How do you kill time when you’re waiting for your flight home from your Lanzarote holiday at Sands Beach Resort? Well instead of staring at the departure board, wiling your flight to appear early, head outside into the sunshine to enjoy your last bit of tropical warmth and while you’re out there, walk 4,600 million years.

Organized jointly by Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve and AENA airport authority, the 1 mile stretch of walkway that borders the airport perimeter fencing from Playa del Carmen to Puerto Honda contains the story of the evolution of the earth.

At a rate of 1 million years per foot, 39 posters explain how the Universe we occupy today was formed, beginning with the formation of the solar system from stardust. Taking us on a geological, biological and historical journey through time, the progress of the constantly changing and evolving planet is put into perspective against the length of a human life. One foot is the time it usually takes for continents and earthquake faults to slip 20 miles; 0.1 inch represents the time that has passed since the last Ice Age and a mere 0.001 inch is an average human life span.

The exhibition is in both Spanish and English. Start at Playa Honda and walk in the direction of Playa del Carmen for the English version. The return direction will illuminate the universe in Spanish.

Running until the 15th January, the exhibition is a fascinating and innovative journey to take and it certainly puts an eye-opening perspective onto the ‘bigger picture’.

Photographs from Cabildo de Lanzarote