Lanzarote- Sands Beach Villas

Having seen the brochure it looked too good to be true but on arrival it was the same high standard we had expected. The resort was exceptionally clean and seemed to be well maintained, I only saw 5 roaches the whole holiday three of which were off the resort . We stayed in the Verde section of the complex in a lower floor apartment. The apartment was clean and well maintained, all the equipment was in good working order and the kitchen had plenty of utensils, plates,glasses etc. Read reports before we went of dodgy bed linen however ours was fine(needed more pillows as only allowance of one per person but this same in most hotels usually)Maids very friendly and came every day (except Sunday) if you wanted them. The villas would be 100% if they had air conditioning rather than ceiling light type fans, even though we went later in season it was warm at night.The villa was better than any self catering apartment we have stayed in.

There are plenty of swimming pools, pools cold at first as not heated but soon adjust when in and welcome relief after being in sun! The whole complex is tiled paths, immediately round the pool is green astro turf like flooring, just have to be aware that very slippery once on tiles(try telling an excited 3 year old to walk carefully!)Available free of charge are towels for round the pool or on private beach which great as just swap them for new ones when dirty.

People very serious about getting sunbed for day, on looking out villa first thing in morning towels are out by half seven(same anywhere!)We ate in the Mai Tai beach bar, food very nice and good value, my son loved the ice cream which started at 1.50euros so not bad price to lay out every afternoon.Resort is right on beach and there is a promenade walk right round to Costa Teguise main resort AS LONG AS DO NOT HAVE PRAM/BUGGY, as there is a section of sand to go across which impossible to push buggy in, literally have to drag buggy(not easy)Much easier to go along road.Once in main costa teguise(10 min stroll) lots of bars and restaurants to choose from ranging from typically Spanish-Irish-Scottish-Mexican-and traditional English fish and chips.Loads of supermarkets everywhere(Spar and Netto)plus one inside resort.

Immediately opposite Sands Villa Resort is an English Sports Bar which does reasonably priced pub type food using English ingredients plus got take away menu.Our holiday was lovely; the resort, apartment ,location was spot on for us as a family travelling with a three year old and certainly would like to return to Lanzarote and will not stay anywhere but Sands again when I return!

Lanzarote- Jameos del Agua

Jameos Del Agua, located in the north of Lanzarote, is part of the Atlantida volcanic cave system formed by the eruptions of the Corona volcano about three to four thousand years ago. This larger cave system with it's centre in Haria also includes the Cueva de los Verdes.

The word 'Jameo' refers to a volcanic cave with a collapsed roof, of which there are many in this part of Lanzarote.The Lanzarote-born artist César Manrique has helped to create this spectacle, where these natural 'jameos' have been turned into an Auditorium, Swimming pool, Gardens and Restaurants, while still blending into the surrounding volcanic landscape. The natural Auditorium has seating for 600 and is renowned for its excellent acoustics. There are regular shows put on here, which include Folklore Music (the traditional music of the Canary Islands), AudioVisual displays and a Disco on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The underground salt water Lagoon, Jameo Chico, is host to a Species of Blind Albino Crab (Munidopsis Polimorpha) that is found nowhere else.

The Cave of Los Verdes

The Cueva de los Verdes or Green Caves is part of the Atlantida underground Cave system formed some 3000 years ago during the eruptions of Monte Corona.The original inhabitants, the Guanches, used to shelter here from Pirates that once tormented the island.The tunnel is over 6 km long with an additional 1.6 km under the sea and is the longest Volcanic Tunnel in the World (the underwater section has not been fully explored), although only about 2 km are open to the public.The cave measures more than 15 meters wide and 15 m high.The lowest part of the cave is used occasionally as a concert hall.

Lanzarote -Castillo de San Gabriel

The Castillo de San Gabriel was first built in 1574 in order to defend Arrecife Harbour.However it was destroyed just a few years later by the Algerian Pirate Morato Arraez in 1586.The castle was then rebuilt in 1599 and was used for military purposes right up until the 1950s.It now houses an archaeological Museum.

The Puento de las Bolas is the drawbridge entrance to the Castillo de San Gabriel and dates from 1559.

Lanzarote - Timanfaya National Park

1824, however due to the low rainfall (and therefore lack of erosion) this area appears much the same as it did just after the eruptions. In 1968 the area was declared a The Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) were created between 1730 and 1736 when more than 100 volcanos, covering more than 50 km², rose up and devastated this part of the island (including several villages). The last eruptions were in national park, Parque Nacional de Timanfaya.

This part of the island is a must for any visitor to the island because of its unique 'martian' landscape and rare plant species. After you arrive at the visitors Carpark you will witness several demonstrations of 'how hot' the area is (temperatures just a few metres below the surface reach between 400°C and 600°C). Dry brush thrown into a hole in the ground catches fire immediately, water is poured into a bore hole and seconds later the water erupts back into the air as steam.

The 'El Diablo' restaurant provides an impressive backdrop to all of this and serves Canarian food which is cooked using geothermal heat (A cast-iron grill placed over a large hole in the ground). From here you can take a Camel ride across the Volcanic landscape.

Lanzarote - Basic Guide

Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean ca. 125 kilometers off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. The first recorded name for the island, given by Angelino Dulcert, was Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, after the Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello, from which the modern name is derived. The island's name in the native Guanche language was Tite-Roy-Gatra, which may mean "the red mountains".

As of 2003, a total of 114,715 people lived on Lanzarote; the population has since risen to about 125,000. The seat of the island government (cabildo insular) is in Arrecife, which has a population of 47,100 (2004). The flag is red and blue split diagonally from top-left to bottom-right.
The island has its own international airport, Arrecife Airport, which receives around 5.5 million passengers per year. Tourism has been the mainstay of the island's economy for the past fifty years. Other industries include agriculture.


Geography

Lanzarote is situated at 29°00' north, 13°40' west. It is located 11 kilometers north-east of Fuerteventura and only 1 km from Graciosa. The elongated island has an area of 845,9 km². The dimensions of the island are 60 km from north to south and 25 km from west to east. Lanzarote has 213 km of coastline, of which 10 km are sand, 16.5 km are beach, and the remainder are rocky. Its dramatic landscape includes the mountain ranges of Famara (671 m) in the north and Ajaches (608 m) to the south. South of the Famara massif is the El Jable desert which separates Famara and Montañas del Fuego.

Climate

Lanzarote's climate ranges from mild to hot during the year. Temperatures in the summer are between 30°C and 35°C during the day and about 20°C at night. Its winter daytime temperature is between 20°C and 25°C and the nighttime temperature is between 13°C and 16°C. Lanzarote is surrounded with trade winds. The water temperature at the Atlantic is at 22°C during the summer and 17°C during the winter months. Precipitation is between 135 and 250 mm. The heaviest is between December and January. Lanzarote is the driest island in the Canary Islands. Most of the precipitation occurs in the area around Famara Massif while the south is mainly dry. Every year sandstorms generated in the Sahara desert strike Lanzarote. During such storms the temperature can rise to over 40°C and visibility can drop to only 100 m. The wind which brings these storms is called the Calima to the islanders.

Lanzarote was probably the first Canary Island to be settled. The Phoenicians settled there around 1100 BC. The Greek writers and philosophers Herodotus, Plato and Plutarch described the garden of Hesperis, the land of fertility where fruits and flowers smell in the part of the Atlantic. The first known record came from Pliny the Elder in the encyclopedia Naturalis Historia on an expedition to the Canary Islands. The names of the islands (then called Insulae Fortunatae) were recorded as Canaria (Gran Canaria), Ninguaria (Tenerife), Junonia Mayor (La Palma) and Capraria (El Hierro). Lanzarote and Fuerteventura were only mentioned as an archipelago.

History

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Canary islands became abandoned until 999 AD when the Arabs arrived to the island and was known as al-Djezir al-Khalida and other names. In 1336, a ship from Lisbon under the guidance of Lanzarote da Framqua, alias Lancelotto Malocello. A fort was later built in the area of Montaña de Guanapay near today's Teguise. Jean de Béthencourt arrived in 1402 on a private expedition to the Canary Islands and brought slavery to the island as well as raw materials. Bethencourt first visited the south of Lanzarote at Playas de Papagayo. In 1404, the Spaniards with the support of the King of Spain came and fought against a rebellion among the local Guanches. The islands of Fuerteventura and El Hierro were later conquered. In the 17th century, pirates raided the island and took 1,000 inhabitants to slavery in Cueva de los Verdes.
From 1730 to 1736 (for 2,053 days), the island was hit by a series of volcanic eruptions, creating 32 new volcanoes in a stretch of 18 km. The minister of Yaiza Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo documented the eruption in detail until 1731. Lava covered a quarter of the island's surface, including the most fertile soil and eleven villages. One hundred smaller volcanoes were located in the area called Montañas del Fuego. In 1768, drought affected the island and winter rains did not fall. Much of the population was forced to emigrate to Cuba and the Americas. Another volcanic eruption occurred within the range of Tiagua in 1824 which was not as bad as the major eruption between 1730 and 1736.
In 1927, Lanzarote as well as Fuerteventura became part of the province of Las Palmas.