I couldn't believe it yesterday! Not only does the island look really green at the moment but I saw a herd of cows (well 6 of them)! It's not a great photo, but you can see the cows and the palm trees in the distance. I believe that these are the only cows in Lanzarote, there is an old boy in Haría who takes them around the village grazing on the wild flowers and grasses. Normally we see goats and more recently sheep have been introduced to the goat herds too.

Not an unusual sight for the UK but definitely here in Lanzarote.

The Washington palm can be recognised by the hand shaped leaf, this palm was introduced to the Canaries, it grows faster than the Canarian palm.

There are two types of palm planted in Lanzarote, this one is the Canarian Palm (Phoenix Canariensis), its leaf is banana shaped and they grow slowly with the top forming a ball shape unless trimmed. They can grow up to 12 metres high and the leaves up to 7 metres long. Male flowers are white and female orange in colour. The fruit are similar to dates and edible but used to make honey or left to fall on the ground for the birds and mice to eat.