But back to the warmer climes of Lanzarote, and the even warmer volcanic region of the Timanfaya National Park, where we had just boarded our coach ready to be driven round the park.
Our front row seats gave us a good view and it was a comfortable ride as, although we were passing through the rockiest of surrounds, we had a narrow strip of tarmac to drive along.
It was wide enough for one bus only and strictly one way; it also required an experienced driver as there were places with hairpin bends and big drops. Our driver was very good and bear friendly. Whenever we stopped for photos he would let us step forward and take pictures through his big side window.
There was lots to see and many stops. The individual volcanoes were joined together by a sea of lava and it was simply amazing to see all the formations lava could cool into.
Pedro was very excited by this amazing volcanic cone ....
and lapsed into Spanish so we didn't understand much of what he said, so we concentrated on the taped commentary instead ...
Some of the craters were best viewed from inside the bus as we wouldn't have wanted to get too close to the edge of this one ...
... we had visions of it being rather warm in the depths of that crater!
We learnt that this environment, while appearing quite barren and harsh, was very fragile. This is why vehicles, other than the official buses, are not allowed. If a car drove off the tarmac strip and onto the ash, it would take a long time, months, possibly years, for the tyre tracks to disappear. Camel's feet don't do too much damage though, and there is an option to take a camel ride in one area of the park. We did see the camels, but the bus didn't stop, so we just gave them a cheery wave.
After the bus tour ended, we made for the visitor's centre. Before we had got all the way round, we got a bit volcanoed out, but we did enjoy one unusual experience ...
... and no, we hadn't fallen into the bowels of that crater we showed you earlier, we were down in the basement for a simulation of a volcano errupting. There were lots of red and orange flashes and some rumbling, but we think it must have been a lot worse at Pompeii.
As we came out of the visitor's centre we were ready for a bit of sea air, so it was to the coast we headed next.
Love George, Yorkie and Pedro xxx
1 comment:
Bet you were glad of the fresh sea breeze after the bad egg niffs of the volcano!
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