A different view of Lanzarote

Whilst Lanzarote is perhaps best known as a sunny beach holiday destination, there's much more to it than this. However, even in late October, this required a fairly early start, in order to complete a strenuous walk before the sun is too high in the sky. This was definitely the case with the climb of Atalanta de Femes, one of the island's highest peaks at 611m.

The start of the walk should have been easy to find but, as so often, proved not to be. Hence the walk began with an uncomfortable and embarrassed skulking through a farmyard which, as well as many tethered dogs, had some pretty scary looking untethered  turkeys.








Once on the path itself, the scene was pretty barren.

Yet even here, there were plants, like the spindly tree above,  trying to find a way to grow in the almost total absence of any water apart from dew. These survivors (right)  gained a little respite from the sun by growing close to the bank where the track had been cut from the rock.












Views from the mast field at the top were breathtakingly far reaching:

It seems that a local tradition is to write one's name in pebbles on the floor of a caldera, or extinct volcano crater. hard work in the heat, it seemed to me.

The West Coast shoreline and the 'luxury' hotel

As these pictures show, the West coast of Lanzarote is quite stunning, with black lava cliffs falling into the roaring breakers and blue 'swimming pools' formed by the huge rock pools on the foreshore. So, quite a long way from the nearest settlement (the lighthouse just visible in the second picture above), someone thought it was a good idea to build a big luxury hotel, the Atlante del Sol.




That was over 30 years ago. Here it is now, long abandoned when, it seems, the money ran out and the dream became a nightmare. Presumably there is no money to demolish it and return the land to its natural state. What a sad mess.

The red mountain volcano in the Canaries

A short walk today up the Montana Roja, or Red Mountain, marked the start of my trip to Lanzarote. This hill (I couldn't call it a mountain in all seriousness) seems to loom over the resort of Playa Blanca, and makes a very pleasant stroll as well as an excellent viewpoint over the South Western tip of the island.

Cloud and caterpillar: what on earth is it?!

A familiar walk around Lud's Church gave fantastic views of The Cloud - and an extraordinary caterpillar, which I can't identify despite looking in books and online. Any ideas anyone?!

Late summer insects basking at Trentham Gardens

As always, there was lots to see at Trentham Gardens, near Stoke on Trent, where a completely new grand garden has been created by the lake in the last few years. I find it an interesting mix of traditional and modern garden design.

 

A Comma butterfly, whose numbers thankfully are buoyant since its larvae feed on nettles; for some reason, they were attracted to this statue.