Hi guys, Mick here from Lanzarote Blogger, and thanks again for joining me on another adventure.
This week we are staying down south in Lanzarote, (last week we trekked to Playa Quemada, what a great day out we had) so to continue on with this Trek, we will head to the stunning and secluded spot about 4.5km further south and to The Secret Garden. Now I know a few of you guys have traveled or trekked to The Secret Garden, so for those of you who haven’t done so yet, I just want to point of a little something about The Secret Garden:
It is NOT a tourist attraction never has been, and I respect it in all its forms. I use this beautiful spot as and end to my treks in the south of Lanzarote and solely as a turning point in my treks before I make my way back to Puerto del Carmen. If you have been there you will understand and will be glad of the rest. So with that said, onwards with the trek.
Ok so we head west towards the end of Playa Quemada walking through the village and at the end of Calle Playa de la Arena on the corner with Playa Mujeres, there is a dusty trail, which heads upwards towards the first headland, we come to the stone pillar of sorts which is called ‘Monumento Natural Los Ajaches’, we pass this and head towards the cairn which is atop of the headland.
Pictured below is the start of our trail leaving Playa Quemada:
Pictured below is from the first headland, Playa Quemada is directly behind us:
The whole region here is criss crossed with a warren of goat trails and switch backs, for this trek we will keep to the main track. Ok, so up ahead of us is the famous zig zag trail, which can actually be seen by the international space station! We make our descend into the barranco ( take care here as it is covered with loose stones and picon ), where there is a left hand turn on the valley floor leading to the Playa de la Arena beach, ( the Black Beach is a more common name for this beach ), but we cross the valley floor making our ascend up the other side and onto our next headland.
Once on top there is a sort of T-junction in the trail, we keep left, then another junction, we bear right here again going on a small ways, until we finally take another left hand turn,( it’s a small bit confusing , but once on the trail, it becomes clearer as we stay on the main trail), we are now traversing above the cliffs of a steep ridge, ( cause here for Vertigo ) a popular parapente launch point, as we come across some water run off from the side ravines.
Ok so it’s basically in and out of steep barrancos with spectacular sea views ,as we cross another water run off and stay on the main track ,( always stay on the most defined track please ) from were our first destination of Playa del Pozo comes into view, and what a view it is indeed .
Picture below is of the broad valley of Playa del Pozo:
It might look close, but we have a few small obstacles to attend to first. Our trail joins a small dirt track, we take it and follow this trail for a few minutes, before we make our descent into the Barranco de la Higuera.
Directly in front of us on the broad valley floor is a well preserved refuge and well, with a well placed World War Two machine gun bunker set against the cliff face on the beach to the left of the well. Many people will miss this little piece of history as it blends in well with the surrounding topography.
To our immediate right is a ruined stone build house, we make for this, as this will be our well earned rest stop after our hard work making our way out and up through the valleys.
Pictured here is a close up of the bunker set against the cliff face. Above it is our goat trail heading ever upwards towards another barranco:
After our well earned break we are going to head left at the Y junction, we head upwards again hugging the cliff edge.
Picture below is the famous signpost located beside the ruined house, we take the left hand turn just seen above the sign post:
We climb steadily, until our path levels off for one to enjoy a very pleasant section of the trail traversing this lovely plateau, a good safe distance from the cliff’s edge.
Crossing several gullies our trail turns inland once again to cross another substantial watercourse, before we emerge from the barranco.
We have to cross two more water courses , the second one drops steeply away on our left into a steep ravine. We come across a waypoint junction ( a metre and a half in height wooden post indicating the trail ).
We go straight on and immediately turn right to stay in the main trial, to have a truly spectacular view down into the ravine, it’s surprising sight given the terrain and surrounding barren barrancos we came across.
The picture below is the plateau above The Secret Garden before making the final descent into the valley:
We descend the rocky ledge and trail and head into the valley and onto our destination The Secret Garden . We cross the dry riverbed of the Barranco de la Casita ,turning left our track ends at the cave with The Secret Garden.
It is now time to explore the caves and take in this very serene and peaceful place. We sit and relax, enjoying our surroundings as we look back down the coastline at Playa Quemada nestled in the cove to the bustling marina of Puerto Calero and onto Puerto del Carmen glistening white under a hot sun.
To me, ‘The Secret Garden’ is a trek which is difficult enough in itself to undertake , but once sitting in The Secret Garden, one is filled with a sense of accomplishment, that such beauty exists in the barren landscape in which it is located. Once we have decided to move on our outward and homeward journey, we simply retrace our steps, back over the headlands to Playa Quemada.
Thank you again for joining me on another trek. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did writing this Trekking Guide for you.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Please find below my email address. Thank you.
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