From Tijarafe it was a spectacular drive along the mountains and down to Los Llanos de Aridane. Already from the road, we could see the lava flow of 2021. It had destroyed houses, farms and all the roads, cutting off the connection to the south. We could use the new road, which had been reconstructed, crossing the lava field. Our destination was Puerto Naos, a little holiday village with a lovely beach.
The eruption of San Juan in 1949 had created this land, which is mostly used for banana plantations. The modern lighthouse, 48 metres high, was erected in 1996 and is called Faro de Punta Lava. From Puerto Naos it can easily be reached on foot.
At the next beach, we noticed how the lava of the 2021 eruption had flooded over the cliff and towards the sea. The beach was beautiful, but signs warned us about the danger of CO2, which exits through the soil as an aftermath of the eruption.
Also in Puerto Naos, parts of the houses were closed off because of the risks of CO2 emission. CO2 detectors were at every street lamp, so we felt safe at our parking.
We enjoyed a windy but beautiful sunset before we went home into our cosy camper. Close to all the gas detectors, we spent a peaceful night behind the beach of Puerto Naos.
The next day, we went to explore the lava tubes of the island. Via GetYourGuide we had booked a tour into the Cueva de Las Palomas, a lava tube from the 1949 eruption of San Juan.
We learned that the volcanos of the Canary Islands produce 2 types of lava:
ʻAʻā is basaltic lava characterized by a rough or rubbly surface composed of broken lava blocks called clinker. The word is Hawaiian meaning “stony rough lava”. The loose, broken, and sharp, spiny surface of an ʻaʻā flow makes hiking difficult or nearly impossible.
Pāhoehoe, meaning “smooth, unbroken lava” is basaltic lava that has a smooth, billowy, undulating, or ropy surface, much easier to walk on.
Of course, most of the lava on the island is the ʻAʻā kind.
The entrance into the lava tube was already spectacular. We learned that the opening was caused by a blockage of the lava stream inside the tube, which led to a giant explosion.
Lava tubes are formed when a flow of relatively fluid lava cools on the upper surface sufficiently to form a crust. Beneath this crust, the lava can continue to flow as liquid. Occasionally, it forms a tube, which can conduct molten rock many kilometres from the vent without cooling appreciably. Often these lava tubes drain out once the supply of fresh lava has stopped, leaving a considerable length of open tunnel within the lava flow. That was precisely what had happened here, and we could walk about 250 metres through this tube with our guide. The tube is much longer, but the rest is not accessible for visitors.
After our visit to the Palomas cave, we also visited the Interpretation centre nearby, built above another tube of the same eruption.
Not far from us was the new volcano called Tajogaite, created during nearly 3 month of eruptions from September until December 2021.
Tomorrow we want to hike to Tajogaite volcano, which you can only do with a certified guide – more next!