we take a fabulous scenic drive towards the other end of the island, passing The Valley of a Thousand Pines.
At Jameos del Agua we visit a lava tube, which is what happens when a lava flow forms a solid roof whilst the molten river continues to run below. Later, when it’s all cooled down a long underground tunnel is left. Here we visit a section which is remarkable in its size and also its inhabitants – a small blind albino crab which isn’t found anywhere else in the world. In another section there is a natural amphitheatre.
We drive back to the ship to drop off Jacs and Mike then return the car to Meinn Shiff 1, or thereabouts, and then walk back around the port to get some steps in for the day. We watch sailaway from up high.
We pass between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura as we return to Tenerife.
Dinner is again in Glass House, after which we take in a company show with added magic.
