I spent my last day in the Canary Islands exploring one of the prettiest beaches yet, Playa Caletón Blanco, at the northern end of Lanzaróte Island. The volcanic origin of the Canaries is obvious on all islands, but unlike the black sand beaches I had seen in other places, this one had golden sand surrounded by black volcanic rubble. It made for a beautiful contrast. The beach is a series of linked lagoons protected from the sea. Without a car, the hike to get to it was over a fairly rocky terrain, but the views were well worth it.

The beach is dotted with small rock shelters (protection from the wind, I think?) where sun bathers gather.

The town closest to this beach is the tiny fishing village of Órzola. As is the case throughout Lanzarote Island, the houses are all painted the traditional white. (On this island, unlike some of the other Canary Islands, it is illegal to paint your house anything but Canarian white). What was interesting was that even the surfaces of their rock walls (in the foreground of photo below) were painted white. I don’t know if that was decorative, or served some useful function.

On the flight out of the Canarias, I chatted with a woman from the UK sitting next to me about our Canaries experiences. I was surprised to hear her say that although she enjoyed staying at the resort, she wasn’t impressed by the island scenery. I suppose it’s true that the volcanic “moonscape” is not beautiful in the traditional sense, but I found the contrasts starkly beautiful.