Ecotourism in Lanzarote
Visitors to Santa Rosa last winter, Mr and Mrs Jones, were full of praise for site manager Deirdre MacDonald and Activity Club leader Carmen. They visited in December 2015 and wrote to tell us about the excursion they joined during their holiday...
Having visited La Caleta de Famara, the windswept village in the northern part of the island many times over the past few years, to walk on the beach and sample the excellent fish restaurants, it was with a different objective that we visited Lanzarote in December.
We were introduced to the Santa Rosa Activity Club during Deirdre's welcome talk. The club, which promotes all sorts of eco-friendly activities, is supported by both professional and volunteer help, a lot of the volunteers being British expats. We were really impressed with the whole experience.
Deirdre introduced us to Carmen who runs the Activity Club and organises the brilliant eco-friendly tours all over the island. The one we joined was a half day trip to Famara which was partly historical and partly archaeological.
After a half hour Land Rover journey we met our guide Arminda at the harbour in Famara. There she described some of the older properties situated around the harbour, and one in particular which was built in the style of Gaudí's Barcelona architecture; it had so many interesting features and is unique to Lanzarote.
Our party of six then walked along the beach listening to Arminda describing the history of the area. We climbed up the foothills of the Risco de Famara – the highest cliffs on the island – where she showed us the stones and pools once used by the washerwomen of Soo, a village some 5km away, to wash the clothes of the rich, this being the nearest source of water to them so many years ago. We also visited the site of an "Ermitage" dating from the 16th century eventually abandoned because of marauding pirates.
A stroll back to the village followed by cool wine and fish stew was not the end of our visit, as on the way back to Santa Rosa Carmen drove us through the desert, now green because of the October rain, where we saw a host of wild birds including a bustard, shrike, curlews and falcons: an unexpected treat!
This was an inspirational trip for us; gentle, slow, ecotourism.
We're so glad the holiday was a success and that Santa Rosa is such a hit at all times of the year. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Jones for getting in touch.
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