Excursions Timanfaya

The nature reserve Timanfaya - also called Montañas del Fuego, which means Fire Mountains - lies in the southern part of Lanzarote and extends over an enormous are that is practically impassable.

After paying an entrance fee, you arrive by car (or bus) at the center of the park. From there, there are buses (included in the entrance fee) which take you on a 20 minute drive through the inner fire mountains. The awed visitor is presented with a volcanic landscape that is totally untouched by human hands, and it is truly a very special experience.

Even if one has lived on the island for several years, one keeps being enthralled by this landscape - no matter how loud and uncomfortable the buses may be that take you around.

Even if the topic of volcanism is ever-present in Lanzarote, this is the epitome of it, and it is hard to imagine a vacation on the island without visiting this place.

By the way, you do find the standard touristy hocus pocus that one can easily do without. But for the sake of completeness: here, chicken is grilled over a large hole in the ground (lava heat) and water shoots explosively out of little holes in the ground, once the local uniformed men have poured a bucket of water down each hole.

If one continues on the road from the national park in the direction of Tinajo, there is a pretty museum of vulcanology on the left hand side that is worth a visit if one is interested in the topic.