While we were in Lanza we didn't think yet of blogs and blogging and telling you about our travels.
So we didn't take the necessary pics to show you exactly what we've seen.
A lovely city? We were trying to find out where to park our car.
A charming square? We didn't make a picture of it, too eager to get into the local bar.
The restaurant in the Timanfaya park? We were hungry and distracted by busloads of tourists.
Famous Manrique windplays on the roundabouts? Kidding? We were going somewhere!
But here you get all the pics you need to get a really good impression of our next adventure: the Cactus Garden in Guatiza - btw, another Manrique project.
A little background information: cacti are about the only plants that grow readily on this island (apart from the lichens, that is). Especially the type that hosts the cochineal, the scaly bug from which the crimson-coloured dye carmine is extracted. And next to endless plantations of the cactus that hosts this precious bug there's the Manrique cactus garden.
Built in an old, disused quarry (ie. below ground level, ie. protected from the trade winds, thus even hotter than the rest of the island) with a windmill on top it's a true labyrinth of gardens.
Manrique retained the circular structure of the original quarry and made chunky steps and patches of cactus garden next to it, so you can walk seemingly endlessy higher and higher around the pit and see new varieties of cacti everywhere.
Not for the faint hearted though: the paths circling the pit are very narrow, and the higher you get the deeper the steep pit below.
But if you ever want to see what Nature has invented in the way of cacti, this is the place to go.
1.100 different species (yes!) and more than 7.200 cactus plants (another yes!). Overlooking the garden this is unbelievable, but walking in the pit, slowly circling to the rim, you believe it.
Cacti from the Canary Isles, Morocco, Peru, Mexico, Chile, the USA, Madagascar, even from Tanzania and Kenya - all there. From the huge to the very, very tiny. But all are stunningly beautiful and so interesting to see. We spent hours there.
I made some 250 pics. of this amazing collection of cacti.
Hence a longer than usual list of photos. Divided into two blogs: the first to give you the general idea, the second because I couldn't kill all my darlings (you'll forgive me when you see them!).
So we didn't take the necessary pics to show you exactly what we've seen.
A lovely city? We were trying to find out where to park our car.
A charming square? We didn't make a picture of it, too eager to get into the local bar.
The restaurant in the Timanfaya park? We were hungry and distracted by busloads of tourists.
Famous Manrique windplays on the roundabouts? Kidding? We were going somewhere!
A little background information: cacti are about the only plants that grow readily on this island (apart from the lichens, that is). Especially the type that hosts the cochineal, the scaly bug from which the crimson-coloured dye carmine is extracted. And next to endless plantations of the cactus that hosts this precious bug there's the Manrique cactus garden.
Built in an old, disused quarry (ie. below ground level, ie. protected from the trade winds, thus even hotter than the rest of the island) with a windmill on top it's a true labyrinth of gardens.
Manrique retained the circular structure of the original quarry and made chunky steps and patches of cactus garden next to it, so you can walk seemingly endlessy higher and higher around the pit and see new varieties of cacti everywhere.
Not for the faint hearted though: the paths circling the pit are very narrow, and the higher you get the deeper the steep pit below.
But if you ever want to see what Nature has invented in the way of cacti, this is the place to go.
1.100 different species (yes!) and more than 7.200 cactus plants (another yes!). Overlooking the garden this is unbelievable, but walking in the pit, slowly circling to the rim, you believe it.
Cacti from the Canary Isles, Morocco, Peru, Mexico, Chile, the USA, Madagascar, even from Tanzania and Kenya - all there. From the huge to the very, very tiny. But all are stunningly beautiful and so interesting to see. We spent hours there.
I made some 250 pics. of this amazing collection of cacti.
Hence a longer than usual list of photos. Divided into two blogs: the first to give you the general idea, the second because I couldn't kill all my darlings (you'll forgive me when you see them!).
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