A week of all-inclusive January sun was just what I needed but I’m just too fidgety to lay by the pool all day.  I explored the flora of the southern part of the island; wikipedia tells me there are over 500 different plant – you may or may not be pleased to hear that I found and photographed only a tiny percentage!  As for fauna, I spotted a small herd of goats, two donkeys, a camel train and a flock of pigeons who seemed to be the clear-up squad for the camels.

During the week, I’d assumed I was photographing various types and forms of cactus but it turns out that most of the native plants are various forms of euphorbia!

This massive beast was in the hotel gardens and is a Euphorbia Candelabra tree.  As you can see, I was quite taken with the bark-like structure of the stems:

Walks along the coast path and a visit to a vineyard gave us prickly pear:

The local wine was either dry or sweet and was OK but the tenacity and ingenuity of the viticulturists is very impressive.

The volcanic rock dust and ash act as a mulch, protecting the soil from wind erosion and retaining moisture.  This gives new meaning to raised beds!  The semi-circular walls act as wind-breaks and retain heat from the sun.

I was surprised how little other agricultural activity there was to be found.  This garden was the only one laid to fruit and veg production.  I liked the pallet fence!

As we travelled by coach to Timanfaya (Fire Mountain), I noticed a particular green bush colonising the mountain sides, like a nasty case of green mumps… turns out to be another eurphorbia – balsamifera

The following are unidentified but I’m certain that the learned WordPress readers will be able to fill in the gaps

and finally two known flowers, but which made me smile to see them flowering in January in exposed and windy locations: