Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote

Watch a geyser in Timanfaya National Park

Even though the volcanoes of Lanzarote are currently inactive, there is still geothermal activity underground, a proof of the health of the Timanfaya volcanic system. Just ten meters below ground level at Timanfaya National Park the temperature reaches 600ºC.

To be able to show the extraordinary temperatures and the fire burning under the rocks, the park performs live demonstrations of water and steam geysers. In order to convey the extreme underground temperatures park staff will pour water into specific holes in the ground and a few seconds later it will spurt back to the surface as hot steam. Worry not, this demonstration is completely safe!

Explore the Montañas del Fuego

The Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) area in Timanfaya is an iconic location and the main motive of many to visit Timanfaya National Park. Here, what seem like mountains are actually the craters of the old volcanoes that gave shape to the island hundreds of years ago. The Montañas del Fuego very special topography makes you think of a different setting: the desertic landscape of another planet. Or perhaps you can think of the Earth, millions of years ago, when dinosaurs roamed free. In any case, the picturesque landscape of the Fire Mountains will conquer even the most indifferent.

Montañas del Fuego (The Fire Mountains) are the perfect example of why you don’t need trees of green, rivers or flowers to make a spectacular scene. Its beauty is contradictory and subversive, capable of evoking the deepest emotions in the visitor.

Camel Ride in Lanzarote

Did you know that on your visit to Timanfaya National Park you have the chance of riding a Lanzarote camel? These likable, hunched mammals, native of northern Africa, have adapted to live in the Canary Islands, and are some of the animals being tamed by canarians in the past few centuries.

Everyone, specially children, will love riding these strong animals (they can survive more than ten day without water) and going across the route of the volcanoes. Forget about cars or other polluting vehicles, animal traction is the way to go!

Observe the fauna of Timanfaya

Timanfaya has more than the camels transporting visitors, there’s a varied wildlife peacefully inhabiting the volcano park. More than 200 different species have adapted to the arid terrain and can be observed in their habitat.

Some of the many animal species inhabiting Timanfaya National Park include the tiny canarian shrew, rabbits, ravens, owls, the little shearwater, the north african hedgehog, and the atlantic lizard endemic to the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Lunch at El Diablo Restaurant

Another emblematic corner you may find when visiting Timanfaya National Park is El Diablo Restaurant, conceived by world-renowned local artist César Manrique. At the entrance, a most peculiar devil welcomes visitors. Also designed by Manrique, the devil seems to personify Timanfaya as an arid, wild, inhospitable place where the dance of fire left its everlasting mark.

Even though you are welcomed at the entrance by a devil, the food inside is pretty much heavenly. You may pick from a menu with the best the canarian gastronomy has to offer, while you enjoy the wonderful vista of the Timanfaya volcanoes.

The amazing fact:  The restaurant makes use of the emerging volcanic underground heat to prepare and cook its dishes.

Experience Los Hervideros and Las Salinas de Janubio

Other sites included in the tour of Timanfaya National Park are Los Hervideros and Las Salinas de Janubio (seawater salt ponds).

Los Hervideros is a cliff that owns its cavernous shape to the path carved by the lava flowing from the volcanoes of Timanfaya. Here, the turquoise and sapphire blues of the sea clash with the rough black and red rock to produce a truly striking picture.