We took a trip back to Gran Canaria in
November 2004 but only for a week's holiday this time, having found a nice deal on
the web and stayed in Playa des Ingles (San Fernando area). Needless to
say the weather was pretty good with around 25 to 26 degrees during the
day
(although the day we were in Puerto de Mogan the temperature was 33
degrees which was pleasant). The photo on the right shows one of the
pretty streets in Puerto de Mogan. Building ever more accommodation continues - with
seemingly just about every barranco between Maspolomos and Puerto de Mogan
either already built on, being built on or marked out with roads so due to
be built on. However once you get away from that coast and go inland you
will find that there is plenty of open countryside and tremendous scenery
to be had - from fairly barren but colourfull rock formations towering
above barrancos to heavily forested areas. There are plenty of tracks
inland for walkers and cyclists (as well as the so-called jeep safaris) -
and up in the hills there are plenty of paths to use although making
circular walks takes a little organising.
|
Various photographs mostly taken around the really lovely interior of Gran Canaria - the mountains are particularly colourfull when the sun catches them at certain times of the day and the lava and rocks are excellent - really good for sightseeing.
There are also a
few GPS readings for those interested, given under WGS84
Latitude and Longitude. We had a 1:50000 AA Island Map (Island
Series 7) which when we loaded up with some of our gps
tracking data, showed the roads and tracks to be reasonably
accuratey displayed. However please note that the N grid
references given on the side of the map are not correct at all
- presumably a mis-print (this at time of writing so possibly
this has since been corrected of course).
Eating: On the Canaries
you always seem to get a huge serving which is usually nicely cooked and
well presented; the meat dishes - be it steaks, chicken or chops - are
for us sufficient that we don't have starters anymore nor do we have the
room for puddings - for two of us the main meal plus a litre of house
red and maybe a couple of beers was averaging around 28 Euros and filled
us up a treat.
As usual with the Canaries and this also applies of course to the Greek
Islands (in fact probably anywhere but England where many establishments
seem to just want your money rather than your presence - you are always
made welcome and you can stay as long as you wish - more than likely get
the restaurant staff sitting down for a chat too along with a glass or
two of free house red... The meals do tend to be chip orientated but you
can get potatoes if you ask and also the meals usually have plenty of
vegetables like carrots and peas etc. included.
Transport: Car-hire is fairly inexpensive - it does pay to shop around a
little because rates really do vary a lot - we only wanted 2 days and got a
small Nissan for 55 Euros with proper insurance. The roads are quite busy in the
main areas like Playa des Ingles and Puerto Rico and of course Las Palmas is a
total nightmare for both driving and even worse to try and park.
The roads are generally well surfaced (way better than the really poor
quality roads we have to suffer in our area in England even in the more
remote parts up in the hills, with most having armco although a few have
simple wooden barriers - on some of the really high parts where the roads
are very hair-pinned and extremely narrow this is quite welcome. It is
actually easier for the driver where some of the really bad drops occur
than for the passenger - my son does not have any particular problem with
vertigo but said - as the passenger - some of the bends and drops were
quite unnerving. The bus drivers and their driving ability on these
mountain roads is amazing - one time our bus and a coach met on a steep hairpin
bend and of course needed to pass each other - which they did with literally an
inch to spare - and a massive drop down one side too. Took them about 3 minutes
of back and forth and we were through - everyone of course gave the driver a big
round of applause. I had driven up that road the previous day in El Heap and
just having an oncoming car to get by was bad enough.
The bus service around Playa des Ingles is very good and inexpensive but you do have to sort out where the buses actually go from - not all bus stops service all bus lines. We only used the buses to get to a couple of places but we know that Playa des Ingles to Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogan is either bus number 1 or 32 - this service is frequent and fast. There is also a regular bus service to the airport - also very fast. The only other bus number we know is number 18 which goes into the hills (leaves Playa des Ingles at 08:00 11:00 and 13:00) passing the Camel walks centre and then on to San Bartolome de Tirajana and onwards - quite a good bus ride since the views on the at times high, very narrow hair-pin road are excellent.
Playa des Ingles. This is quite a sprawling area packed with hotels and so on and it all seamlessly joins into Maspolomos. With many of it's
hotels quite inland i.e. around San Fernando, you can have quite a walk and also have to cross several busy roads to
get down to the beach. Also the majority of the restaurants are some way
away if you are staying up near the "motorway". There is a local bus service whizzing around
however if you don't want to walk and of course plenty of taxis around.
Maspolomos. Maspolomos is probably mostly well known for it's sand
dunes - which are quite extensive and nice to walk through - except for the (mostly) oldish
nude men who seem to frequent the thicker scrub.
Considering that being nude on parts of this beach as well as in fact on most beaches on Gran Canaria
is perfectly acceptable it is hard to imagine why they need to hide in here.... anyway
walking through the dunes in some places might make you a little uncomfortable if you
were on your own. Much of the wide beach between Faro and Maspolomos is red flagged meaning that going
very far into the sea for a swim is hazardous. In fact the broad and longish stretch of the actual beach is
perhaps most notable for the large number of people simply walking along it enjoying the sea air and waves.
The Maspolomos end of the beach is ok for swimming - it also has 3 lots of nudist sunbed areas - when we visited a few years ago these were mostly split between one for men, one for women and one for couples but this time all three seemed to be being used by everybody. There are several beach bars along the beach so no problem for sustenance
Puerto de Mogan. Although a lot of building is continuing further up the barranco this little port is really nice and definitely where we would hope to stay on any future Gran Canaria holiday. There are plenty of restaurants and bars, a really nice harbour area for an evening stroll and a really good beach.
Also the small car free streets are full of flowers and fauna and a delight to walk round. The temperature always seems higher here too (3 degrees higher than Maspolomos on two visits) - maybe because the area is sheltered from the wind
Puerto Rico. Many people stay here whilst on holiday in Gran Canaria - the hotels and apartments are built right up the sides of the barranco and go quite a distance inland as well. The top part of Puerto Rico is at around 1257 metres. The sandy beach is quite large but usually very busy - it certainly isn't the type of beach where you would expect to find nudists. There are plenty of food restaurants around varying from fast food types to those which offer proper food. Puerto Rico is set up purely for tourists and there is nothing of particular note scenically to speak of unlike for instance Puerto de Mogan.
Mirador/Pico and Caldera de Bandama. Located just south of Tafira the Mirador is certainly a place to visit, giving you really good views of Las Palmas and the surrounding countryside. Their is parking for a few cars up there but note many coach trips go to it so it can be useful to get there earlier rather than mid morning onwards if possible. When returning back down from the Mirador park at the bottom by the restaurant (or just go along the road towards the golf club and park), then walk through the houses on a marked path to take a look at the crater way below. You can go down to the bottom but the path is extremely slippery so decent soled boots/shoes plus perhaps a walking stick are handy.
Puerto de Sardina. This little port is at the top of the island near Galder - this is a very quiet place and not remotely touristy - in fact the area is farming country so pick-up spotters would be in their element. There is a small restaurant in the port which we found to be very reasonably priced when we had a meal and a drink there.
Tejeda. This small town is pretty well in the
centre of the island and is very much on the coach day trip itinerary -
therefore an early visit is well worth planning for if possible. It has
one of the nicest churches on the island though the church is quite
difficult to photo from the square - the best view is on the road as you
come into the town.
Los Cercades. This deep valley is well worth a visit (GC60 out of Playa des
Ingles, then the GC604 from San Bartolome) and makes for a really
scenic drive. The small hamlet of Los Cercades is way down in a
valley and the Embalse de Chira is at the far end just before a
barranco starts.
There are still extensive Prado there,
one of which can be walked along to make a reasonable circular-ish walk
and you can see another disappearing along a narrow barranco heading for
the coast.
Puerto de la Aldea. This is on the west coast of
the island and reached by the GC810 out of San Nicolas. There are just a few
small fishing boats anchored plus a quite small beach - actually this area is very much farming
territory and not at all touristy.
Various Photographs from around Gran Canaria
A walk along one of Gran Canaria's Barrancos Having driven up the GC60 out of Playa des Ingles on our drive round day and seeing the really nice rock formations and the barrancos along the way it was quite irresistible to not do one walk in the area. Take a number 18 bus out of Playa des Ingles and get off at the stop just past the Camel Safari Park (not Manolo's Camel Safari). This walk is very straightforward - you would be pressed to get at all lost - but take water since of course there are no cafes etc. Walk on up the road for around a kilometre and then take the marked track going off the left on a bend - this is the GC60 to Ayagaures. The track continues next to the main road for a while but does descend to eventually switch back at the bottom of the barranco via a bridge.
Simply follow the track as it now goes more or less level along the hillside with the bottom of the barranco becoming deeper and deeper below you - the Camel Safari soon comes into view far down on the left whilst to the right are marvellous rock formations - don't forget to keep turning round and looking at the every changing rocks behind you - the colours when the sun hits them is really good. Also note the prado running along the hillside above - this prado goes for some KMs - the work involved in making and maintaining this is quite remarkable really.The track splits after a few kilometres with the main track going off round the hill quite sharply to the right and another track carrying straight on but heading downwards - this straight on track is the way back, however it is first worth while taking the right hand track and following it on round the valley and then back inland. This track which goes to Ayagaures twists a little as it heads back towards a high rockface to eventually reach a bridge buried in the hillside - way below is the hamlet/farm of Paisaje and all round you are high rock faces - again the rocks formations and colours round here are are brilliant. How far you go on is up to you bearing in mind that you have to return back to the track junction to continue the basic walk.
Back at the junction turn right and follow the track down into the bottom of the barranco - now high above you on the left is the viewing point of El Mirador de Fataga - you can see people who have parked for the view but they just look like dots it is so high up. The track now is heavily lined with prickly pears and other vegetation - near the bottom are several farms and the track nearly completes a circle as it goes past them. Simply stay on this track as it eventually leaves the farms and heads back towards the coast again. You will notice on the left a Prado which more or less follows the track - this still has a quite fast running supply of water going along it so quite nice for a splash to get the dust off.
The track eventually comes out by some extensive quarry
works which does somewhat spoil the final part of the walk however on the
right the Prado still continues and is now fairly high up on the hillside
- and has it's own series of bridges to carry it over the various indents
on the rocks. Just carry on to the quarry entrance where the track becomes
tarmac - keep going and after a short while another tarmac road goes off
to the left - take this and walk on up this quite steep road to reach the GC60.
This then takes you over the motorway and back into Playa des Ingles.
Gran Canaria GPS readings.
Faro Lightouse (near Maspolomos) N27°44'08" W015°35'56"
Puerto de Sardina (harbour) N28°09'13" W015°41'59"
Resources for Gran Canaria.
Gran Canaria
Villas Luxury Gran Canaria Holiday Villas - An outstanding selection of high
quality vacation homes and holiday villas throughout Gran Canaria.