The craters of Lanzarote, or: A hike through Lanzarote's vineyards

We will take a guided hiking tour on Lanzarote in La Geria from the Bodega Rubicón up to the Montaña de Guardilama and back down to the Bodega where a super refreshing white wine awaits us.

We set off at 9:30 in the morning, starting our guided tour through the impressive vineyards of Lanzarote. Impressive, because the vines here are all planted in hollows in the black volcanic rock and protected by a wall of larger volcanic rock – and this stretches for several kilometers.

Raquel, our very friendly guide, tells us that the volcanoes are called Montaña by the locals, meaning "mountains," and how the families here on the Canary Island cultivate their wine, explaining how crucial the unique volcanic rock is for the success of the vines.
We realize within the first few meters that this hike isn't for the faint of heart, because unlike the other days, it was almost windless and we searched in vain for clouds.

After a few instructive kilometers, we began the ascent of Montaña de Guardilama, the third highest mountain in Lanzarote. The higher we climbed, the more fields we saw, and Timanfaja National Park with its red mountains in the background became increasingly visible. After about two hours in the sweltering heat, we reached the mountain's crater, and lo and behold: even in the crater, we found numerous small hollows filled with grapevines. Here we took a break; another group arrived, and after a refreshing snack, we continued our hike.

As we descend the back side of Montaña de Guardilama, we see the other side of the island and two of its three biggest tourist spots: Porto del Carmen and Playa Blanca. We continue our hike along the right side of the mountain, gaining a few more meters in altitude, and once again see all the vineyards – and also the bodega where we'll stop for a break. This gives us the courage and strength to take a few more steps.

We take another short break under a huge palm tree, and I am certainly impressed by how much shade this tree can provide – because that is why they were planted individually, to give the workers in the fields some shade during their break.

After about four hours, we finally arrive back at the bodega, where a delicious white wine is already waiting for us. We chat for a while with the members of our group and enjoy some local cheese.

To finish, Raquel showed us around the bodega a bit more and then said goodbye. Of course, we bought a bottle or two of the wine we had tasted.

This part of the day was absolutely informative, exciting and tiring – we then spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach in Porto del Carmen…