DAY 4 Hiking Route Lanzarote – La Graciosa: Muñique - Caleta de Famara
7h (5h 30min in movement) 25,5km +330m/-500m
See previous day Hiking Route Lanzarote – La Graciosa: Day 3
Today Birdwatching day! This morning the objective is to see the Hubara Bustard bird, a bird that can be seen in desert places on the island of Lanzarote such as in the El Jable desert. We will also try to see African runners and partridges. We hope to be lucky!
In 10 minutes on the outskirts of Muñique we see a bird that runs past us right in front of us. We look closely, we quickly take out the binoculars and see that it is a stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) !! Wawwww. It cross the track where we are going and continue to the right. Next, we see 2 more in the same direction and very close. Lucky! 😊
Stone-curlew, crossing the road
We continue along the dirt track and in a very short time, in about 15 minutes we see the first Bustard! He is walking perpendicular to us through a desert field with bushes and we see that it is walking away fast. It mimics a lot and at first glance it is difficult to see them.
Birdwatching in El Jable
Hubara bustard in the distance, in El Jable
But how happy we are !!
We continue walking along the track and little by little we enter El Jable, advancing along sandy tracks. The landscape is desert with dunes, bushes and some dry cultivated fields. With the Famara cliff on the horizon, it is a spectacular landscape!!
El Jable desert, with the spectacular Famara cliff on the horizon
We continue walking through the sand, and suddenly another bustard flies a few meters from us, Ohh!!
Further on, on the left, we see 3 or 4 more. They are a bit far, like 100m, but with binoculars we can see them well. We stay looking at them for a while and we continue. And so we keep going along the paths of El Jable until we reach Caleta de Famara.
Sensitive zone for birds signal
Arriving in Caleta de Famara
We arrived in Caleta de Famara at 11:30 am right in front of the supermarket. We stop here to buy some food and go to the beach to rest a bit on the stones. Here we see a group of small sandpiper birds passing us.
We also see many surfers on Famara beach and this place is known worldwide as a very good place to practice surfing and yes, the wind actually blows a lot here and the waves are quite big.
Surfer at Famara beach
Risco de Famara, from Famara beach
After resting, we go to Yokomosurf, a guest house with shared rooms, where we will spend tonight.
We leave our things there, get water and binoculars and go on our second walk of the day. It is a circular loop, going along the coastal path towards Caleta del Caballo and returning through a mountain range of volcanoes.
Start of the coastal path, from Caleta de Famara
The path is easy and beautiful, it is a dirt track passable by vehicles. While we walk next to the coast, we admire the big waves that crash against the rocks with force, we also see quite a few campervans parked to spend the night. From here we also have very good views towards the Risco de Famara and the island of La Graciosa.
In about 6 km, we turn South towards the first volcano that we will climb on the right. From up here you can see the whole Jable! With beautiful views of Famara and La Graciosa, and we go down the same path that we went up.
Views from Juan del Hierro Mountain
Next, we climb the second volcano. Before arriving, we see a Hubara Bustard flying very very close to us!
This second volcano, Montaña Chica, has a very wide crater and can be easily turned around.
Views from Montaña Chica
Views from Montaña Chica
And we go in the direction of the third volcano, Montaña Cavera, characteristic for its yellow color.
Going to the third volcano Montaña Cavera
Surprisingly, when we get to the top, we see that the volcano has a wall of volcanic stones around its crater perimeter, how curious.
It’s very windy up here and thanks to this wall, the truth is that we go much better. We easily go down the other side and from there we return to Caleta de Famara along a dirt track.
Montaña Cavera Crater
Wall of volcanic stones around the perimeter of the crater of Montaña Cavera
At ‘Yokomosurf’ we share a room, toilets and kitchen. The site is good for 1 night pass or surfers. The price seemed expensive to us, but the place is famous and popular for surfing.
In the town of Caleta de Famara we see a lot of movement (how could this be without the pandemic!) All the bars and restaurants are open and full. We also see many surf schools and equipment rental.
We are going to have dinner at the restaurant ‘El Risco de Famara’ where they serve us very well. We ordered a salad with Lanzarote tomato, cured goat cheese and berries. The bread, always accompanied with olive oil and salt from the Salinas del Janubio. Second, Octopus stew and a Mero casserole accompanied by potatoes and sweet potatoes. Delicious!!
Grouper casserole, in the restaurant ‘El Risco de Famara’, in Caleta de Famara
Very happy and stuffed, we go to sleep!! 😊
Continue reading our adventure in the Hiking Route Lanzarote – La Graciosa DAY 5
If you want more information about the El Jable Desert ecosystem and how a group of volunteers strives to protect it and make it known, we leave you the link to DesertWatch
