Jardin de Cactus

After relaxing the previous day, we wanted to explore the North of Lanzarote as there were a few destinations we wanted to visit. Our first stop was Jardin de Cactus just 15 minutes up the road in Guatiza. It was established by the artist César Manrique who used a landfill site and turned it into a botanical garden housing about 4,500 cacti.

^{Inside the cactus garden}

^{The cactus garden}

It was a nice place to wander around but we were only there for about half an hour before we were ready to move on.

Jameos del Agua

Our next stop 15 minutes up the road was Jameos del Agua – a Tourism Centre designed by the artist César Manrique and partly located within a volcano lava tunnel. We began by walking down to a cave containing a small lagoon. The water was crystal clear and full of miniature crabs known as ‘blind crabs’ which are in danger of becoming extinct.

^{Volcano tunnels at Jameos del Agua}

We then wandered around the outside grounds where there was a beautiful blue pool – but you were not allowed to enter it!

^{The pool – I think it was art!?}

We then went round the museum/information rooms. They were actually really good. Lots of information about volcanoes and eruptions on the Canary Islands. There were also some interactive rooms which we enjoyed exploring. It was a nice location to visit but I don’t think we would return.

^{Mirror rooms at Jameos del Agua}

Playa La Caleta

We carried on driving north and spotted a carpark so decided to pull over and visit the beach. There was a short walking trail through the lava fields and we reached the seaside. It was very rocky and there was no sand but the scenery was spectacular.

^{The rocky shoreline}

Mirador del Rio

We then headed to Mirador del Rio – another location developed by César Manrique. It is a hill 479 meters above sea level and gave us stunning views over the island La Graciosa. The best bit was we could drive all the way to the top!

^{Views from Mirador del Rio}

We headed home to enjoy another afternoon/evening by the pool.