Lanzarote

We arrived in Arrecife earlier than anticipated; we were, in fact, at the dock when I awoke. Lanzarote is essentially flat; the only thing that keeps it from being described, as flat is that it is dotted with over 300 volcanic cones. I can see at least a dozen right now. Most are small. The tallest is only 600 meters or so. The entire Island is covered in lava. It is often called “The Devil’s Island,” “The Island of Volcanoes” or “The Island of Fire.” It is the most Northeasterly of the archipelago and the one closest to Africa, which has created a “boat-people” situation. Aside from the island being flat, so are the buildings. There is only one “high-rise,” a 5-star luxury hotel, on the entire island. It was built just before the government decided to limit the height of all future buildings. Most everything else is 2 stories. Buildings seem to all be in the same style, Boxes, painted white with dark doors [green, brown, black] and small onion-shaped chimney pots. Many of these homes are built into the craters, ravines and cones utilizing the land as part of the architecture. This brings us to our tour today. We are visiting Los Jameos del Agua and Mirador del Rio. Both are the creations of Cesar Manrique.
If they ever were to change the name of the island it would certainly be to “Manrique.” It has a nice ring. Manrique was born in Arrecife in 1919 and became a successful artist by the time he reached the age of 21. He entered formal training in 1945 and fell in with a rough crowd… the likes of Picasso and Matisse. He was noticed by Nelson Rockefeller who invited him to the States where he exhibited at the Guggenheim. He spent about 4 years there returning to Lanzarote in 1968 with his head full of grand ideas. Those grand ideas are now a reality. He is responsible for no less than 7 major projects on Lanzarote alone and is credited with inspiring the island’s concern with preserving the environment as well as the building traditions and culture. Unesco has named the entire island a “biosphere reserve.”
Mirador del Rio is a vista designed by Manrique at the north end of the Island. It is built into the wall of the largest volcanic cone on the island. It overlooks Isla Graciosa across a narrow straight from the tip if Lanzarote. The vista involves Manrique’s signature "eco-futuristic” design style. Built below an old canon emplacement it includes a glassed in bar/café with whitewashed curvilinear wall with volcanic details. Outside are walkways with breathtaking views of turquoise water and the little sandy Graciosa. Beautiful beaches are everywhere and Graciosa has a lovely little yacht harbor in its only town. There are large portholes cut in the rock and winding staircases leading to other vistas. Descending the north side of the cone you can see our next destination, Los Jameos de Agua and the volcanic cuevas or caves that caught Manrique’s fancy. Los Jameos is a huge multi-use project. It contains an auditorium, a museum devoted to volcanic activity, restaurants, bars, a fabulous white swimming pool, a souvenir shop, picnicking facilities and a dance-floor adjacent to one of the underground pools, which contains a very rare species of blind white crab that is only found deep in the ocean. Driving back to the harbor we passed many small farms with law garden walls of lava rock. The walls were most often to guard against the sea winds but in some cases they were filled with soil to create platforms to raise the plantings. Some were very elegant with more decorative than useful plantings. Often the private home attached was built into the hillside virtually undetectable as a residence. It is this type of residency that the government is promoting, one that respects the landscape and the island’s heritage. I could live here as well.