Typically I am not too keen on places that are too popular. If there's one something somewhere where everyone goes to and flocks of tourists get delivered by buses (think Grand Canyon), I feel skeptical. Timanfaya National Park is that kind of place on Lanzarote. But how can I resist when martian landscapes are calling?
All these rugged lava fields and old reddish volcanic formations are protected nature, buses take you around and you can't even leave to take a picture, too much risk you'll step on something fragile and destroy. All these human beings, so irresponsible!
After the last explosion around 200 years ago, infertile and hardly inhabitable lands were abandoned. Almost all life here was destroyed, people moved to the neighbor islands and Lanzarote served as a silent witness of catastrophe. It's only in 1968 folks decided to give it another go and cash on these rugged landscapes, which also means ruggedness had to be conserved and kept untouched. Done deal!
Today it's hard to imagine Lanzarote being green and welcoming 300 years ago before the series of catastrophic explosions. Timanfaya was right in the midst of action: huge volcano developed overnight right around here. Over the next years 30 more volcanos followed and eventually formed what we know today as Timanfaya National Park.
So annoying to a photographer to only be able to shoot through a bus window, this means a lot of bad pictures due to window hue, cast and reflection. But somehow I still shot enough for a small gallery.
Timanfaya is not to be missed on Lanzarote. If you're here - go!
