We knew the forecast was poor for the first couple of days in Lanzarote, but it was still a bit of a shock to wake up to warm, but rainy and windy weather. We had a lie in and then trundled out at 10am for breakfast. All the restaurants on the strip were just opening and the shops were all closed. This is obviously a proper resort… everyone sleeps late. Despite the fact that we never have cooked breakfasts in the UK, we had a full English breakfast for 3.75 euros. We couldn’t face a full Irish – it was twice the size. Once finished, we went to find the tourist information office that should have opened at 10am, but was still closed at 10.40am. Our very nice apartment has a guidebook, so we just grabbed that and headed out for our first day of exploration.

The last time we were in Lanzarote we rented hang gliders and despite being told that the island is known for its windy conditions, it was nearly nil wind every day. We did, however, try to fly everyday, so they only tourist thing we did then was to see the Timanfaya Volcanic National Park. We’ve heard from so many people about the other delights of the island, so we were keen to get out and see them. As we drove past the first crater, Geoff shook his head and said “talk about building houses right on the side of a volcano!”. I nearly wet myself laughing… what a statement from someone who lives on top of a volcanic plug!

Our first stop was the cactus garden. It was a really nicely laid out park with every type of cactus imaginable. Big ones, small ones, hairy, spikey, you name it. Fascinating.

Next we went to the Jameos del Agua, a really tranquil park created using a lava tunnel, with a natural pool which is home to a unique species of fluorescent blind crabs. It has a few cafes and the most amazing night club/concert venue ever. We bumped into Marc, Isabel and Sergi there and fixed up dinner, which we promptly postponed, when we met them again at the next stop, the Cuevas de los Verdes. These are caves formed by the same lava flow as the Jameos del Agua. We made the mistake of not going with the Spanish group, who were at the front. The young guide tried hard, but her English was incomprehensible and her German three times worse. The caves were amazing though and also included a concert hall and a surprise at the end of the tour that would be unforgiveable to reveal here.

We were going to go to the Mirador del Rio on the way home, but it started raining again, and there didn’t seem much point in going to a view point without much of a view, so we’re saving that for later in the week. As we were driving back through Teguise, we spotted a pharmacy and the time was an hour earlier than we thought. This tallied with the clock in the car (which we had assumed hadn’t been changed after the clocks went forward). I checked on the internet and much to our surprsise, the Canaries don’t have CET, but GMT. Explains all the stuff this morning. Sigh.

Geoff’s been a happy bunny here and already checked out all the cheap places to eat, so we went to a Chinese buffet tonight. All you could eat and with the bill came a free drink – the choice of plum wine or a spirit that had real dead lizards in the bottom of the bottle. We opted for the plum wine. It did come in glasses that were clear, but once you put liquid in them they revealed a naked man with a large knob in the bottom. We really are in a tourist resort!

See photos of today.

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