The Hellish Beauty Of Timanfaya

By far one of the most outworldly places I've ever been is the Timanfaya National Park on the volcanic Island of Lazarote. I often think of the Canary island as "Iceland in the sun". Lanzarote is one of the islands in the group referred to as the "Canary Islands". They are geographically in Africa, but socio politically in Europe.

I've written extensively on here about how I really want to move to one of these islands, with Lanzarote being a possible choice. The only thing about Lanzarote is how dry it is. It's one of the driest places in the world with. You can feel the aridity everywhere on the islands, even in the residential areas. My first impression when I first stepped out of the airport was that I could smell the Sahara in the air.

Having said that, the aridity adds to the beauty of this place, especially at Timanfaya.

I want to share a series of photos I took on at Timanfaya, and very close by, to show you what I mean.

Deadly Beauty

Yes indeed, Timanfaya is very beautiful and one of the most picturesque places I've ever had the pleasure to photograph. It is, however, one of the most dangerous for many reasons. There's the obvious desert wilderness which may harbour a manner of creatures just waiting for your delicious human flesh. There's the sun and the dangers of dehydration and heat stroke.

There's also the fact that what looks like soft sand at first glance is volcanic ash. What looks like mud, is volcanic mud - which is rock solid and razor sharp. It is very deceptively friendly looking, but if you ever landed on one of these landscapes, you'd probably die from multiple stab wounds.

Apparently when the Spaniards first arrived on this island and saw Timanfaya, they thought they'd found the location of the Biblical Hell. The symbol of Timanfya in fact is the Devil, or "El Diablo".

As if it wasn't dry and hostile enough, under the ground the temperature quickly soars to melting point. We saw a demonstration of of a hole being dug on the ground on which we stood, and a glass of water being poured in - which resulted in an eruption of steam seconds later. Splinters of wood and bundles of newspapers thrown in quickly caught fire. The heat emanating from a pit in the visitors area is used to barbecue chicken. It's no wonder why this place was misconstrued for hell.

There Is Life In Hell

Growing wildly are some special succulents, the most remarkable of which is Aloe Vera, the national plant of Lanzarote. There are also various plants that are unknown to myself that thrive in these extremely harsh conditions.

Farmers also cultivate on the land, if you can call it that, against all odds. The special care that has to be given to each plant so that it survives the volcanic ash, arid temperatures and extreme winds (which is the third factor I haven't yet mentioned), is astonishing. The literally build mini fortifications, walls of stone, around each plant to protect it from the elements.

There is respite from all this. Mind you, not all oases are good ones. There is at least one poison lake which is one of the most beautiful I've ever set my eyes on. One sip from the water would send you to your grave though.

Being an island, the harsh volcanic terrain eventually meets the sea. Every beach on Lanzarote is like a history lesson in how the molten ash flowed into the sea in times past.