I’ll be honest, when I first walked into the cactus garden in Guatiza (El Jardin de Cactus de Lanzarote), I wasn’t all that impressed. It’s just a bunch of plants? Is it really all that interesting? But the garden’s unique architecture and design by Cesar Manrique had me pulled in to the world of succulents in no time at all. There were so many interesting and different kinds of cacti, that I wanted to touch each one of them. Not surprisingly, many are spiky – some with long needles, others with shorter ones. There are also fuzzy ones, plush ones, small ones, big ones, fat ones, and skinny ones too! The visit to the cacti helped make Lanzarote one of my favorite trips of the year. I hope that I can bring to you all the joy brought to me by the amazing world of the Cactus Garden in Lanzarote.
From the outside, the cactus garden in Lanzarote looks like a big wall of lava rock, very typical of Manrique’s choice of building material. You pay for your ticket at a lava rock kiosk and then walk beyond the wall between two small seating rooms to overlook the garden below.
Looking down I thought, “it’s just a bunch of cacti?” Yes. It is just a bunch of water deprived, pointy plants. But before we even made it down the ramp into the garden, I was already poking around with the camera to document for myself how diverse and unique they all can be.
some are spiky:
and some are fuzzy:
while some are both:
some are tall:
and some are small:
some look like food:
and some make me want to do math:
some grow flowers:
and some attract new friends:
By the time we reached the other side of the cactus garden, I had a new found appreciation for the sharp little buggers. Not a hard thing to enjoy either on such a lovely, sunny day in December surrounded by beautiful volcanic mountains and craters.
At the end of our stroll in the garden, we made our way to the old mill. Much of the machinery is still inside and can be viewed from within. The mill sits on top of a Manrique-designed eatery, where you can sit inside at the retro style bar or out on the terrace under a cool canopy.
After seeing some of Manrique’s other architecture, I was looking forward to exploring more of his work at the cactus garden. Once I realized that it was “just cactuses,” I wasn’t so sure any longer. But our visit proved to me that they are much more fascinating than I had thought. The cactus garden was such an interesting, relaxing, and enjoyable visit that I would highly recommend it and even give it another visit!
