Tours And Travel – Beachchannel.net

The Parque Tropical is open every day of the year including bank holidays from 10:00 to 17:00 hours. Admission is 14 Euros per adult and 5 Euros per child and I’d recommend allowing a half day to go around the Park, although some visitors have been know to spend the whole day there.

Parque Tropical is located in the north of the the island at the foot of Mount Corona, an extinct volcano which is the highest point of the island, close to the Famara Cliffs and 400 meters above sea level, with spectacular views to the islands of La Graciosa, Alegranza and Montaña Clara.

We arrived via the most scenic route which took us through Teguise, the old capital of Lanzarote, up through Los Valles to some stunning views of the island and down into the beautiful province of Haria (the valley of a thousand palms). From Haria we took the road past the Mirador del Rio (Article 22 of mine covers a separate day trip there). You will see the signs for Guinate and the Park from this point in the journey.

The park covers 11 acres of land (45,000 square feet) and includes gardens, waterfalls and lakes. The park has many species of bird (around 300 species in total), including Ostriches, Flamingos, Cranes, Hornbills, Toucans, Cockatoos, Macaws, Pheasants, Ibis, Ducks, Pigeons & Doves. There are also many species of the smaller birds like Finches, Cardinals and Love Birds. There is also a large walk-through aviary, some 3/4 of an acre (about 3200 sq. meters) with six species of Weaver Birds that breed naturally in the area. It is quite fascinating to watch them building their hanging nests within the aviary.

In the same area you’ll find Parrots and many other small birds that fly free in a this almost natural habitat. Within this aviary there is a lake of some 70metres by 7metres full of Koi Carp, some measuring a length of nearly a meter. You will also see Mandarin and Carolina Ducks swimming around between the fountains. A fascinating area of the park which must not be missed.
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Before telling you about my particular day out at Teguise Golf, the more avid golfers amongst you will probably want to know what views they can expect to see and the technical stuff that goes with playing golf. For me it was simply a great opportunity to spend a morning with a former work colleague (Colin) and his son (David) as they were staying in a neighbouring villa on La Goleta, part of the wider Faro Park Development.

The course runs along the side of an old volcano (no surprise there given Lanzarote’s landscape) and has inspirational views of volcanic lava, cacti and over includes over 3,000 palm trees and has superb views of the Atlantic Ocean throughout. A Golf course such as this one, is quite simply, in my opinion, nature at its best. César Manrique, the man who taught the people of Lanzarote to care for their natural habitat has clearly left his influence everywhere. If you are a Golf ‘anorak’, you might also want to read the next paragraph of technical data ? If you’re not, simply skip over it.

The course measures 6041m (White) ; 5582m (Yellow) ; 5289m (Blue) ; and 4938m (Red). Generally, visitors play off the blue tees. The Slope Rating of the course is 127 (White) ; 127 (Yellow) ; 130 (Blue) ; and 124 (Red)
We played off Blue Tees. The course measures 5289 Metres (5791 Yards for the non converts) and is a Par 72 course.

I’ve since found out that the course was designed by British landscape architect John Harris and built in 1978. It is a truly a fantastic course, not only because of its design but also thanks to the excellent condition in which it is kept all year round and at Easter (April 2006), it was in superb condition. Given its location, it benefits from a warm and pleasant climate all year round, tempered only by sea breezes from the island’s almost constant trade winds. The course is designed to be smooth yet varied. It has more than your average number of doglegs, designed to test your ability (or lack of it) and allows you to bring all your clubs into play. It will test everyone from scratch players to those of us with more modest ability.

Address : Avenida del Golf, s/n. 35509 Costa Teguise (Lanzarote).
Telephone : (00 34) 928 59 05 12
Fax : (00 34) 928 59 23 37
Email info@lanzarote-golf.com
Webiste :www.lanzarote-golf.com

The Following services can be found at the Club – Club hire, trolleys, buggies, driving range, pro-shop and club storage. There are separate male and female changing rooms and you can hire lockers. There is a Bar and Restaurant. The restaurant offers a varied menu, based on Mediterranean cuisine.

The prices vary according to season. In the “Summer” months (1st June to 30th September) it costs 53 Euros (for 18 Holes) and 36 Euros (for 9 Holes after 4pm). In the “Winter” (we played in Winter and it was scorching !), it costs 65 Euros (18 Holes) and 52 Euros (9 Holes after 3pm). The Course has discount agreements with most of the hotels on the island, so check at your hotel, or check out a nearby hotel if you’re in private accommodation as you can often get a better deal than this by doing so.
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Located next to the Golf course in Costa Teguise, you will find Lanzarote’s one and only Aqua Park, which is open every day from 10.00 to 18:00. Most hotels offer excursions to the Aquapark (with Ticket prices including coach transfers). If you are staying in a private villa and have hired a car, it’s relatively easy to find. Even though there are no sign posts as such, the slides can be seen from a distance due to the low lying land in the area. We were 2 adults and 2 children. Admission cost €20 per adult + €15 per child. €2 Euros per locker, €2.50 for a sunbed, it was not the cheapest excursion, so be prepared.

The Aquapark offers a wide range of slides and pools and is an ideal day out for families of all ages. It’s fun for all the family and makes for an unforgettable day out, but go prepared.

My two boys were 6 and 11 respectively when we went there and age/size can be a problem, so make sure you check the rules on each ride before joining the queues as they will not let small children ride on the white knuckle slides (eg ‘kamikaze’ and perhaps ‘spiral’ depending on height). Both my lads enjoyed the ‘fast-river’ and the eldest was brave enough to try the kamikaze (but only once !). The youngest will have to wait a few years. There were gentler options like the children’s pool, and play area (free) and on the day we went there was a bouncy castle, trampolines and paddle boats (extra charges apply for these).
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Rancho Texas is located on the outskirts of Puerto del Carmen and on one of our many trips recently, we decided to spend a day out their with the children. Rancho Texas features amongst its attractions, an Indian amphitheatre where we witnessed a stunning display in falconry, a Nature Park where our children watched and even played with some of the animals, a Goldmine Where the big water-wheel runs water to gold-bearing sands and where the children can try to find hidden treasure and an Indian Village where they took a ride in an Indian canoes and visited the Tepees.
If you’re looking for somewhere for the adults, then why return when they host one of the now legendary Rancho Texas Country and Western Nights.

We started our visit in the Nature Park, host to a wide variety of Animals and Birds. This area includes ‘The Opera’- A round enclosure with a great variety of singing birds where you can experience amazing sounds, ‘The Promenade of colour’ – with its sensational variety of birds and colours, ‘Liliput Farm’, where the children held the worlds smallest farm animals and saw much larger ones in the form of Turtles, Iguanas, Armadillos and Prairie dogs.

Before we could finish, we were attracted to crowd gathering in the Indian Amphitheatre (one of three live shows we would witness on the day). Once we settled down, the guide entertained us with a fantastic falconry demonstration, part of which involves the falcons flapping people on the head with thweir huge wings as they swoop from high gantries to the central ‘stage’.
After this, we took the children to the Indian Village to calm them down a bit. Our youngest (4 at the time) played in the Tepees, paddled a Canoes and found ‘Treasure’ having followed the water from the big water-wheel to the gold-bearing sands. Our eldest (9 at the time) thought it was too young for him but agreed to ‘look after his brother’ and clearly enjoyed himself, although he denied it at the time.

Next we were attracted to the restaurant area as we were informed that a second show would start in 15 minutes time. Like everyone else, we decided this would be a good time to have something to eat and drink and were surprised to see our Falconry ‘expert’ helping out behind the food counter (we assumed he had washed his hands !). This would not be our last meeting, as he hosted the Parrot show whilst we had lunch. Another good show and some great pictures for the family.
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