Smokin'

Monday and it was again overcast, about 26C but the air was thick, and visibility limited to a few miles. The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen decided that trip to Lanzarote had to include The Timanfaya National Park, and Mantanas del Fuego.

Driving up from the resort lead us via Yaiza and the west towards the lava fields and volcanic cones. Entering the Park the road weaves through the grotesque shapes of the rocks that were hurled up from the earth's crust and up to a point where the car must be left and the journey continued on coaches. This environment is jealously protected, and rightly so.

The coach led us on a circuitous 14km journey past the fumeroles, craters, lava flows and fields of ash and ejecta. This tortured, nightmare landscape looked as if it could have been conceived by the brush of Bosch, yet held a strange and fascinating beauty. Photos were limited by the coach windows but GF looks forward to reviewing them once home.

Back at the terminous they showed how hot the ground was still, as just beneath the surface bracken hurled into a hole burst into flame, water dropped into tube created an instant geyser, and a huge open pit was being used to cook a rack of chickens. Certainly you could feel the heat emanating from the walls, the holes, and even the gravel.

Great spot and well worth the visit.

Quiet afternoon reading and sewing by the pool. (for the avoidance of confusion, Gorse Fox was the one reading)