Lanzarote, as you also saw it in the last blog, is mostly known for its beautiful volcano landscapes and beautiful but also rough beaches. My father is a landscape gardener and therefor always felt a little lost when visiting us on Lanzarote as there was not enough green for him. He couldn’t understand why my mom chose to move there. But to be honest, yes, there is not large forest or big lush meadows but its flora is still of a particular beauty with diverse gardens to visit. There is even a small forest on top of a clip on the north east part of the island, but we didn’t visit this time. But there you’ll find barren trees there you can have a nice picnic or let you kids climb around, but it is not a forest like we know it in other parts of Europe.

Since the first blog was already that large, I decided to devote a second blog to just the beautiful and diverse gardens you’ll find on the island. Most of them are typical sightseeing places as well and tourist enjoy to explore them as they are also very special in their architecture and design. So here you go with some impressions of the special flora of Lanzarote.

The first I’d like to show is the Jameos del Agua.

Jameos del Agua

This is a cave complex with a subterranean saltwater lake, a pool, gardens, restaurants, museum and auditorium and is therefore also an art, culture and tourism center. It was created by local artist and architect, César Manrique in 1966. You’ll find more places he created below and there are still way more on the island that we didn’t visit this time, like the house he himself used to live in. Art and architecture from César Manrique are found in diverse places on Lanzarote and also on other Canary Islands.

Can you spot the super small white dots in the saltwater lake? Those are super small and blind lobsters that live in this dark lake.

Oh how I wished I could jump into this pool each time I visited as a kid and also now as an adult, but swimming in it is sadly strictly prohibited.

The location of the complex is right beside the ocean. Imagine living here with this view and pool. But as far as I know no one ever lived here.

The auditorium where conserts and other cultural events take place.

Lagomar Museum

Another masterpiece of César Manrique together with Jesús Soto is the LagOmar Villa. It was built in the early 1970th and bought by the actor Omar Sharif who shortly after los it in a gamble without ever having lived in it. In 1989 a couple bought it and made it open to public as a museum and arts place.

View from the house above Nazaret and the surrounding vulcanos. This small pool is still part of it but it is in an area where tourists are not allowed to go.

Jardín de Cactus

On of my favorite sites as a kid was the cactus garden. I just always took care to stay on the walkways as I was afraid to fall into one of the cacti 😉 It is also built by César Manrique again together with his Jesús Soto and therefore not only a beautiful garden but also full of art and special architecture. Before it I never knew how many diverse cacti and succulents there are. It’s fascinating to me how nature can even survive in the roughest places on earth.

From the windmill you’ll have a nice view over the garden and its surrounding vulcanoes, as you see on the next picture and the restaurant is right beside it.

Even the stairs in the restaurant are something special.

Apart from the beautiful cacti in the garden above, the flora on Lanzarote, while being a volcano island, is still beautiful and diverse. You’ll find different types of hibiscuses, bougainvillea or juicy plants the grow even on the volcano surface themselves. Click on the pictures below to enlarge the different the different types of plant.