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Located in the northern part of the island of Fuerteventura, in Villaverde, a town belonging to La Oliva is the Cueva del Llano. It is estimated that this natural space is more than one million years old, being one of the oldest volcanic tubes of the Canarian archipelago.
According to experts La Cueva del Llano was formed after the eruption of the Mountain Escanfraga. The cave is a lava tube that has an approximate length of 650 meters, of which you can walk about 400 meters since the remaining 200 are covered with sediments.
The Cueva del Llano has had many uses throughout its history, has served as a powder keg, warehouse or to save livestock. After many years of neglect and after its ecosystem was threatened, a series of improvements were made to adapt the cave to tourist visits, a visitor center was also created to receive information about their training.
Inside the Cueva del Llano there is a peculiar caveman fauna, inhabited by arthropods, such as the silverfish or a type of arachnid called opilion. A place of obligatory visit.
Among the most impressive protected areas of Fuerteventura is the Natural Monument of the Malpais de la Arena, Volcán de la Arena. Located between La Oliva, Lajares and Villaverde this place will transport visitors to another planet thanks to the imposing landscapes of rock that surround them. This area was formed as a result of a volcano that after its eruption left a sea of solidified lavas and that gave rise to a unique ecosystem of flora and fauna that is also linked to the great geological, geomorphological and archaeological value.
Malpaís has dimensions that are around 12 square kilometers and are formed by several craters and lava flows at the base of the main building of the volcano. The Volcan de La Arena is 10,000 years old and has a height of 420 meters above sea level and 120 meters above the base and is considered the youngest on the island of Fuerteventura strong>.
In Malpais you can see small furnaces, holes where the gases of the volcanic eruptions were released, this has led to the formation of caves like the one called. Birds can be observed as owls or shearwaters that take refuge in breeding season.
In 1970, the archaeological site of the Cueva de los Ídolos was found, where a large amount of fragmented ceramics, bone remains, fish scraps, tools, decorative objects and objects were found. the idols that are small pieces of clay and stones that appeared among domestic objects in burial mounds.The large number of found objects together with its landscape and other elements have made this space declared in 1987 as Natural Area of National Interest of Malpaís Grande and reclassified in 1994 of Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands as National Monument.
Occupying part of the municipal area of Antigua is the Caldera Natural Monument of Gairía. This natural environment is part of the closed watershed of Agua de Bueyes and has dimensions that exceed 240 hectares, forming part of both Antigua and the town of Tuineje. The Caldera de Gairía Natural Monument is in an excellent state of conservation and has a great geological, landscape and geomorphological interest.
Gairía is located in a spectacular lava and pyroclastic field that is located in the Depression Centr which is Malpais, you can see different volcanic buildings: Caldera de Gairía, followed by the Caldera de La Laguna a third one that is the Caldera de Liria and finally there is the Caldera de Arrabales.
The most outstanding of the four is undoubtedly the Caldera de Gairía with an altitude of 461 meters and that excels in a fairly flat area. Thanks to its situation in a flat area, the cone is stately as a landscape landmark and can be seen from many points. The lava languages look perfectly and as you are oriented towards the Central Depression separated from the castings that were emitted from both the Caldera de Liria and the La Laguna (which are those that form Malpais Grande) . The whole environment of the Caldera de Gairía, known as Malpais chico, opens to the southeast and has a western flank due to the extraction of aggregates. .
Gairía has been declared Canary Islands Natural Area as Natural Area of National Interest and was later considered Monument National. With regard to Flora you can find tabaibal dulce, algohuera, hawthorn branch or gorse, while, with respect to fauna, you can spot guirres, alimoches or the occasional presence of the gangas ortega.
Located northeast of the Fuerteventura is the familiar Islote de Lobos or Lobos Island. This small island is located in the Strait of Bacaina, counts as a district of the municipality of La Oliva.
The Island of Wolves is only about 6 square kilometers and about 13.7 kilometers of coastline, aa penalties 2 kilometers of Fuerteventura and about 8 of Lanzarote. From the beach of Corralejo you can clearly see the nearby islet, the channel that separates both islands is known by the name of The River or Paso de la Orchilla and does not have a depth that exceeds 10 meters. The maximum height of the small island is La Caldera, which reaches up to 127 meters of altitude.
The island owes its name to the fact that years ago some colonies of monk seals or Mediterranean monkeys (sea lions) were located on the island. The whole island is protected and has the name of Islote de Lobos Natural Park, has about 130 plant species and several types of birds such as the silver gull, the great bustard and the gray shearwater.Undoubtedly one of the treasures of the island are the seabed, which many scuba divers can enjoy.
Fuerteventura has a lot of natural spaces, one of the best known belongs to the municipality of La Oliva, just 6 kilometers from the Atlantic coast, is the Tindaya Mountain.
This mountainous formation is in the Llano de Esquinzo and reaches a height close to 400 meters being considered the most emblematic natural element of Fuerteventura.
Speaking of its morphology Tindaya is a trachyte python in a pyramidal form, it is imposing at the same time that it is solitary in the plains of Esquinzo, very close to the town of the same name and in the northwestern part of Fuerteventura.
It is believed that the Montaña de Tindaya was formed approximately 18.7 million years ago and according to studies may be one of the first formations that emerged on the island, in the large building of the Tetir shield. This shield of volcanic origin was the result of erosion over hundreds of millions of years that were eroding the basalt rocks from which they were formed, thus revealing the quartz-trachytic rocks that resisted this erosion over the millennia and what today is Tindaya.
At the base of the mountain there are small quarries that are currently in disuse that was exploited some time ago by private companies.
Despite appearing to be a desert place, there is a very curious flora and fauna. Regarding the flora, there are endemic species of the Canary Islands, for example the cuernúa or the Jarao. Regarding the fauna, birds, such as the alcarava, the Saharan runner, partridge moruna or the trumpeter bullfinch among others stand out.In steeper areas there is the common kestrel, the crow canary or the guirre majonero.
The mountain of Tindaya has always been surrounded by a halo of magic, it is an area of high archaeological value and vestiges of the celebration of magical or religious rites have been found. Nearby is the Cueva del Bailadero de las Brujas or the Caves of the Bailaderos de Los Pastores.
The Betancuria Rural Park covers an area of 16,500 hectares and takes land from 5 municipalities on the island of Fuertevetura, in addition to Betancuria strong>, you will find: Antigua, Pájara, Tuineje and the capital Puerto del Rosario. This natural area is located in the central-western sector of the island and inside is the Ajuy Natural Monument.
This rural park is an immense arid terrain with semi-desert touches of rugged terrain. The landscape stands out for the impressive coppery and ocher tones that give the ravines and mountain escarpments an arid beauty, simply spectacular, to this is added the important geomorphological and ethnographic value of the natural zone.
Within the Betancuria Rural Park are several mountains of medium and low altitude, these are the Morro Jana of 764 meters, the Gran Mountain of 708 meters, the Morro de la Cruz with 676 meters or the Morro de Velosa which has a height of 669 meters and which houses a viewpoint from which can be seen part of the site. The rural park also houses the Ajuy Natural Monument which is a deposit with an incalculable geological value with fossils of extinct animals and marine sediments.
The park also offers other elements such as the Las Peñitas dam, which contrasts sharply with the arid character of the entire area, as well as the Guise and Ayose /> that are named after the two old caudillos majoneros.
With regard to the vegetation of the Betancuria Rural Park is scarce but you can see scrub, dotted with some tamarinds, tabaids or palm trees. The fauna is dominated by birds and it is possible to spot ospreys, kestrels, shearwaters or tits.
The lovers of the trekking can realize routes by the different signposted footpaths that extend by the place and that allow to arrive at the different points of interest that there are by the zone.
Fuerteventura has a large number of boilers that give good faith of the volcanic origin of the island and the entire archipelago. One of them is located in the municipality of Tuineje and is the Caldera de Arrabales, which is surrounded by volcanic cones that represent the island's most recent volcanism, as for example the Caldera de Gairia, or those of La Laguna or Liria all linked to the Natural Monument of Malpaís Grande
This area is well known for the number of trails for hiking enthusiasts, one of the busiest ends in the Caldera de Arrabales, after touring three volcanic cones.
The area is characterized by its rugged landscape, ocher tones, composed of a type of flora dominated by scrub very scattered in steplars, with respect to the fauna if it offers more diversity, it is possible to see birds like the guirre that dominate the whole plain area of Tiscamanita. You can also find feeders for Majorero vultures close to the Caldera de Arrabales and other species, especially birds.
The Caldera de Arrabales rises on the plain with 245 meters and with a depth that exceeds 100 meters
Very close to the urban center of Antigua is a wonderful place called Pozo Negro. One of those points away from the tourist centers full of magic and charm, perfect place to disconnect completely and not be overwhelmed by the crowds. Pozo Negro is a fishing village that historically has been dedicated to inshore fishing and goat farming mainly, with a natural cove that during the fifteenth century was one of the main port of the island. The beach is barely 300 meters long and the width is variable but around 12 meters, nearby, just 2 kilometers away is the old aboriginal town of La Atalaya.
The beach has a low occupation throughout the year, it is a bit windy and has a moderate swell, the best thing that this small beach offers is the tranquility and peace that is breathed throughout the area.
The beach is not the only thing that Pozo Negro offers, around the other points of interest and value, one of them is the aboriginal town of La Atalayit< a. This point is one of the most important in Fuerteventura, it was a town inhabited by the majos, who were the natives of the island until the arrival of the conquerors. Taking a short walk in the surroundings you can visit a gambuesa (a construction to save the coastal cattle and that were in the mountainous areas of the area) or the wells where you can enjoy magnificent baths.
The port of Pozo Negro was used as the arrival point of some of the expeditions to Barberia whose objective was to rescue the canaries that were captive in Africa. In the area of Pozo Negro there are a couple of restaurants where you can take any snack.