Gran Canaria 2023

We landed on Gran Canaria (Binter flight from Lanzarote) around noon, collected another VW rental car and slide out onto the freeways of the busy island. We skirted La Palma and the four lane highway changed to two lanes once we were past Galdar. Agaete Playa (aka Puerto de las Nieves) was heaving with locals out for Sunday lunch. We squeezed into a parking lot and checked out the Piscina Natural, but the red flag was flying due to high waves. The owner of the Apartemento Agaete Playa met us outside the building and guided us into the underground parking. He was a jovial character and our base for three nights was a minute or two walk from the centre of the village. The SPAR was one of the few supermarkets open on Sunday and we picked up provisions. We wandered the waterfront and then a fine drizzle moved in for the evening.

Our original plan was to take a bus to nearby San Pedro and hike back, however the first bus felt too early even for us, especially with low clouds clearing from the overnight light rain. We opted for a drive to have a look at the northwest coast of Gran Canaria. We then drove up to San Pedro, wisely parking before the road narrowed. Originally, the idea was to hike up for a view and return the same way. It was a steep 500m  hike to the junction of various trails, and once we got there, the route to the coast looked intriguing so we carried on. We descended to Agaete (10km) and it didn't take long to catch a cab back up to San Pedro and our car for less than 8 Euros.  It turned out to be our favourite walk on Gran Canaria.

We drove into Gandar West and picked up more provisions at Mercadona and LIDL. By this time in the trip, we had developed preferences from the various supermarkets. The piscina natural was still closed by large waves, so we tried swimming at the town stone beach. The swimming would have been better at high tide. After the swim, I had my hair cut in the village.

We drove the exciting GC-200 down the west coast to Puerto de La Aldea. They are gradually opening up a new road, so the southern section of the road became the GC-2, and much of it through tunnels.  The landscape around Puerto de La Aldea (Playa de San Nicolas) was noticeably drier, but no less intriguing. I had noticed a 6km hike on Alltrails that looked great but didn't have many reviews. It was great and the ratio of reward to effort  was high.  We could see another trail south of the settlement and after we had completed the rewarding walk, we made another short hike to a viewpoint of the cliffs to the south. 

On the return drive to Agaete Playa, we drove up some of the old GC-200 road (dead-ends, no longer connected due to erosion) including to Mirador del Balcón. We went only a short distance down the Arena Blanca trail as it would have been a 500m ascent back to the road.  The Guayedra trail was closed because of road construction. We had the afternoon in Agaete Playa.

We packed our things and drove east and then south on the torturous GC-70 and GC-150 roads through clouds, fog and some clear skies to reach Tejeda Cruz for a hike. However, we arrived to thick fog and the wind almost took the car doors off when we opened them. We scratched that idea and drove down the winding GC-210 to Bario de Acusa and walked a 6km loop that took in the Acusa Seca caves and impressive views towards the high points of the central caldera and views down into the Baranca Grande de Tejeda (perhaps a nice hike down there?). 

Then we retraced our driving route through Artenera, then through upper Tejeda to the short but rewarding Roque Bentagaya walk. Finally, it took us a little while to find our lodging of El Fraile in Tejeda. Once the day visitors emptied from Tejeda, it is a quiet place. It was a cool night at 1,050m and we found the heating at our place to be under powered (it warmed up the next few days).

We knew that the Roque Nublo walk is popular with day trippers from the beaches, but an early start wasn't problem for us. It is a nice drive between Tejeda and the Roque Nublo trail head. The parking lot was quiet and there were a few people on the trail and it did offer some very nice views of the caldera from 1800m. It is a short walk, so we extended it by walking around the volcanic plug on the lower trail through pine forests. It takes a lot to impress Canadians with a pine forest, and it did fall short for us. but it kept us walking for an additional 2 kilometres. The parking lot was full to capacity and cars were parked quite a ways down the road when we exited. We drove back to Tejeda on the GC-600 and GC-150 with mirador stops, encountering plenty of traffic around Cruz de Tejeda.

Finally, the clouds that had obscured the upper caldera rim for days had cleared and we drove up  to Cruz de Tejeda at 1500m. We talked to a couple that were staying at the Parador and it was cold, windy and foggy for their entire 4 day stay.  The hike along the caldera rim is remarkably easy, providing almost continuous views over the Tejeda basin. We walked a "lollipop" route of about 10km and encountered more sheep than people. I suppose that means that sheep post fewer Instagram images than Gran Canaria beach goers do of the Roque Nublo.  The Cuevas Caballeros were the destination, but it was about the journey, not the destination.

Back in Tejeda, we met up with fellow Vancouver Islanders, John & Sue, who were at the beginning of their Canary Island sojourn. Tejeda is not a real culinary hot spot, but we did have modest success with a late afternoon meal.

Saturday was our scheduled drive day and we hoped to visit a few interesting towns/cities along the way. The roads were winding until we reached the lower parts of the island. We stopped in at Teror and bought some delicious cheese from a small market stand. We drove to the old part of Las Palmas (de Gran Canaria), and wandered the main streets. It was OK but it didn't overwhelm us. We enjoyed a visit to the small indoor market. We pressed on to the botanic gardens that we also found somewhat underwhelming. 

We had a later check-in time in Melenara, so we did some grocery shopping at the Mercadona and LIDL before driving down to sea level. We were fortunate to find parking near the beach. There were shaded picnic tables and the sea had a small amount of surf/swell that we swam in. The Melenara beach was a local scene and the cafe restaurants were busy that afternoon.  The apartment had an app-operated system for entry (downloaded onto my phone) and we got in without issue and settled in. It was a nice apartment, albeit a little noisy with the week-end action, but our main grief was the internal temperature. Few places in the Canaries are air-conditioned (summers are not particularly hot), and this place was no exception. However, there were only front windows and we couldn't create an airflow, so it was 25C on the beach but a less comfortable 30C inside our place. The fans helped and we survived.

It was a half hour drive south on mostly expressway from Melenara to Maspalomas and we found parking without issue. We walked through the rather posh Riu Palace hotel and beautiful walkway out onto the dunes. Before long, we were filling our shoes with sand. We first encountered a photographer and models, but once past them we seemed to have the dune section to ourselves. The Maspalomas dunes are 15-20m tall and supposedly 6km by 2km in area  but 4km by 2km in my estimation. Yeah, it did bring back memories of Sossusvlei Dunes, Namibia, though Masopalomas was more of a sandbox by comparison. We walked the beaches and ended up at the busy Playa del Ingles, that seemed more German than English. We didn't think much of the beach scene vibe and we were happy to get back to the car and get out of there.

On the return drive, we made a detour to drive up the Barranco de Guayadeque and went for a short walk before returning to Melenara Beach. Late in the afternoon, we also went for a concrete walk along the coast to the north, past the harbour. Our exit from Gran Canaria was simple; we packed up,  dropped the car off and hopped on a Binter flight to La Palma.