We sailed overnight, arriving and docking at Lanzarote in the Canary Islands early this morning. After breakfast our group was off to see the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya and see the volcanic birth of the island. The island is covered, maybe six feet deep with volcanic ash, showing the magnitude of the eruption(s) that created the island. Most of what we saw at the park was at the highest elevations of the island and that gave us grand views of the remains of volcanic craters and their rocky residue.
This photo was taken on arrival at the park. We first gathered around a hot spot where churning fires below vent their heat up and through the rocky soil. Enough heat that one can cook a meal across the hot vents.
Once our group was assembled in the red rock area shown in this photo, the park ranger gave each of us (unwittingly) a sample handful of the red rock. Boy, were we surprised by the heat contained in just a few of the red rock pebbles, and each of us then instictively dropped the handful.
Our tour guide then began to explain the volcanic action still going on at the island. Another park ranger thrust a pile of dried bushes into the hot hole we were standing around, and within seconds the bushes ignited and burned because of the heat escaping the hot hole. Most interesting, and even a bit frightening.
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