Overview
Castello de Santa Barbara
Lanzarote may be the lowest of the
Canary Islands but thanks to it fairly recent volcanic history it is one of the most impressive ones.
Las Montañas del Fuego with
Timanfaya National Park , the huge area which erupted some 300 years ago, takes most attention, while
Risco de Famara, the 15km long cliff in the north of the island hosts the island’s highpoint,
Peñas del Chache. In between, following older fault lines, there are old volcanoes, often the best lookout peaks, thanks to their often solitary location.
Arguably one of the best of these is
Montaña Guanapay, most of the times simply named
Guanapay. It is located in the centre of the island on the slopes, which gradually rise from the south to culminate in
Risco de Famara. It is located right above the village of
Teguise, which in former times was far more important than what remains today. Founded in 1414,
Teguise received town rights early on and became the capital of the
Kingdom of the Canary Islands in 1425, when
Maciot de Béthencourt took over the crown after the death of his father Jean. In 1448 the kingdom was eliminated and
Teguise served as capital for
Lanzarote until the current one,
Arrecife, was established in 1885.
Coming back to
Guanapay, its volcanic cone is topped by a crater of 200m diameter, open towards the south. Up on the topmost part of the crater you will find
Castello de Santa Barbara, a small fortress, which was (re-) built in its current form in 1588 by
Leonardo Torriani, Philip II's architect. Making use of the position of
Guanapay, the castle was intended as a lookout for pirates and later as a fortification to protect the capital
Teguise.
Today the castello houses the
Museo del Emigrante, the emigration museum. Faced with droughts and the volcanic eruptions of 1730 lots of inhabitants left the
Canary Islands to settle in the new world. Obviously – as can be seen from the files in the museum – 10 families from
Teguise were resettled in
Texas to found the city of
San Antonio, currently the seventh most populous city of the United States.
Getting There
Teguise and the north coast seen from Guanapay
Though there are ferries from the Spanish mainland to the Canary Islands, they take more than 24h for the trip. Therefore most visitors therefore go by plane. Every travel agency in Europe offers flights, hotel rooms, apartments, rental cars etc. so that reaching the Canaries is rather a matter of money than opportunity. During the summer season flight fares can be reasonable but during the Easter and Christmas holidays you have to be prepared for additional fees of 500€ per person.
Lanzarote has its own airport between the capital Arrecife and one of the main tourist centres, Puerto del Carmen. There are public bus lines but – like on all the islands – they don't run too regularly. If you plan to stay on your own, better take a rental car right at the airport.
Montaña Guanapay can be most easily reached from the villages
Teguise,
Nazaret or
Teseguite at its base. From
Teguise a road leads to
Castello Santa Barbara, from
Nazaret and
Teseguite dirt tracks and paths lead to the south slopes of the volcano to combine with the road from
Teguise.
- From the airport take LZ-2 to Arrecife
- Take the circumnavigation LZ-3 around the capital until LZ-1 turns off in direction Orzola
- In Tahiche switch to LZ-10 to Teguise.
- Nazaret is the last village to the right before you reach Teguise.
- For Teseguite drive through Teguise. and switch to LZ-104 at the end of the village.
Routes
Stone cairn sentinels on the route from Teseguite
The route from
Teguise is unspectacular. It follows the road to
Castello Santa Barbara at the top of
Guanapay.
From
Nazaret just head up the south slopes of the mountain until you reach the road from
Teguise near the gate.
From
Teseguite start at
Ermita de San Leandro and head up
Calle San Leandro southward. At the last house of the village turn right, heading up a rugged dirt road heading for
Guanapay. The track turns west, passes the volcano, then turns north towards the road from
Teguise.
Red Tape
Canarian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus canariensis)
There’s no Red Tape on
Guanapay other than that the Castello requires an entry fee (when it’s open). The routes from
Nazaret and
Teseguite run through privately owned fields so stay on the roads and paths.
When to Climb
As every volcano on
Lanzarote,
Guanapay can be visited all year round.
Accommodation
For holiday homes, hotels or apartments either consult your nearest travel office, or – search for lodgings on Google. There are several sites on the web, dedicated to rent privately owned houses or apartments. Prices are generally a bit less expensive than for tour operators but you don't have as much security. We actually had a holiday home on the outskirts of
Teseguite thus hiking to the top of the volcano twice, on our first and last days.
Weather Conditions
Montañas del Fuego in Calima conditions
Lanzarote is usually swept by fierce north-western trade winds. Though they deposit their humidity on almost all of the other Canary Islands, Lanzarote is simply too low to form a decent obstacle. Therefore the climate is very arid.
For some time of the year, eastern winds prevail, which almost always carry clouds of Sahara dust with them. Usually this means reduced visibility but in some occasions
Calima occurs. Fierce storms take up the dust from the Sahara and sweep it across the islands. In these times visibility is nil and sometimes even the planes are grounded.
Maps & Books
Maps
Regular Maps
- Lanzarote
Kompass Map WK241
Kompass Verlag
1:50000
ISBN 3-85491-175-0
Digital Maps
Kompass is the only company known to me which offers GPS digital Maps. In addition for those of you with Garmin GPS receivers there is a map source map set of all Canary islands out there.
- Lanzarote
Kompass GPS4241
Kompass Verlag
ISBN 3-85491-223-4
Inselkarte (Island Map)
Downlaoadable at www.wanderreitkarte.de
Books
My recommendation is a guidebook by Rother Verlag, available in German. The book is an excellent hiking guide covering all the interesting areas of the island. Since it comes with small maps for each excursion it might even be used without a map to support them.
- Lanzarote
Rolf Goetz
Rother Verlag