Lanzarote South in a Group of Eight: Janubio Salt, Olivine, La Geria

Eight people is the limit, and that is the first thing separating this from a coach on the same roads. Private, guided, and run by people who would rather have a small group than a full one. The route goes down the south of the island. Los Charcones first, where hardened lava along the shore has trapped seawater in pools calm enough to sit in and lose track of the time. Then the Salinas de Janubio, the largest salt flats in the Canaries, seen from the mirador above and then from among the pans, with the shop where the Janubio salt is sold. Salt was the island's white gold until a few decades ago, and these pans still make it. Below them is the black beach of the same name. The lava rock there holds olivine, green crystals formed as the lava met the sea, and some of the rock came out red instead. There is a stop at the Stop de Yaiza, a tapas bar working from recipes that date to 1890, with Malvasía Volcánica from the house. The brunch on this trip is Canarian throughout, and the volcano wines are part of the day. La Geria closes it: the wine country where the growers dug their vines down into the volcanic ash, which is why the fields look like nothing else. The wineries are visited. The tasting there is free and not included in the price.