Back in November, when the walking club held its planning meeting to
organise the walks for the following year, it was proposed by Judith & I that
we would organise a walking week to Lanzarote at the end of May. A number of members immediately expressed an
interest and so the proposal was entered on to the walks calendar. We held three information meetings, in January, March and in early
May. At the May meeting it was confirmed that twenty club members had booked their flights and accommodation and
were all set to invade parts of Lanzarote that most visitors to the island
never get to see. Everybody that was
travelling learned from the meetings what to bring and what the six day walking
schedule entailed. And so, on Monday 27th
May at 12 noon in Puerto Del Carmen where we were based, the Rosway Walkers met
outside the San Antonio Hotel for the first day's walk.
The
first walk consisted of a short walk around parts of Puerto Del Carmen and
then we got the local bus to Playa Honda and visited the Deiland commercial
centre for a toilet stop, but also to sample the coffees, teas, ice creams and
especially the crepes which were irresistible. Then we took the coastal route
along the seaside with a stop beside the airport for some plane spotting before
continuing on back to base.
On the Tuesday I led a long walk to what is known
as the Secret Garden Secret Garden
On Wednesday we had a
private bus hired to take us up to the north and we walked to the most
northerly point of Lanzarote and on our return we visited the Mirador Del Rio. This is again a wonderful place to visit. It houses the restaurant
with the most incredible views in Lanzarote. What was interesting is we were
looking across at the island
of La Graciosa
We were up bright and early on Thursday morning as we had to get the bus
at 8.30am as we were getting the ferry
at 10am to Graciosa. The ferry leaves
from the port of Orzola
Friday
was the day of the hardest walk of the week. I led five hardy souls (Jim Curley,
Kevin Kiernan, Claire Dolphin, John McDonagh and myself) on a 14km hike starting at sea level from
Famara beach, up to the highest accessible point in Lanzarote at 640m and
then we continued across to the Mirador Haria and descended the Malpais trail down to the beautiful town of Haria, which is also known as the 'valley of a thousand palms'. Judith brought the B walkers on
a lovely walk through the vine growing area known as La Geria starting from Uga
and finishing in Puerto Calero.
Saturday
was our last walking day and we did a 13km hike from the town of Teguise
I calculated that in total we covered
a total distance of 114kms and climbed
an accumulated height gain of 2650m.
We finished up the week in style on the Saturday night as we put on
our finest bits and pieces and all went out for a lovely dinner together, We
reminisced about all that we had done during
the week. The group made a lovely presentation to Judith and I which was
greatly appreciated. It was very gratifying to hear our wonderful walking buddies express how much
they had enjoyed the week. What the week proved to Judith
and I was something that we have said to one another before – that joining
the Club was one of our best ever decisions as we agreed that the
nicest, soundest people we have ever been privileged to meet are the Roswayers.
NOTE A number of experiences occurred which shall remain under the Official
Secrets Act to prevent embarrassment to certain individuals ?????..... What goes on on Holidays – stays on Holidays.
All pics and text by Liam Roche
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| Before start of Secret Garden A walk and cliff tops B walk |
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| On the way to Mirador Del Rio |
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| On La Graciosa |
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| Top of Mount Bermeja, La Graciosa |
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| La Geria B walk |
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| Famara to Haria tough A walk |
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| Teguise to Costa Teguise Camino trail |
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| Teguise to Costa Teguise Camino trail |
