Walking on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Paddy Dillon

and more walkers are finding their feet, exploring the Canary Islands using centuries-old mule tracks, rugged cliff paths and forest trails. Paths pick their way between cultivation terraces, squeeze between houses and make their way to rugged coves and hidden beaches. Some paths run from village to village, following old mule tracks once used to transport goods, while other paths are based on pilgrim trails to and from remote churches and ermitas. Many have been cleared, repaired, signposted and waymarked in recent years, ready to be explored and enjoyed.

      This guidebook explores the waymarked trail networks on the large islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. They include routes of all types, from easy strolls to steep and rugged slopes; from simple day walks to long-distance trails. As these routes are often fully signposted and waymarked, walkers can follow them with confidence and enjoy the islands to the full. Around 710km (440 miles) of trails are described in this guidebook.

Location

      The Canary Islands are more or less enclosed in a rectangular area from 13°30'W to 18°00'W and 27°30'N to 29°30'N. As a group, they stretch west to east over 450km (280 miles). Although administered by Spain, the mother country is 1100km (685 miles) away. The narrowest strait between the Canary Islands and Africa is a mere 110km (70 miles). The total land area is almost 7500km (2900 square miles), but the sea they occupy is 10 times that size.

Geology

      La Geria on Lanzarote, where ash pits and semi-circular walls protect vines from the wind

      Most of the world’s volcanic landscapes are formed where huge continental or oceanic ‘plates’ collide with each other. When continental plates collide, the Earth’s crust crumples upwards to form mountains, and when plates are torn apart, basaltic rock from deep within the Earth’s mantle erupts to form mountains. The Canary Islands, however, are different, and have a complicated geological history.

      The African landmass is the visible part of a continental plate that extends into the Atlantic Ocean, but the Canary Islands lie within the oceanic crust of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, close to the passive junction with the African continental plate. It is thought that the islands now lie directly above a hot-spot, or mantle plume, some 2500km (1550 miles) deep within the Earth. The mantle plume is fixed, but the oceanic and African plates are drifting very slowly eastwards. Every so often a split in the oceanic crust opens above the mantle plume, allowing molten rock to vent onto the ocean floor. As more and more material erupts, it piles higher and higher until it rises from the sea. Each of the Canary Islands was formed this way.

      Lanzarote and Fuerteventura were the first Canary Islands to form, and were subsequently pulled eastwards. The next time a rift opened, the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife were formed, and these were in turn pulled eastwards. A further oceanic rift led to the formation of La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. Looking forward in geological time more islands will appear as the rift is torn open in the future.

      Many recent lava flows display a ‘ropey’ surface, showing exactly how the molten rock solidified

      The forces at work deep within the Earth can scarcely be imagined. Every single piece of rock throughout the Canary Islands once existed in a molten state. Consider the energy needed to melt one small stone, and multiply that to imagine the energy required to melt everything in the island chain, as well as the immense amount of rock beneath the sea that supports them all!

      Over time huge amounts of volcanic material were piled high, but erosion has led to great instability. During recent geological time, vast chunks of the islands collapsed into the sea, creating features such as El Golfo on El Hierro, the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma, and the Orotava valley on Tenerife. With each catastrophic collapse, tsunamis devastated places around the Atlantic Ocean. Geologists predict that similar collapses could occur in the future on the Cumbre Nueva on La Palma, or the north face of El Teide on Tenerife.

Wildlife

      Plants and flowers

      (top to bottom) The squat and spiky cardón de Jandía is endemic to the Jandía peninsula on Fuerteventura; uvilla, looking like a little bunch of grapes, is found along arid coastlines; rubbery-stalked verode is a common sight in scrub on all the islands

      While the northern hemisphere was in the grip of an Ice Age, the Canary Islands were sluiced by rainstorms, with powerful rivers carving deep, steep-sided barrancos into unstable layers of ash and lava. As the landmasses emerged from the Ice Age, the Canary Islands dried out and the vegetation had to adapt to survive. Some species are well adapted to semi-desert conditions, while on the highest parts of the islands, laurisilva ‘cloud forests’ are able to trap moisture from the mists and keep themselves well watered. Laurisilva forests once spread all the way round the Mediterranean and tropical regions. Small remnants of this forest survive on the higher northern slopes of most of the Canary Islands, but not on Lanzarote or Fuerteventura.

      Canary pines flourish on high, dry mountainsides, sometimes in places where nothing else grows. However, these are very rare on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where most of the trees are Canary palms. These flourish in dry places, and in the past every part of the tree had a use; today they provide delicious miel de palma, or palm syrup. Every so often you might come across a dragon tree, the last surviving descendants of ancient prehistoric forests. They have been decimated in the wild but prove popular in gardens.

      Tagasaste trees are found in dense plantations on the western islands, but not on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. They grow with little water, yet have a high nutritional content and are regularly cut for animal fodder. In recent years they have been exported to Australia. Fruit and nut trees have been established, including oranges, lemons, almonds, figs and vines, but Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are not ideal for growing bananas. Introduced prickly pears are abundant, not so much for their fruit, but for raising cochineal beetles, whose blood provides a vivid red dye.

      Bushy scrub is rich and varied, including a host of species that walkers will become familiar with. These include bushy, rubbery tabaibal and tall cardón, or candelabra spurge. Both have milky latex sap, as does aulaga, which looks like a tangled mass of spines and is often found colonising old cultivation terraces in arid areas. Along the coast succulent plants thrive, such as uvilla, which looks like bunches of tiny grapes. The fragrant Canarian lavender usually grows in arid, rocky, stony areas among other scrub species. Of particular importance on Fuerteventura is the cardón de Jandía, which grows only on the Jandía peninsula. Few of the plants have common English names, but all of them feature so often that they should be learned.

      Flowers grow all year round, but visitors in spring and early summer will be amazed at the colour and wealth of flowering plants. Many are Canarian endemics, and even trying to compile a shortlist would be pointless. Anyone with a particular interest in flowers and other plants should carry a specific field guide, in English. Try Native Flora of the Canary Islands by Miguel Ángel Cabrera Pérez (Editorial Everest) or Wild Flowers of the Canary Islands by David Bramwell and Zoë Bramwell (Editorial Rueda).

      Animals

      Waves pound against low cliffs around the Playa de Ojos (Walk 24, Jandía)

      As befits remote islands created in relatively recent geological time, the main animal groups to colonise the land were winged creatures, insects and birds. The largest indigenous land mammals were bats. Large and small lizards also arrived, possibly clinging to driftwood.

      The laurisilva cloud forest is home to the laurel pigeon, while the rock pigeon prefers cliffs. Buzzards and kestrels can be spotted hunting, while ospreys are struggling. Ravens and choughs are common in some places. There are several varieties of pipits, chaffinches, warblers and chiffchaffs. One of the smallest birds is the kinglet, a relative of