The island emerged from the ocean as a result of the break up of the African and American continental plates. The resultant volcanoes are very evident throughout the island, from old lava flows, classic volcanic cones, red soil and the still active area of Timanfaya. Whilst in Timanfaya there are no active volcanoes as such, the area is still smoking and hot as a result of the 1730 - 1736 explosive volcanic activity. Most of this area is out of bounds but can be visited on an organised tour, mainly by coach although some guided tours are possible on foot
There are a number of walks around the older volcanoes and we did many of them. Beginning with Montana Raja which we could walk to from our Playa Blanca villa. The rest were walked when Mike and Edwina stayed in Haria. One of the most spectacular walks is at the northern end of Timanfaya to Caldera Blanca, walking through the lava flows to a classic volcano cone
A good deal of the productive agricultural land in the southwest was swallowed up by the 1730 activity, from both lava flow and dust. But the ingenious farmers are still able to grow crops and vines in the dust covered areas. The dust or ash is known as tuff and is used to protect the crops from the drying winds and retaining moisture. The vine area called La Geria is very spectacular. The individual vines grow in the underlying soil and protected by walls of tuff as much as a metre high. More about this in the agriculture section
As well as walks we also toured Timanfaya on the coach tour - twice !!! The views are other worldly, the ground still smoldering with volcano cones in every direction. At the visitor centre you are shown what happens when a hand full of straw is thrown into a shallow hole - at catches fire. When a bucket of water is thrown down, the resultant steam gushes out
2025-02-10