I’ve been itching to walk the Malpaso Way in Haria again over the last week or two as I can see all the wild flowers are blooming when I drive over the top from Haria to Teguise or vice versa.
On Sunday we set out from the village towards the sports stadium, to find this road, find the Ayuntamiento building, on the right by the library is a route map for walks, turn left along this street called César Manrique. The road leads up to the school and football stadium, on the way you pass César Manrique’s house where he retired to, this is now open daily for visitors.
When the tarmac road turns right to go past the stadium, you’re now on the Malpaso Way – continue straight ahead joining the dirt track towards the mirador. Shortly you will come across a signpost, take the lane to the right and walk up through the fields until you meet the road.
Take the footpath directly opposite, taking care to cross the road for cyclists and traffic.
The Malpaso Way leads up zig zagging between the road, stones have been laid underfoot marking the path but it is uneven. The flowers are incredible and change as you progress up the hill.
There was a good few patches of bright yellow glossy (Canarian Buttercup) Ranunculus Cortusifolius. We found a few plants I hadn’t seen before, one was this purple flower with bright yellow centre it reminded me of Ipheion Uniflorum (spring star flower), the more intriguing one was the bluebell shaped flower which was cappucino coloured, identified as Dipcadi serotinum (jacinto bastardo).
The lower levels are covered with masses of blue Echium Plantagineum, yellow Sisymbrium Officinale and white Allysum. As we neared the top the foliage became more green with different Aeniums not yet in flower and huge big yellow balls of the Apiaceae (parsley) dancing in the wind.
The trek up the hillside is well worth it, not only were we enjoying the flowers but we only had to turn around for the most incredible views back down to the valley of a thousand palms.
On the last bend, the path swings round to the left opening up a panoramic view down to the valley of Tabayesco and the beach at Arrieta.
We reached the top within an hour allowing for lots of stops along the way to look at the flowers and enjoy the view. You can descend the same way or walk around to the Bosquecillo picnic area before taking the other path down the barranco back down to the village.
We also recorded a 4 minute video along the way which has been uploaded to our You Tube channel: Lanzarote Information
I’ve asked Manuel from Flora de Canarias if he can identify the purple and brown flowers above, please comment if you know what they are!
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