Guatiza

Leaving the coastline behind, we head towards Guatiza. In its surroundings, we see fields filled with prickly pears or cactus plants. The landscape is stunning, with a magnificent blue sky overhead and an endless green patch made up of thousands of prickly pears growing on volcanic ash. What’s truly curious is that they were not cultivated for their fruit, but because of a small parasite that invades them. If we look closely, we can see that they are colonized by small whitish insects (Dactylopus coccus), better known as cochineal. The cochineal is used to make carmine (a natural dye with strong fixation properties) and has great commercial value. Surrounded by fields of prickly pears, Guatiza surprises us with its Cactus Garden, which we will discuss in more detail later. In the center of Guatiza, its distinctive Church of Cristo de las Aguas stands out.