(2 hrs) Thurs 15 Feb - Timanfaya Volcano, Lanzarote

On a Canaries cruise, my mum and I took a trip to Timanfaya volcano and its visitor centre today. Although the most recent big eruptions were back in the 1700s, and 1824, at the visitor centre there is still (carefully-monitored) volcanic activity directly under our feet - as demonstrated by the guide handing us handfuls of gravel scraped up from the surface, which were almost too hot to hold. We also saw straw dropped into a cleft in the ground catch fire, and 'geysers' of steam created by pouring cold water down narrow pipes, not to mention steaks merrily sizzling on a barbecue grill set over a glowing hole in the ground. I learned volcanos in this area are made of basalt, so black and red (iron oxide) ones are younger and sharper, yellow/brown ones older (up to 3m yrs old ) and smoother, They are fissile, so they all pop up in a row, not randomly. The landscape looks rocky and almost barren for miles around (40% of the whole island) with lava flows right down to the sea from the centre of the island, where often only lichen (white then yellow) can grow. However, there are over 600 species of plants and creatures across the national volcano park as a whole. Mainly tough, spiny desert-adapted plants, nocturnal insects and a few birds, the biggest of which is a gyra vulture, plus rabbits, rats and an indigenous Canarian shrew. Some of the oldest parts look like the 'Hollywood' version of a desert, with what appears to be sand dunes, complete with camels for the tourists to ride on (not part of our trip). Most of the park is forbidden to walkers due to the extreme roughness and fragility of the lava fields and the danger of falling into a hole or cave, but the bus tours 14 km of the park on precipitous roads to give tourists a good flavour of the unique landscape. It is like nothing I have ever seen on earth - even the dry, rocky parts of Lanzarote looked positively verdant after being in the heart of the park.