Tramping tales for July 2017

Lanzarote

25 July – 1 Aug 2017

‘(We) put down these memorandums of (our) affections

in honour of tenderness,

in honour of all those conscripted into the brotherhood of (our) loss’

 Edward Hirsch

The Grande Canaries proved to be a popular holiday destination for the Ramsden families, none more so than Lanzarote, an island (popn. 140 000) west of Morocco. Justine had been very keen to visit Famara one more time. Twice Daniel had to cancel their bookings; October, last year and again in February 2017.  In the hours following Justine’s final departure from her home Westfield Farm,  Daniel began activating a 'recovery' in Lanzarote with his brother next door, for us all. May Sarton’s words ringing true- ‘What is there to do when people die, people so dear and rare – but bring them back by remembering’.  Famara Beach was a fitting destination.

The school year ended; all the preparations had come about for ‘Justinebury’ - a wonderful celebration of Justy’s life down in the paddock of her home on a perfect summer's day that ran far into the night, just as she had wished; brought a measure of closure. Lanzarote hung like a beacon of hope for the emotionally drained and physically weary families.  Our ‘brotherhood’ comprised Daniel, Otto, Roo and Kiki Ramsden. George and Lea Begg, Matthew, Sue, Jack and Tasha Ramsden with Adam Walsh. 

In the very early hours of 25^th July – two cars departed for Manchester Airport with 11 sleepy people aboard.  Bulky paddle-board, surfboards and windsurfing equipment needed to be sorted before we found ourselves at the departure gate for our 4,5hr flight to the capital Arrecife in Lanzarote. Two hired vehicles awaited our arrival and as Dan found his way through the busy town by the seat of his pants – we were soon on our way to the village - La Caleta de Famara, half an hour away through the most bleak, desolate looking landscape. Godforsaken at first but we grew to love it. 

Fully expecting to have our accommodation split apart in the village we were all delighted to find our two apartments were one above each other with the same landlord despite having different booking agents. Perfect! Dan had the ground floor 3 bedroomed flat overlooking the 6 km length Playa de Famara (beach) with the waves breaking on the rocks beside us.  Across the bay the most striking feature were the Cliffs of Famara creating a dramatic backdrop to the beach.

High Tide view inland from our verandah

Tide Out, leaving a vast expanse of beach for surfing schools and kite-surfing tuition…

View across the bay (part of the second largest marine reserve in Europe) to Risco de Famara.

Our first Lunch at street café with beer already flowing … 

The two brothers in party mood speaking poor Spanish.

After a much-needed siesta we were ready to walk along the beach where we found a rapid transition from flat sandy beach to rounded boulders above the high-water mark. Very curious!       

In time, we were to learn that Lanzarote is the island where the most significant eruptive processes have occurred and yet, it is the island with the least frequent volcanic activity. In the northernmost part of Lanzarote were the oldest remains of those volcanic upheaval – the huge cliff, Risco de Famara. About 15 km in length and on average 550m high. The most interesting thing is that the top 150m of the cliff is formed of solid red basalt slabs. Beneath though, the cliff base is formed of volcanic ashes that piled up and baked together feigning to be strong! Rock slides are common on the cliff with the fierce North-Easter winds pounding against it. This probably accounts for the unusually rocky composition of the upper reaches of the beach. Telling you a lot about the wind, were many crescent shaped stone shelters amongst the hummock dunes created by people. 

Shelters above the high-water mark.  It was a balancing act and

sometimes a struggle to get up and down the band of rocks…

Famara was a primary surfing destination. 

Every morning the beach had schools of colour coordinated people of all ages, under instruction.

Each group doing exercises or learning surfing moves. 

At the other end of the beach, closer to Risco de Famara, the updraft was ideal for learning to kitesurf. 

Dan is a self-taught kite-surfer. 

He booked lessons for Kiki and Otto with instructors, during our week stay.

Unfortunately, the wind wasn’t right and they managed 3 lessons….

Our seven days together formed their own rhythm.  Lazy arisings to easy breakfast before the surfers set off for the morning. George and Lea would give them time to set up camp at the other end of the beach mindful that Dan was very conscious of ensuring the apartment was locked up after a windsurfing week with his mates ended with all their passports being stolen in Tenerife!

Surfs Up!

While our mornings always began with a brisk constitutional the length of the beach followed by a stopover with the family.  A 12km walk a day made us feel good as the Atlantic Ocean was far too cold and we were not prepared to struggle into wetsuits…  

As the heat of the day began settling in we’d walk back to our cool spot

on our apartment verandah to read, knit or just R-E-L-A-X.

Lunch took place upstairs on Matt and Sue’s balcony and that became an institution in its self…We would happily go buy the fresh bread if Daniel or Matthew hadn’t gone up for freshly made breakfast croissants coming out of the oven about 8.30 a.m. and collected bread at the same time.

Hot sun, beautiful view and cold beer and sometimes Lea found an icy G&T!

Stepping out to dinner each night generated a special occasion. 

The first time the two neighbouring Ramsden families have been on holiday together. 

George spotted a booklet about Cesar Manrique (1919 – 1992) in the upstairs apartment and we were both rivetted. This legendary figure totally captured our imaginations and we could barely wait to visit any of ‘the sites of his spatial intervention’ in Lanzarote. – not that we understood this term at the start! Born in Arrecife, Cesar regularly holidayed on Famara beach as a youngster and this heavily influenced his artistic bent throughout his life. He completed a Fine Arts degree and lived in Madrid from 1945-64. His travels took him across the world further influencing his ideas. When he returned to Lanzarote in 1966, the island was just beginning to develop its tourist industry. Cesar Manrique as an artist, urban designer, sculptor, landscape architect, environmentalist held enormous sway on this industry. He was a man well ahead of the times and whose beliefs and ideals endure to this day. Such was his love of his island home his understanding led to Lanzarote being declared a World Biosphere Reserve in 1993 (i.e. “areas in world where the environment plays a major role when future development is planned”.  Cesar was an advocate of traditional Lanzarote architecture (white walls, pitched roofs and patios, woodwork painted green); outspoken opponent of billboards on streets, unplanned development, unrestricted expansion, ever increasing number of cars on island … only to be killed in accident outside his former home!

As a result, we hankered to go see Cesar Manrique’s two storied home on the site of a lava flow incorporating five very large natural volcanic bubbles or caves, the first of his a many architectural projects. It duly became The Cesar Manrique Foundation.  Sue and Matthew had visited the house when Tashie was a baby – so fortunately they were keen to go, just not enough seats in their car.        

Of course, our grandchildren did not want to go look at ‘a house’ NOT when there were beaches ….  Schemes for Dan to drop us off en-route to a wind surfing beach fell apart when the tide was in and the wind had dropped. That very hot Friday afternoon EVERYBODY went to the house in Teguise.
   
It certainly was not just a house…  It was an unbelievable, architecturally stunning mansion- a blinding white building rising just above the black lava fields. Inside the totally white interior with only works of art on walls adding colour, stairs took you down into cleverly integrated lava bubble rooms and narrow passages on the lower floor. Sub-tropical plants, terraces filled with cacti, sculptures, murals... all exemplified his vision, ability and creative genius. We cannot do justice describing this remarkable home. The seed of understanding ‘spatial intervention’ began to sprout…  

We were all enamoured by the visit - even Dan and the children!

The front garden vista across the lava fields. 

When Matt and Sue visited this home 18 years ago there wasn’t a building in sight.

Two different scenes - 

Cesar Manrique’s swimming pool in the base of the lava field was so inviting on that hot day.

Cesar Manrique’s back garden! An extraordinary way of cultivating grapes dictated by the climate! The arced rock formations seen in the background, each protect a grape vine embedded below in a pit from the harsh winds

 Examples of his artworks. 

The revolving wind sculpture was particularly eye-catching in its intricate movement.

Absolute chance took us to Jameos del Agua, another of Manrique’s masterpieces within nature.        
It was Roo’s birthday and we had booked a restaurant in Old Teguise that night because he had been there with both his parents on a previous occasion. Dan mentioned going to Costa Teguise after lunch to do some windsurfing. This was the resort Justine and Daniel had regularly stayed in when the kids were very small. Until they discovered Famara! Naturally George and Lea were keen to see another area so it was arranged that we would go with him and explore while Dan was out on the water. (Bit confusing Old Teguise- up on the hill, Teguise- down the hill and Costa Teguise on the coast as the village/town expanded….)  Once down at Costa Teguise, a stark contrast to Famara with whopping big hotels and so touristy, Dan assessed the windsurfing status and decided it wasn’t worth rigging up for. We too, were glad to get out of there. Instead, Dan decided to go check another secretive windsurfing spot used by locals at Jameos del Agua point.  Little did we realize that perched high on the back slopes of Famara Cliff with very different and more diverse forms of vegetation was an unremarkable low-lying white building that we barely gave a second glance until Dan pointed out a large ‘crab’ and explained this was Cesar Manrique’s ‘Cave of the Water’ or The Grotto.  The Jameos del Agua, formed in the lowest part of a lava tube closest to the shore where the waves come crashing in from the Atlantic and, where Dan planned to windsurf off the rocks below.  Only, he decided against that spot too. However, he noticed our anticipatory expressions and thankfully decided to let us go see this Manrique ….

We entered down through a stone spiral stairway - 

appearing to have little to do with the building we 

had seen earlier and found ourselves beginning a rather unique journey.

And, found ourselves alongside the lake within a cavernous lava tube - The Grotto. 

This underground lake contained albino crabs. Whew! This solved George’s earlier consternation on reading the booklet on Cesar Manrique when it appeared to him that the troglobiotic crab had been brought up from its normal depth of 2,000m below sea level and kept in (the only photo contained in the booklet) Cesar’s trademark pool!  These tiny white crabs occurred naturally… The level of the lake is connected to the tides, although in bygone centuries as we understood, the lava tube continued further into the depths of the sea until it all collapsed leaving this underground lake cut off. Many cracks and crevices enable a flow of sea water into the cavern.   For Lea, ever the more law abiding one, her first sighting of the lake, had the tiny crabs appear like glinting coins tossed into the shallows of the lake despite many notices prohibiting coins! While George struggled to detect the crabs let along photograph them. They were miniscule but many… Like white glitter dust. MOST intriguing!

Munidopsis polymorpha is a species of squat lobster, 

also known as blind albino cave crab endemic to Lanzarote.

Jameo del Aqua is but one of the three jameos within the Cueva de Los Verde’s underground course of the tube, developed as a centre of Art, Culture and Tourism by the autonomous Island Government using local hero Cesar Manrique skills as an architect and environmentalist to create this most unusual tourist destination.

We walked through empty bars and restaurants creating unusual venues for weddings or large crowds.

As we climbed upwards from the Jameo del Aqua back into the sunlight, 

the Jameo Grande transformed into gardens of many different levels and views 

to the central and contrasting feature, a large glossy white pool of turquoise water, 

that George had feared housed the blind crab! 

Although intended as a swimming pool by Cesar it is no longer used as such although it is said only the King of Spain can swim in it!   Above the pool,  the elongated low-lying building we had seen approaching the area by car was now visible. This contained a gift shop, a fine Vulcanology Museum, art and sculpture works and tea room. However, beyond the pool were entrances to the Auditorium.

 An underground concert hall seating 600 people with excellent acoustics – 

recently reopened after renovations to apply modern security standards. 

Dan and Lea do a backward selfie using mirrors!

For George and Lea this had been an unexpected treat to see another of Manrique’s masterpieces.

Thirty years ago, Manrique explained his whole philosophy in this way-

 I believe that we are witnessing an historical moment

 where the huge danger to the environment is so evident 

that we must conceive a new responsibility with respect to the future.  

Cesar Manrique, 1987

Thirty years have passed with many others making similar repetitious pleas and yet mankind continues to live in a society that tells us it is cheaper to destroy the earth rather than renew and sustain it. We are forever vandalising the environment looking away from what it is telling us and forgetting that it will have the last laugh and be around long after mankind has ceased to matter.

The restaurants of Famara preferred us to book our large table early in the day allowing them to set up without disruption to other patrons. Matt and Sue went to book our Friday night venue only to be told all the restaurants of Famara would be closed for Fiesta de Noche Blanca at Old Teguise.     We decided we would attend the Fiesta and in the spirit of ‘White Night’ we scratched around for our palest, whitest clothes…

Once we were there amongst the large, merry throng we felt a sense of panic as all the restaurants with tables pouring out onto the narrow streets were packed out. Just as we were about to split up and find street food separately, Daniel was spotted wildly gesticulating from a large doorway… Unbelievably, his charm and resourcefulness had save the night. We were led into a private room with a massive wooden table – comfort par excellence! Dinner was tapas-style, only we didn’t pick up on that and all the men ordered meatballs… Our most inexpensive meal had far too many meatballs! The live music was wonderful and kept us there until midnight when weary children could no longer be ignored or persuaded to wait five more minutes.

Las Bajas, where we enjoyed dinner joyously washed down with mojitos.

And some, remaining nameless, went on to Flaming Sambuca (Psst… you are only young once!)

 Afterwards HAPPY gals tried their hand pro surfing but were better sitting down!

Roo’s 14^th Birthday began with a walk along the seafront of old Famara, that began as a fishing settlement.

This was followed by breakfast at Las Bajas

The girls decided a closer look at the little shops of Old Teguise was warranted!  A decision was taken to go up to the old town early evening before our 9pm Birthday Dinner up there for Roo. Returning from our afternoon in Costa Teguise and Jameos del Agua, Dan dropped George and Lea off in the old town to meet up with Matt and Sue’s mob. Instead of finding the old town humming, it was all closed-up and deserted.  We wandered the quiet narrow streets killing a bit of time… When the family arrived, we were quick to show them the most interesting parts. That was soon over and done with two hours of hanging around still ahead of us! We popped into the very busy restaurant we had booked at but no way could they even contemplate our table of 11 coming in earlier, In fact they were still battling to give us a table at 9pm that they had to open another section in a side room especially for us. 

  

The only sign of life post Fiesta, was the pub next door, we took refuge there. 

A guitarist and his mates took up a table alongside us and began jamming and that helped while away the hours.

A very late dinner with some ordering complications had a most apologetic proprietor bring us three of quite the most delicious desserts.

Our last day on Famara followed its familiar and happy pattern; spending the morning on the beach, lunch on the balcony and by popular vote dinner at Casa Garcia with its panoramic view out onto Risco del Famara. We were ending where we had begun our first night.

This time round, the late sunset illuminated the cloud topped Famara Cliff

 in beautifully lit evening light to farewell us.

We didn’t want to go home, we didn’t want this time to end! It was a bittersweet time but there was always that loving and understanding hand put out during the difficult moments that overcame us Next day it was back to Arrecife Airport and Manchester bound.

ALL OVER!

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR A MEMORABLE TIME TOGETHER, MORE ESPECIALLY TO OUR DEARLY LOVED DANIEL.

STOP PRESS

In the opposite direction to Famara Beach was the fishing harbour of old Famara and our walk along the coast took us over a section of beach we nicknamed Popcorn Beach.  Never identified but suggestion is a type of coral which give rise to many questions.

Adam surprised all the girls with a beautiful memento of our Lanzarote holiday –  a ‘popcorn’ keepsake necklace made by his silversmith mother. Very special!  

The slipway into Famara Harbour  and Our Popcorn!