20250220 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 87/96 - Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 87/96 - Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands - Another Canary Day, This Time With Camels

OK, before you go all zoologist on me, yes, we know that they are dromedaries, not camels, but the locals call them all camels and it worked better for the title. So, yeah, I'll be using "camel" today.

We're still in The Canaries today. This time, we on the island of Lanzarote, docked in the capital, Arrecife. We're roughly 74 miles off the southwest coast of Morocco in Africa, but this is Spain. 

Our tour today was called, The Island of Fire and Camel Ride. I interpret that as the island of fire, plus, there is a camel ride. If you read it literally, it sounds like it is an island of fire and an island of camel rides. Someone should proofread these.

The day was off to a good start

As we drove to our first stop, we started seeing some of the volcanic landscape and traditional buildings that Lanzarote is known for

A camel sculpture in a roundabout

Arriving at Timanfaya National Park

The landscape became more Moon-like

Each peak in the distance was a small volcano

We passed a large group of camels - foreshadowing what was coming later

We made the turn into the main area of the park - there were cars lined up to get it, but we were in a bus and we had  priority

We arrived at Restaurante El Diablo - The Devil's Restaurant. We got to see three different demonstrations of the power of the heat just below the surface.

The guide dug perhaps eight inches into the gravel and then placed a few small stones in our hands - we had to drop them immediately as they were about 175F - wow!

Here, they placed small amounts of straw into a hole

It immediately ignited as the bottom of the hole was so hot

We could see the glow of the lava just below the surface

They had several tubes buried in the ground - they poured water into the holes

Pow! A mini geyser

Finally, we were shown an open hole where the restaurant roasted chickens over the super-heated air coming out of the ground

The restaurant's logo

We boarded the bus and took a long drive through the park. Buses are the only vehicles allowed to do this. Private cars are not allowed. There is no opportunity to go out on the lava so it remains pristine and protected.

Comments we heard from other guests suggested that the landscape varied from looking like the Moon to looking like Mars. It was quite otherworldly.

A huge vent where gas escaped

The shifts from huge chunks to fine gravel/sand were interesting

I could envision a Mars rover out here

See? Looks legit, right?

The different textures and colors were stunning

Volcanos were everywhere, many with craters

We caught another glimpse of the camels we would soon be riding

A huge volcanic crater

Another look at the restaurant where we started

I thought the two contrails surrounding the moon  looked cool

The line of cars waiting to drive to the restaurant - the only parking in the park - was nuts

We made the short drive to the camel-riding area. Thanks to Anish, Clayton, and Herb who all sent us photos.

Meeting our camel

Waiting to stand up

Up and ready to go

Hunter, Clayton, Resheka, and Anish

Camel's tails are so pretty

Walking the volcanic dunes

A well-deserved rest

We continued the tour and headed toward our final stop.

More traditional construction

Our final stop was a winery - we saw these on the way

What are they?

There seems to be something inside each semi-circle

Each one contains a grape vine - this is a vineyard - there is no irrigation as the volcanic ash that covers everything gathers the humidity from the tradewinds, depositing the water directly into the soil

The vineyard where we stopped

A fun chandelier

The wine cellar

A closer look at a grapevine in the depression with the volcanic rocks as wind protection

Sculptures at the vineyard

A dragon tree

A small chapel between the vineyard and another vineyard across the street

More traditional architecture

The one 17-story building on the island - a hotel - regulations prohibit other taller buildings

We really enjoyed today's tour. When we returned to the room, this critter was waiting for us in the bathroom.

We wanted to call to get rid of it, but let's face it - it is kind of cute

We grabbed lunch and hung out for the afternoon. We visited the Observation Bar as we sailed out and then met friends for dinner. 

Cruise Director Nick confirmed that we have a full ship - all rooms are occupied. We have a guest compliment of 411 - shy of the 458 max double capacity due to the large number of singles traveling solo. The ship definitely feels full and we see the impact of the additional passengers.

We lose an hour tonight as we switch to Morocco time - UTC+1 or six hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. Because of that, we opted to skip tonight's show and catch some sleep. We have a sea day tomorrow before arriving in Casablanca on Saturday for a two-day stay.