I think these ten milers are good for me. I not suffering the physical stress of pushing myself on for another two or three hours. Decided to get out earlier today hoping to make it back and have a swim in the hotel pool but it was not to be. Funny, but after my moaning about tough climbs first thing, today was gentle for the first 6 miles. I finished crossing the central plain and then headed back up to Montaña Blanca, a one caballo village with an intermittent bus service. My recent luck let me down and I had to wait an hour and forty-five minutes. No schedule was correct, neither the on-line one or the bus stop one. Tried to get on the school bus but she wasn’t having it.
My head compass said that this volcano was south-west and that was the village I was going to. Nope.A couple of miles on and I still think this is it. Can you imagine walking up the ridge line of the caldera? Well I’m going to try it on Saturday.Looking back towards Teguise (t’gazye). The fort visible on the hill. (Santa Bárbara Castle). Chillyish at only 17. Oh dear.This guy obvs slacking, loading cheap breeze blocks onto his lava rock windbreaks.Now then. Imagine two thousand years ago the Guanches have just arrived from North Africa bringing their God with them. And this sacred spot was where they offered up the fruits of their harvest in sacrifice. The church subsumes the old God and relaunches him as Saint Cumface, named after some pallid pious pretentious prelate. And then to make matters worse, a callous town planner builds a road over your site. But do they give up? No. Apples, paella, a can of cider – which some lout has spilt – and some tinsel together with the big surprise sacrifice in the bag. The Gods fair swoon.Lanzarote council dog training camp. Though I saw not a one. They should enrol Pancho Dogo from the other day and teach him to avoid cars.Ancient lava flows There is a science of pictograms. The idea is that any human can parse a well designed sign to find meaning. Is it just where the valedictorian woofer from the training school stands?Presumably where the camp Commandanté and his Señora sit for the passing out parade.The snails do love a good distance marker.Next to the dog camp is The Volcano quarry, no 347. Seems a lot.But across the way, Mother Earth’s breast pump is in top gear. (Lol topical stuff.)The right volcanoes but an intermediate village, San Bartolomé, and finally a chance for a café con leite. And jolly nice it was too.Yep. A camel. Pretty big here abouts. Long time humper (Ha!) of the fruits of the vine along the narrow paths through the lava flows.Defo North African – Moorish – type costume. I like that they’ve made him well filled-out but they’ve obscured her face. Town square in San Bartolomé and the rossers are on the prowl.The water trough, like all the water courses, is dry. It is still officially winter, but no rain. The white surround is waiting on a new statue, I think.Up around the first volcano then down a path that runs between them. The kids playpark is way out of town. The mayor probably didn’t want it to get dirtied from those pesky children.This is what happens when you don’t add the breezeblocks to your windbreak. All the rest are just pitiful.Zoomed in looking back at the cliff ridges I was on yesterday.Zoomed in looking east at Arrecifé. My hotel is just by that tower block. I’m now in the narrow waist bit of the island.I understand. In the summer the hot winds come a-blasting in grilling your fresh grapes – and what grapes they are, must try and get a pic for you – so you’re bound to want to protect them. This guy, though, has gone against convention and used walls, straight walls. Now, humans being what they are, in the event of no common enemy, this man is going to be burnt as a heretic.I’m stuck. Just missed the bus, three taxi companies have hung up on me, the only chance of refreshment has closed down and a man with no teeth insisted that I wait for the bus just there, outside it. He was most persuasive. However, I didn’t know if should trust him or not, because…That looks awfully like a bus stop twenty metres away. Turns out he was right. I assume ‘cos the bus has to stop at the junction by the red car, they don’t like to stop again so quickly. A sort of kill two birds thing. Wow, lucky he came along to harangue me.
A very nice day, though spoiled somewhat by my long wait in the hot sun for a bus and the stifling heat with little shade. The driver didn’t turn on the air conditioning until we were two minutes from the station. Definitely going to try and get a taxi back tomorrow, but if anything like today, I have no chance. Hablés Inglés anyone?
