For those who enjoy nature walks, the island of Lobos, which we visit every day in our boat trips, is a beautiful enclave, which contains singularities that will astonish the hiker, being a Natural Park, which was declared as such in October 1982, when El Parque Natural de las Dunas de Corralejo e Isla de Lobos was created, and reclassified as Natural Park in December 1994.

The following table lists the MIDE characteristics (communication system between hikers, with a scale that includes the technical and physical difficulties of the trails, to allow each hiker a better choice), where we can see that the difficulty of  the trail is minimal.

The trail that crosses the island represents the first stage of Fuerteventura GR-131 (long distance footpath linking the Canary Islands with the European path A7, about 5000kms, that departs from Hungary), so this step is particular, being in a separate islet to be accessed by boat.

The adventure of this stage begins on the boat that takes you to Lobos Harbour, through what is known as El Río, a sea canal that separates the islet of Lobos from  Fuerteventura just over one mile and where if we look closely we can admire some of the marine species that ply these waters, such as turtles, flying fish and even dolphins and other cetaceans.

Lobos Harbour will welcome us with its calm turquoise waters, and once the sailing is over the  hiking adventure begins.

Upon arrival at Lobos Harbour we find two trails. We will take the one on the left, since the right trail leads to the houses of Puertito, which are not included in the tour, but we recommend visiting them at the end of this stage of the trail, because of its landscape beauty and calm.

In the chosen path we’ll go through the volcanic “malpaís”, characteristic of the islet and the whole of Fuerteventura, up to Playa de la Calera (or Playa de La Cocha), with its fine sand and almost static water, which invite visitors to relax with water and sun baths.

After a pause which can be used to take a dip, we continue the path, leaving the amazing Mountain Caldera on the left, with its 127-meter volcanic cone, swept away by the sea, which has turned the crater into a semicircular amphitheater at whose base the water breaks.

We continue our journey, surrounded by the striking green of the Sweet Tabaibas (Euphorbia balsamifera), which are the exceptional inhabitants of this island, up to Caleta de La Madera, which we will sail round to finally get to Martino’s Lighthouse, located in the northern side of the islet of Lobos, which represents the final stage.

At this point there is a crossroads;  those who wish it can return the same path , but we suggest an alternative way (outside the GR trail), which also leads to El Puertito, crossing  Las Lagunitas, which are wetlands (salt marsh near the coast that is affected by the flow of the tide; the sea water is held and it makes ponds or lagoons parallel to the coast that allow the settlement of endemic plant species and also the least representative in our Islands; all these species have in common the adaptation to high salinity conditions), where you can find plenty of species, among which the houseleek (Limonium ovalifolium ssp. Canariense) stands out, endemic to the islet of Lobos.

Through this path back we also find cisterns and lime kilns, which tell about  the history of this magical islet.

Finally we’ll get to the houses which make up the village of Puertito, old fishing settlement which fishermen often visit nowadays to spend the weekends, except some of them who still live on the islet permanently.

If you follow the links in this article you will find all the information about this  paradise islet.
FuerteCharter Team.

From October 28^th and until November 29^th the Art Centre Juan Ismael, in Puerto del Rosario, will host an exhibition where some of the archaeological Roman remains found during the excavations in Lobos islet will be shown.

Two campaigns have already been carried out in these excavations in Lobos site 1, since 2012, where, as we said in one previous article in this blog, some archaeological remains of what would have been a Roman factory  for the obtaining of purple dye (Stramonita haemastoma), dating back between the I Century B.C and the I Century A.D,  have been found out. Hence the name of the exhibition: “Lobos 1, a Roman purple workshop”.

This site, located in La Calera or La Concha beach, to the South West of Lobos islet, will have a new campaign of diggings, result of an agreement between Fuerteventura Council, The Autonomous Organism of Museums, Some centres in Tenerife council and some scientists in the research project “Poblamiento y Colonización de las Islas en el Atlántico (PYCIA), from La Laguna  University and the OAMC and there are big expectations that more remains that could be find tell us more about the history of the Canary Islands and the population of the Atlantic islands, through the Roman settlements dated to the Early Empire that, besides, also show that the boundaries and the influence of the Roman Empire spread far beyond it had been recorded up to now. For this reason many researches and approaches will have to be carried out again and the relationship between the Canary Islands and other Roman settlements of the time will be established.

The exhibition shows a selection of manufactured Roman goods, from ceramic amphoras, used to transport and store metal iron and bronze items (needles to sew nets, hooks, punches…) to stone items related to the processing of purple dye, like crusher pebbles, anvils and mortars.

The exhibition also shows shelly deposits specialised in Stramonita haemastoma, where we can see some fracture patterns of these molluscs and the way the glans used to get the purple dye were extracted.

Kitchen items can also be found, witnesses of a food and domestic activity, such as pans, different food containers, flatware, jars, platters…

The exhibition can be visited in the Art Centre Juan Ismael, C/ Almirante Lallermand, Nº 30, in Puerto del Rosario, opening times from 10 to 13 and from 17 to 21h, every day except Sundays and Mondays, when the centre is closed.

FREE ADMISSION.
For further information: www.cabildofuerteventura.org
Telephone: 928 859 750/1/2.

Fuertecharter Team