Caves, Camping, and Crabs: Lanzarote & La Graciosa

One of my goals this year is to see every one of the seven islands before I leave, and at the beginning of December I had the perfect opportunity to visit another. December 6 was Constitution Day and a Thursday, so all of Spain celebrated a puente: literally meaning bridge, this fun Spanish word describes when there is a holiday on Thursday so people just bridge over the Friday directly into the weekend. We sure know how to live the good life here! 

For the puente, I decided to go off to the furthest island from me, Lanzarote. It is known as a desert island and has almost no plant life, which is vastly different from El Hierro. I was able to stay with the Fulbrights in Lanzarote, and we had Italian for dinner my first night (something I have been missing during my time in El Hierro). To offer us freshly grated cheese, the waiter brought out the biggest grater I’ve ever seen! It had to be four feet tall.

I had some delicious cheese and spinach ravioli and burrata cheese, and afterwards we went to an ice cream shop and tried crema catalana ice cream! Crema catalana is Spain’s answer to creme brûlée, so it had real caramelized sugar in it! Divine. 

Camping in La Graciosa

The next morning, I rose bright and early to start my expedition to La Graciosa. On the advice of one of the Lanzarote Fulbrighters, I went camping on Lanzarote’s tiny neighbor island of La Graciosa. Very recently, La Graciosa has taken over from El Hierro as the official tiniest Canary Island, but we are still proudly the Meridian Island and the furthest west. :D La Graciosa has 721 inhabitants and is getting its own government (and probably its very own crest) this year after a referendum. To get to La Graciosa, I took a bus for an hour, then took the ferry for about another 35 minutes. There is a beautiful view from the ferry, complete with the towering mountains of Lanzarote, two impressive rocks jutting out of the sea, and the stretching ocean to the other side. 

This was my first ever solo camping trip, and my first time camping in Europe. I had a permit from the Spanish government (which was free!) but no one at any point asked to see it, nor did I see any sort of person in charge. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So, I hiked along the beach for the fifteen minutes or so to the campsite, struggled valiantly with my borrowed tent in the strong wind of the day, and ultimately declared success in setting up my little campsite.

I spent the day on the beach by the port. La Graciosa is very small, even compared to El Hierro, and there is only one real town, but it was interesting to walk along the sandy streets, take in the stunning view of the ocean and the cliffs of Lanzarote, and soak up the sun. 

I had dinner at a local seafood joint, and made some interesting friends! They were three old sailors from France and England who now each own a boat and just sail to wherever there is a port. We talked about language struggles, about El Hierro, and different places we have been. I was also informed by the Frenchmen that “it is a pity there is no real wine in America”. :) For dinner, I had red wine (of course), gambas al ajillo (delicious shrimp cooked in boiling oil and lots of garlic), and bread with mojo.

That night, I laid on my blanket on the beach for a while staring up at the stars, which was one of the reasons I wanted to come stay on La Graciosa overnight. They were amazing! I saw Cassandra, Orion, and the Milky Way. Overall, camping was a great success!

The next morning, I managed to find a cab (which look like the Jurassic Park cars to me and say taxi nowhere on them), and it took me to the famous Playa de las Conchas (Beach of the Shells). This beach was absolutely stunning, and I had it entirely to myself all morning. It was indeed covered with tiny shells that had been washed ashore and also had some neat tide pools, picturesque sand dunes, and stunning turquoise water. I took lots of photos because I was just blown away!

That day, I took the ferry back and spent the day in Arrecife. The views from the ferry were just as lovely on the way back.

Arrecife, Lanzarote

In Arrecife, I saw the beach and port, a neat whale skeleton statue, and some great metal statues of traditional dancers. My host, Becca, and I went out to Japanese for lunch and walked around Arrecife a bit. We saw a great impromptu marching band with two tiny drummers at the front! That night, we made latkes for Hanukkah and chocolate chip cookies, since I feel like I have been missing out on Christmas cookie season without an oven. I learned that latkes require a tremendous amount of grating (both onion and potato) but that it is worth it--they were delicious!

Yummy latkes, with applesauce and greek yogurt

Cueva de los Verde and Jameos del Agua

My last day, I went to two big tourist destinations on Lanzarote: Cueva de los Verdes (Cave of the Greens--named for a family, not the color) and Jameos del Agua, a series of lava tubes. Cueva de los Verdes was interesting because it is a volcanic cave so very different than all the caves I have been in in the States. Since it was a holiday, the bus schedules were crazy, so I ended up walking a good deal, which was great for me because it was a brisk, clear day and I saw some great views of the sea and mountains. I also passed the symbol of Jameos del Agua, this lobster/crab animal you see below.

On my way to the cave, I made a cat friend who enjoyed being pet but ignored me when I tried to take his picture.

The caves require a guided tour (which makes sense--we don't want any repeats of Tom Sawyer), and were absolutely incredible! There are smooth stone paths throughout, and no stalagmites or stalactites because the caves were formed by a volcano erupting around 30,000 years ago. I was interested in the texture of the stones though, and it was very neat to see all the peepholes from one level to the next. Inside, there is a concert hall where there are sometimes local concerts to take advantage of the acoustics. This is also where locals would gather to hide when pirates attacked!

Below, you can see the trick of Cueva de los Verdes. It looks like a stone bridge with a deep cavern you could fall into but . . .

there is actually just a tiny bit of water on the floor of the cave! It reflects the top of the cave and makes it look like you're going to fall in! The whole cave tour was great and this is definitely a must-see in Lanzarote.

Jameos del Agua is just across the road from the cave and is a lava tube, an underground pool caused by a volcano erupting thousands of years ago. There are little crabs scurrying around in the underground part, and a very clear pool. Up top, there is a view seemingly made for Instagram--a shallow turquoise pool surrounded by palm trees. Unfortunately, the only person allowed to swim in the pool is the King of Spain, so I didn't make the cut. Still beautiful though!

After seeing Jameos del Agua, I walked around the area for a bit while waiting for the bus. The daylight was fading, so the walk down to the rocky beach was peaceful and picturesque. I saw door handles shaped like the crab symbol of Jameos del Agua and watched the waves lap over the shore until it was time to catch the bus back.

That night, we went out to a very yummy Indian restaurant where I had the spiciest saag paneer I've yet found in Europe--mildly spicy for most Indian-American restaurants I've been to. :) Still delicious though! We went there with a teacher from Becca's school and had an absolutely lovely time.

On my last morning in Lanzarote, Becca and I had breakfast in a fancy hotel, the tallest building in Arrecife with a stunning view of the beach. A perfect sendoff!

The flight home had some stunning views, with crystal water and fluffy-looking clouds. The government of El Hierro is campaigning hard to get more direct flights to our tiny island, in the name of "island unity". Right now, there are about 7 flights a day to Tenerife and 4 to Gran Canaria (which is a brand new route! So I had to go through Tenerife on the way home, but it wasn't a bad journey.

So far, I haven't seen any hills on other islands like El Hierro has! We do not believe in the switchback around here, but it gives us some gorgeous views like the one I caught on the walk home. You can see Tenerife and La Gomera peeking out over the horizon.

Home at last!

A great trip, and now I'm heading back to the States for Christmas in one thrilling 40 hour voyage. :D