The Cactus Garden in Guatiza

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Angels Travelling

If you think that after climbing around the Rofera rocks, or walking through the market in Teguise, or maybe running around a volcanic crater would knock us out for a six, then yes, you would be absolutely right! After all, we’re not so young anymore wink-wink. We were really pooped so we headed back to our holiday appartment, and guess what, the driver, yours truly, left the highway one exit too early. This meant driving through one or two villages hoping to get see a sign that said “yay, you are nearly home”. None of that! So just as we were contemplating to make a u-turn and go all the way back to the highway, we saw a huge, big huge, eight metres high huge, metal cactus thingy on the side of the road, and a windmill sort of behind it. Wow! Stop! Yes, the brakes were slammed on (easy when you’re driving like a snail heehee) and we found somewhere to park…in a muddy puddle of water, but hey, whatever. We first walked around the outside of the fenced-in park “just to take a photo of two of the windmill” but then that “curiosity-killed-the-cat” thing got hold of us so we paid and went in. Suddenly there were no tired feet nor big teary yawnings, instead just open-mouthed awe at what greeted us behind the entrance. Cacti in all shapes and sizes!

The Jardín de Cactus is worth a visit for cactus lovers and also if, like us, you appreciate the works of Lanzarote’s very own, and internationally renowned artist, the late César Manrique. This garden was apparently the very last landscape masterpiece he created in 1991, the year before he tragically died in a car accident.

One can argue about it being too small or boring, or about the price of the entrance fee, but come on, there are at least one thousand different species of cacti from all over the world in there. Some are pretty, others a bit ugly and there are strange ones too, and this is what makes it all the more interesting.

Oh, and the singing birds, the fishies, the juicy cactus fruit and again, the windmill.

Then there’s the amazing César touch to be found all over, some quite naughty…oops!

Castillo de Santa Barbara

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Angels Travelling

Not long after we left the rock formations of Rofera, we saw this imposing building sitting on an extinct volcano. You simply cannot miss it. We did not think that it was a tourist attraction as we did not have any information about it, but meandering through the busy market in the historical town of Teguise, you look up, and there it is. We decided that it was worth a visit for after when the market closed. We wanted to walk all the way up, but the heavy and dark clouds were threatening to burst, again, and besides who wants to still exert themselves after eating some delicious ice-cream. We went up by car. Good choice when the weather is not so good, and bad choice because parking space was precarious and non-existant due to so many visitors. We were very lucky though. Just as the right front wheel of the car started dangling over the “cliff” a car right in front of us moved out and we quickly slipped into the parking space. Whew! The passenger could breathe again and there would be no need for a helicopter to lift the car out of the crater.

The Castillo de Santa Bárbara (Saint Barbara Castle) was built as a fortress to ward off danger especially when pirates kept on attacking the island. It also served as a refuge for the locals during hostile invasions. As mentioned before, it sits on the rim of a crater in an extinct volcano, the Mt. Guanapay. It is really worth a visit, especially for the views.

The entrance is via a draw-bridge and not free of charge. We only had an hour before closing time so we whoosh-whooshed through the stone hallways, getting lost too, but we managed to find the exit to the top…

One could argue if it is worth spending a few euros each per person to enter the castle as there is not much to see inside other than a small pirate museum that would interest children more. Oh, okay, so maybe some adults too, but the only way to get up to the top to enjoy the vast views is to pay an entrance fee to the museum.

After they closed up, we decided to walk around the crater. It was bigger than we expected so we panicked…well, one of us did, because…what if they close the road and we were not able to get out. Hmmm…Anyway, we climbed, we trotted, we ran, we got wet. Yep, it started drizzling. When we were about halfway through, they boomed on the megaphone…don’t know what, but we took it that it was time to leave. No problem, we made it to the car, almost on all fours, but we made it. In retrospect it would have been better to walk around the castle and the crater instead of going inside. The views were just as amazing.

Teguise – Sunday is market day

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Angels Travelling

Lanzarote was probably named after an Italian seafarer, Lancelotto. The village of Teguise was named after Princess Teguise, who was the great-granddaughter of the aboriginal inhabitant and ruling king of the island when Lancelotto arrived. Teguise is one, if not, the oldest Spanish settlement of the Canary Islands and sits almost in the middle of the island, (east to west) yet only about ten kilometres from the coast. Every Sunday morning, Teguise hosts one of the biggest and important markets of the Canaries, where you can find lots of local crafts, ceramics, cheeses, wines and other interesting stuff, like freshly pressed cactus juice. When we were there, a local brass band played lovely music from Western movies. Unfortunately there are also lots of stalls selling cheap knock-offs and those “made-in-…” rubbish fabrics. Does not matter, because we were only interested in all the local products and experiencing the amazing and vibrating atmosphere at the market. We really enjoyed every single loud and crazy moment!

Below are photos of the entrance to the market, their lovely church, freshly pressed cactus juice and the biggest sweet potatoes we had ever seen.

The Church of our Lady of Guadalupe (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) dominates the town and is the tallest building in Teguise which can be seen from any vantage point. There’s a big square in front of the church, the Constitution Square (Plaza de la Constitución) with two bronze lion statues and sculpture of a dancer from the group Rancho de Pascuas.

The famous granary building, called the “cillas” (below – top left) was built in 1680 to store all the grains that the townsfolk were forced to tithe from their harvests once a year to the clergy. The building was renovated in the 1980’s.

Palm trees are plenty, and the typical white-washed facades which can be found all over the island.

“The Palacio de Marques is the oldest building on the island, dating back to 1455 when it was finally completed after a lengthy 32-year construction process.” quoted from the official website of Teguise. The government headquarters of Lanzarote for about two hundred and seventy years it’s now a wine and tapas bar (see below)

Oh, and when we thought that another storm was brewing, the thunder-clapping kind hahahaha, it was “only” this aerobatic squadron flying over…ooh, the noise!

ps: The market opens at nine in the morning and closes five hours later. We arrived just a bit more than two hours before closing time so had lots of time to see all the stalls and visit some important historical buildings. As soon as the clock strikes two, they all start packing up and people leave the town. An hour later you’d wonder if there’s any life in the village, that’s how “dead” suddenly becomes. This was our opportunity to explore a bit more, especially as one could see the architecture much better!

Rofera de Teseguite

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Angels Travelling

One of the most surprising things in life is when you come upon something you just never expected to see. This was one such moment when we were on our way to a Sunday market in Teguise. Shortly after jumping off the LZ-1 main road and before reaching the nearby village Teseguite, seemingly out of nowhere !whoa-what-is-that! there they were, strange yet amazing rock formations jutting out of the landscape. So we scree..ee..eeched to a halt and got out to explore. This was the only place we’d seen something like this in all the time we had been on the island. As Lanzarote is an island of volcanic origin, these rocks have apparently been, over many many years, been weathered down from volcanic cones…Maravilloso!

Don’t these below look regal and proud??

The whole landscape is in a sort of ravine, with this huge volcano (left) on one side

Nothing was too high or too “dangerous” to climb for a good photo…hmmm…

Punta Mujeres

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Angels Travelling

Punta Mujeres is a pretty little village on the north-east cost on the island of Lanzarote. It does not seem to be overfilled with tourists as there are many locals living here. We rented a two-floor appartment with a huge rooftop terrace which could be reached from the main bedroom. The building had a sea view to the front and the volcano views at the back. One extinct volcano, the Monte Corona could be easily seen from here. Our neighbours were all locals, so we had very loud ones to our left and a charming old lady who loved talking to us on the right. The village is very lively and there are many restaurants to go to for some typical local food and conversation. Our Spanish is not great but we still manage to “talk” and laugh with everyone. There are also a few rock pools where everyone seemed to swim in, except us of course…no time…We found it easy and comfortable travelling to all interesting (for us) points on the island from Punta Mujeres, and it’s also not far from the main airport.

Here are a few photos of our appartment and view. The main bedroom and the view from the terrace, with our first sunrise and at the exact same time, a rainbow at the back. How is that for wonderful???