Lanzarote
Fleeing the winter weather
of England for a sunny sojourn over Christmas 2004 we had picked
Lanzarote. Here beneath the wing of the plane was our first glimpse
of the volcanic islands of the Canaries.
Not quite Lanzarote, but
its little sister - La Graciosa, and beyond - Montana Clara.
Minutes later we were descending
lower over Lanzarote and the distinctive cone shaped volcanic
hills and the calderas of the collapsed volcanoes were more visible.
Next morning, Christmas
Eve, the view from the balcony of our apartment. The inevitable
cranes and scaffolding of more building development but the brown
breasts of the distant hills peeping over the sprawl of tourist
accommodation.
The promise of the morning
had been a little illusory and the gusty occasional showers would
make Father Christmas feel more at home as the sun set behind
the watchful cranes.
Inside, we had improvised
a Christmas Tree using local materials - sadly artificial :o(
Arriving in an infected
state, and suffering as men do with the more robust varieties
of colds and flu that seem to afflict us ;0) I had by Boxing Day
summoned sufficient strength to stagger out of the apartment.
The seemingly ever-present NE tradewind was gusting but out of
the wind it was wonderful to feel the sun strong and bright.
We lunched in the sunshine
at a restaurant perched above the water's rocky edge.
The other side of the headland,
exposed to the breeze, two substantial creations nail the breakwater
in place.
It's more sheltered on the
beach but there are few takers for the sun loungers and it looks
as though the next squall is arriving. Time to head for home.
A little more recovered
I struggled bravely onto the bus into the capital, Arrecife, where
this rotted hulk on its raised plinth confronts the alighting
passengers at the terminus.
On the town-beach, Playa
del Reducto, a seeming stringlike sculpture is probably in reality
a children's climbing frame.
To northern eyes a Christmas-theme
planting with Poinsettias in abundance before the only high-rise
building on the island - the Gran Hotel Arrecife. The reality
is that Poinsettias are commonplace and rampant here, nevertheless
very striking especially en masse.
Some old buildings have
survived the onslaught of touristic developments, here the locked
and barred entrance to the museum in the Castillo de San Gabriel
...
... situated on an islet
just off the coast and connected by causeways to the city.
The port of Arrecife is
daily busy with cargo, fishing and passenger vessels both cruise
ships and ferries to the other islands. Africa is only a short
distance away.
An even shorter distance
away, just outside the harbour is the beached wreck of a vessel
that didn't make its last destination.
Continued
in Part II
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