We docked at 1.00 pm on Sunday 17 November and set off for our 3-hour exploration of Lanzarote, the second largest and most easterly island in the Canary Islands archipelago with large beaches, golden dunes and turquoise waters in the southern end of the island. Volcanic in origin (there are 110 active volcanoes), the island had its last eruption only a little over two centuries ago, and it left vast stretches of land without vegetation, covered with solid black rivers of lava, and more than three hundred gaping craters. Quite a few movies have been shot here.

Our excursion was mind-blowing. We were treated to the otherworldly uninhabited lunar landscapes of Timanfaya National Park in the north of the island where the rocky landscape was created by volcanic eruptions in the 1730s which was rather like being on the surface of the moon. On its northern point, we saw the contrast between small villages with white houses built on the edge of the sea with the volcanic hills alongside them. 
Lanzarote is one of the seven Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa, an autonomous community administered by Spain. The weather is warm year-round and rain only falls on about 10 days. 

Vines grow very sparsely in places where the lava is covered in deep, black volcanic sand. Small walls protect the individual vines from the wind. Coming from Australia and New Zealand, as we did, it was an astonishing sight to see what is considered to be a vineyard. One family will tend and harvest just one vine and it is no mean feat to keep the plants alive.

Nearer to the towns there are whitewashed villas with small windows painted only green or blue. An artist named Cesar Manrique set out to combine nature with the development of Lanzarote and was responsible for much of the way the island looks today, coupled with the recent building of desalination plants, which have made a huge difference to the island's economy. Lanzarote was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1983.

Back at the ship, we set off for Tenerife at 10.00 pm.