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Appendix B Topographical glossary

Appendix C Useful contacts

Ancient, worn, volcanic hills rise in the middle of Isla La Graciosa

Walkers crossing the barren Barranco de la Casita on Lanzarote, near a small shelter (Walk 1, Lanzarote)

INTRODUCTION

Walkers leaving the summit of Morro de la Loma del Pozo, heading for the Barranco de la Higuera (Walk 1, Lanzarote)

The seven sub-tropical Canary Islands bask in sunny splendour off the Atlantic coast of north-west Africa. Millions of sun-starved north Europeans flock there for beach holidays, but increasingly visitors are discovering the amazing variety of landscapes throughout the archipelago. Conditions range from semi-deserts to perpetually moist laurisilva ‘cloud forests’, from rugged cliff coasts to high mountains, from fertile cultivation terraces to awesome rocky barrancos carved deep into multi-coloured layers of volcanic bedrock. Some areas are given the highest possible protection as national parks, but there are many more types of protected landscapes, rural parks, natural monuments and nature reserves.