Arrecife in the Canaries

Not so fast on Morocco—I forgot that we stopped off at Arrecife first before heading over to Casablanca. The first destination on Arrecife was Lanzarote at the Timanfaya National Park. And was it ever crowded. Both locals and foreign tourists converged on the place.

National Park of Timanfaya in Arrecife

It’s easy to see why the park gets so crowded—there is a lot to see.  And the crowd didn’t tail off as the day progressed. It got bigger.

Crowds at Timanfaya Park

The landscape in the park is moon like. It was formed by volcanic eruptions, some of them as recent as the late 18th and mid 19th centuries.  So, as a result the landscape looks a little like the surface of the moon. After looking at the landscape, we had coffee and snacks at a café in the park.

Lava Field in Arrecife
Cars Line Up in National Park of Timanfaya

Then we headed off to El Golfo where we went up to a lookout point toward the top of a large hill. El Golfo is a small fishing village on the Western coast of Lazarote. It is best known for its dramatic volcanic landscape near Charco de los Clicos, which is an equally dramatic  green lagoon. Not surprisingly it is also a popular spot with tourists and photographers. 

Boats at the bottom of a Hill in El Golfo

After El Golfo we went to a wine tasting as well as a … salt tasting. The reason for the salt tasting? There are historic slat flats near El Golfo that used to supply a large amount of salt to the market.  And so we tasted salt. Or had the opportunity to.  In the end, we declined the offer although many of fellow tourists tried it out. 

Salt Flats of Lanzarote

Anyway, it was a pretty interesting tour to go on. After leaving Arrecife we headed out to Morocco where we went to Casablanca and Tangiers. 

So, when we hit Casablanca: “Here’s looking at you, kid”.

JFB