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| Demonstration of uses of aloe vera at aloe vera farm near village of Punta Mujeres, Lanzarote, Canary Islands |
Our final stop in the Canary
Islands was Arrecife on the small island of Lanzarote. Arrecife has been the capital of Lanzarote
since 1852. The name comes from the rock
reef that covers the beach in the city.
Arrecife is a port city that serves the other Canary Islands as well as
Europe. The island of Lanzarote is small
enough that it takes very little time to travel the entire island.
We had decided to do a tour
called Hidden Lanzarote. While it required some walking, we were
assured that I could use a wheelchair and that I would be able to do much of
what was scheduled.
Since the bus wasn’t full, each
of us got our own seat, making it easier for both of us to take pictures,
something that doesn’t happen very often.
Our guide Alexandria told us that this small island had 100 volcanoes
and 300 volcanic cones, and we did see many, many mountain peaks; however none
was nearly as rugged as what we had seen on Tenerife. With very little rainfall, the island is quite
dry and everywhere we looked we spotted palm trees and cacti.
We soon learned about the highly
esteemed local artist, Cesar Manrique. His work is evident all over the island,
and we quickly learned to recognize his unique mobile sculptures that often appeared
in the centers of the roundabouts. These
had many moving parts that danced in the wind.
In fact our final stop visited the Cactus Garden, the very last work of
his career before being killed in an accident in 1992. This cactus garden boasts over 1500 cacti,
arranged in an amphitheater setting, and it symbolizes the history of the island.
But first we stopped at Teguise,
the historical capital of Lanzarote for a quick walking (in my case rolling)
tour of the interesting village center.
From there we proceeded up the mountains on winding roads (albeit not as
scary as the ones Chuck described yesterday), enjoying the vistas that showed
off the white homes with green trim (which reminded us to some extent of the
Greek islands where the houses are white with blue trim), as well as the
terrace farming along the slopes of the mountains. We made a brief stop for a beautiful view of
the countryside with the mountains slopes sweeping down to the Atlantic.
Continuing on our way, we passed
through the Valley of a Thousand Palms, dotted with farms and crops, winding
through the narrow streets of villages, till we got to an aloe farm. This was a very unique visit. As we left the bus, we were given a sample of
aloe cream to rub into our hands. We
were then shown how they use the aloe to create health and beauty
products. The guide sliced a huge “leaf”
of aloe plant, and then opened it up, removing a huge jelly-like slab of aloe
that looked more like a raw fish fillet than anything else. When she squeezed it, it produced a ropy goo
that could be rubbed on the skin for medicinal purposes. It was amazing how many ways aloe can be used
to heal various issues. I made sure I
bought a salve that can be heated up and inhaled to help clear the
sinuses. Sure hope it works! I must admit that I made several purchases
there and hope they do as promised!
At both the aloe farm and the
cactus garden, we learned that one of the most common types of cactus on
Lanzarote is the prickly pear cactus. It
was brought to the island from Mexico and is used specifically in the
cultivation of the cochineal beetle. The
beetle is a parasite that grows on the cactus leaves of the prickly pear
cactus. These beetles are harvested for
their unique dye properties. When the
beetle reaches a certain age, its blood is harvested. (All you have to do is pinch a beetle to get
the blood out.) This blood is used in
red dyes. As gross as it sounds, we use
this dye every day – in products like lipstick and blush! If I’ve been using it for years and years, I
guess I won’t worry about where the dye comes from – pretty disgusting, but I
haven’t died from it yet!
It was a short but very unusual
tour that we thoroughly enjoyed, a fascinating ending to our variety of stops
in the Grand Canaries!
BT
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