The oldest cave in the Canary Islands -- and the only one with a visitors center that explores its geology, fossil finds, endemic fauna and human history – is Cueva de Llano in northern Fuerteventura. Located in Villaverde, just off the main road between Corralejo and La Olivia, this volcanic cave was formed by a lava flow that hardened on the top but continued to flow beneath the surface until it emptied, leaving a long fumarole, or volcanic tube.
The fumarole, which is more than 1200 feet long and 20 to 30 feet wide, continued to evolve. It formed a natural drain, and as water and sediment flowed through, fossils formed as trapped sediment hardened into stone.
Tour the Cave
Trained naturalists conduct tours of the cave every 30 minutes, showing how the lava tubes were formed and explaining the geologic history of the cave and of the islands themselves. Visitors wear miners’ helmets with headlamps as they explore the cave and see signs of the cave’s primitive inhabitants, the Makos. These cave-dwelling aboriginals lived there long before the Spanish explored and colonized the Canary Islands in the 1400s.
Blind Arachnids
As interesting as the geology and human history are the present-day inhabitants, a species of blind albino spiders that live deep inside the cave. Maiorerus randoi is an arachnid that does not spin a web, and is found only here, having lost both its eyesight and its pigmentation as it adapted to the dark environment. This cave is the only place on this desert-like island that is humid enough to support the spider, which scientists think arrived here when the atmosphere was less arid. Fossils found in the Cave bear out this theory, showing by plant remains that that Fuerteventura has had humid periods with more vegetation.
The scientific research carried on her is discussed in the interesting little visitors center, which has photographs of the reclusive spiders and examples of the fossils found here.
Another Cave to Explore
Cueva de Llano is not the only lava tube cave that can be explored in the Canary Islands. Cueva de los Verdes on the neighboring island of Lanzarote is also open to visitors. Although the Lanzarote cave is bigger, the tour of Cueva de Llano is far more educational, emphasizing the studies that have been carried out here and the unique character of the environment.
Cueva de Llano is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm, with tours every half hour, except from 12:45 to 2:45 pm. Telephone 928 175 928.
Barbara Rogers - Traveler, writer and guidebook author with a passion for those lands that border the Mediterranean Sea and the neighboring Atlantic ...
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