| Walking in Gran Canaria It's easy to put Gran Canaria in the 'sun, sea, sand and Sangria' category and ignore it as a walking destination. But, as we can testify, that would be a waste.
We were looking for a destination in February that was reasonably close and offered some walking as well as relaxation. There are flights to Las Palmas from many airports (we flew from Cardiff because we live there) and the flight takes about four hours. Gran Canaria is part of Spain but not entirely part of the EU. The currency is the Euro and the language Spanish but it has duty-free status like the other Canary Islands. Columbus stopped in Gran Canaria on his way to find America.
All the Canary Islands are volcanic in origin but very different in appearance. Tenerife has one very high volcano (higher than any other point in Spain) that still oozes sulphurous fumes (and was erupting when Columbus passed by). Lanzarote is a very barren landscape covered in lava; Fuerteventura has vast areas of sand dunes. Gran Canaria has mountains that rise to 1500 metres but is quite lush with many areas of woodland.
Booking the holiday ourselves, we decided to divide the week with three days in the mountains and four on the beach and a hire car to take us around.
El Refugio is a small hotel at 1200 metres above sea level at Cruz de Tejede with roomas at about E55 a night. Across the road is a Parador abandoned and neglected but currently being restored. This is at a cross-roads at one of the highest passes on Gran Canaria where the locals come at weekend and holidays to breath the mountain air. The mountain slopes are sheer in places, but there are several donkey tracks that predate the metalled roads and provide pleasant trails. We enjoyed several walks from here : 12 miles mostly downhill to Teror (with a taxi back); another circular route of about the same length and a climb to the top of a forest fire-tower with spectacular views including across the Atlantic to Tenerife.
We took a circular route driving to the south, passing a spectacular caldera at Pinos de Guldar. We drove up to the head of the rugged valley of Barranco de Agaete and walked on for an hour or so but turned back for lack of a suitable map.
The beaches of the south stretch for many miles but there is a good path all the way from San Augustin to Maspalomas. This crosses a large area of sand dunes (being used as a film set when we passed) which has both a network of public paths and a population of nudists who seem to spend their time standing around getting painfully sunburnt.
A E15 taxi ride inland took us to a spectacular walk which winds through canyons between Arteara and Ayugares. Its an easy almost level walk but the views are magnificent.
The weather in Gran Canaria is, however, fickle. Apart from some strong winds we had clear dry weather in the mountains (although our car was covered in frost one morning). In the south, it reached 24 degrees on the sun but fifteen miles away in the mountains it can be 3 degrees and raining.
We would thoroughly recommend Gran Canaria for a walking holiday. Take a waterproof and you will have a great time!
John Thorn | |
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