Parque Nacional de Timanfaya
December 26, 2016Lanzarote is still an active volcano island, though the last major eruption was in in 1732, when large parts of the island were destroyed in a very fierce eruption. A smaller eruption followed in 1824. The most famous protected landscape on the island is Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, it truly is home to outstanding natural beauty.
Covering some 200km2, Parque Nacional de Timanfaya is an area of outstanding volcanic beauty. There are still craters in the park where the heat is hot enough to vapourise water instantly, and a branch would combust with ease.
Coach and camel tours depart during the day, all year round, and now you can also guide yourself in a Twizy Electric Car. Tours take you across some areas of lunar-like landscape unchanged since the last eruptions, a truly apocalyptic vista. The land you cross is the result of hundreds of fire-spitting volcanoes over thousands of years. It was once possible to drive through the area, but that is no longer an option, as tyre tracks would remain for hundreds of years.
Timanfaya Panorama – Peter Turner
On the tour of the park, you will cross a sea of petrified lava and volcanic ashes and come into contact with geysers and active volcanic craters. Most people agree that the landscape is almost lunar, as it is so barren. Some of the craters of Montaña de Fuego (Mountain of Fire), are still active. At the surface temperatures reach 400o Celsius, the restaurants in the park use some of the cooler craters to cook steaks.
This wanton destruction hundreds of years ago has left Lanzarote with a very unique landscape, Timanfaya National Park is one way of coming close to experiencing the destructive force of nature. It isn’t all destruction though, from the molten lava and ashes came very fertile land – Lanzarote is the perfect place to taste wine from grapes grown in volcanic ashes.
Tour Timanfaya in a Twizy Electric Car
Twizy – the futuristic eco-tour of the Timanfaya National Park in an electric two-seater car that’s silent and emission free.
Twizy cars can seat two passengers, so they make a perfect couples’ day out. You’ll also enter the crater El Cuervo – with official permission of course – the crater from which the Fire Mountains were born in 1730. ** The driver must bring their driving license **
Click here to book your Twizy tour of Timanfaya
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