Lanzarote: Volcanic Wonderland

Part 2 of our 4 part series on the little Spanish island, Lanzarote. You can read Part 1 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here.

Timanfaya National Park has to be the most exciting place we’ve been to in a while! It is made up entirely of volcanic soil from eruptions that took place between 1730 and 1736. The nature of the volcanic matter makes it impossible to drive or walk around in the park, but a coach trip around the National Park is included in the entry fee.

The landscape seems Martian; the entire park is strewn with volcanic craters, rubble from volcanic explosions, and nascent and active volcanoes. Even after spending half the day at Timanfaya, we couldn’t get enough of the panoramas- we followed our coach trip with camel rides across the surreal landscape. Here are some pictures:

Surreal volcanic landscape at Timanfaya National Park

Huge volcanic crater at Timanfaya National Park

Geyser at Timanfaya National Park

Camels at Timanfaya National Park

We had tons of fun exploring volcanic crevices, rubble, and geysers. But the most exciting part was yet to come.

Volcanic activity continues under the surface of the earth at Timanfaya, and generates immense heat. The on-site restaurant, El Diablo, uses this geo-thermal heat to grill meat and cook food. This ensures an intriguing culinary experience- we couldn’t stop ourselves from peering down the bottomless ‘grill’ every 2 minutes. What’s more, we got so excited about having food cooked ‘on a volcano’ that we gorged at the restaurant, despite having had breakfast just an hour back 🙂

Meats being grilled using volcano heat

Of course, volcanoes are not restricted to the Timanfaya National Park. Lanzarote has some of the best roads in Europe, and as we drove around we saw stunning panoramas comprising volcanic rubble and lava rocks.

On our fourth day of our holiday in Lanzarote, we drove down to El Golfo, a volcanic crater that houses a green pool. The water is green because of the algae that live on the surface and the minerals left over from the volcano’s active days. The stark contrast between the green pool, the black beach, and the turquoise sea makes for such interesting photos. We spent hours exploring the cliffs surrounding El Golfo and sunbathing at the black beach. Take a look:

Sparse vegetation makes for interesting photos

Roller Coaster Road to Timanfaya National Park

Surreal landscape inside the volcanic crater at El Golfo- turquoise sea, black beach, green lagoon

Vid at the Green Lagoon at El Golfo, surrounded by black and red lava rocks

Bruised Passports’ Tips

• Make sure you spend a day at Timanfaya National Park, exploring all it has to offer.
• Give the volcano-grill at El Diablo a dekko. If you’re hungry, have a meal at the restaurant. You will come away with a story to tell.
• Visit the adjoining village of El Golfo when you drive to the Green Lagoon. Spend an afternoon in the white-washed village: get lost in its alleys and enjoy an al-fresco meal under the Spanish sun.

Need help planning a trip to Lanzarote? We have some sample itineraries here