Breakfast is even less of a thing in Lanzarote than it was elsewhere on this trip. Protein and good coffee do not live together here. After a lot of searching we found two potential candidates. After trying both and learning that none of them add decent coffee and only one offered a source of protein for breakfast. With two coffees in a short amount of time we called it quit; we’ll pursue our quest for good coffee tomorrow. All that walking around did allow us to notice that 📍Arrecife is a lot livelier in the morning. The bulk of the activity around here seems to happen before everything closes for the siesta.
Fueled up for our day of adventures, we stopped by the airport to get a car. As time was starting to be an issue with some destinations closing as early as 16:00 we opted to save time and grabbed a cab. As we pulled to the airport terminal we saw a very long line of people waiting for taxis. We could have been lucky yesterday as there wasn’t one. With the size of the line I’m pretty sure people will wait longer than it would to wait the 20 minutes to grab a bus. Does make one wonder how bad the bus experience is.
Car in hand, we headed to learn more about the artistic vision of César Manrique. Our first stop is his last great work on the island: 📍Jardín de Cactus (Cactus Garden). It’s home to about 4,500 individual cacti from 500 species from five continents. As we would learn later in the day, César’s work is built around the natural landscape. He chose an old quarry that had been used as a landfill in an agricultural area of extensive cactus plantations. Being in a literal pit, the gardens give the impression of being inside a walled city dedicated to the cactus. The fully restored windmill (add some wind and grain to it and you’ll get flour) is a very niche touch. With so many cacti we were almost guaranteed to see some flowers (and we did).
Next stop on our arts tour was 📍Jameos del Agua. It’s the first Art, Culture and Tourism Center created by César Manrique. Because a space with a single vocation would have been too easy. It’s built into a volcanic tunnel, in keeping with his ideology of creation in harmony with nature. The word “jameo” derives come from the Guanche (native of the Canary Island), and refers to the hole produced as a result of the collapse of the roof of a volcanic tube. The Guanche have obviously lived with the volcanos a long time to have a word for a specific type of volcanic hole. It gives the area a very unique feel and offers a glimpse in the geology of the area. But that’s about it.
From there things get complicated. We first went to the 📍Monumento Cesar Manrique, which is the home Cesar lived in. Preserved as a monument to the man, and built into the landscape, it brings a sense of his life and his art. From there we went next to the Monumento al Campesino, escultura de César Manrique which is next to 📍Casa Museo de César Manrique, the main house and studio of Cesar and where he lived until his death in 1992. By that time we were a little a Cesar’ed out and skipped visiting the main residence and just took pictures of the monument.
The impact Manrique had on Lanzarote can be seen throughout the island: beyond all the Manrique-themed places and all the artwork everywhere, he was able to influence the island development to keep to lower buildings and avoid the monster beach complexes that can be seen all around the world.
Having learned a lot about Cesar and his love for the nature of the island, we pointed the car home and prepared to explore the natural beautify in more detail tomorrow.