Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria - Puerto Mogan and Troglodyte valley
17/11/07 20:14
In the morning I took a tour boat along the coast to Puerto Mogan. Firstly there was heavy development, then the coast was in virtually it's natural state before reverting to heavy development.
Puerto Rico beach with the town beyond.
Industrial strength tourist development. A huge hotel just to the west of Puerto Rico..
...Followed by an unspolit bay...
...and on to the entrance to Puerto Mogan.
I spent an hour wandering around Puerto Mogan. There were a lot of yachts for sale and a few projects including "Fossil" from Dover.
Detail of repairs on ferro cement yacht "Fossil".
I caught the next boat back to Puerto Rico.
Tourist day trip schooner.
More undeveloped volcanic coastline.
Back in Puerto Rico, Tomas had returned and we set off on the afternoon tour. I had been told that Pasito Blanco was one of the best Marinas in the Canaries so we went to have a look. It wasn't bad. Set on a private development and providing berths for those who had bought houses. There were only a few berths for visitors.
We went north to San Bartolome on the road we had travelled a couple of days ago. It was just as spectacular going the other way. At San Bartolome we turned right towards Santa Lucía and Argüimes. It was a hairy drive down the C815 with often very little or nothing to prevent a car plunging down into the valley. Spanish drivers are different! Space between vehicles is not an established driving tactic here. Nor is using gradual braking or attempting to avoid high G forces on corners. I was a jibbering heap by the time we got to the bottom. This was my last day as passenger!!
Next we turned onto the Guayadeque road. This winds up a steep sided valley to what was marked on the map as the town of Guayadeque. When we got there the road stopped. There was a car park, a restaurant, a few normal houses and paths leading to many troglodyte houses (caves).
Valley road.
Troglodyte storage cave with old fridge and washer.
Nicely landscaped path complete with garden gate leading to troglodyte cave. We didn't see any troglodytes but there seemed to be quite a large community.
Cloud spilling over the mountain into troglodyte (Guaydeque) valley.
Troglodyte caves. They have metered water and electricity in some caves. Note twee street lamp.
On the way back to Puerto Rico we made a brief stop at Maspalomas to visit the Dunes. These are a protected area of wind driven sand dunes at the extreme south of Gran Canaria and look like something out of Lawrence of Arabia.
Dunas de Maspalomas with a freighter steaming north in the background.
Puerto Rico beach with the town beyond.
Industrial strength tourist development. A huge hotel just to the west of Puerto Rico..
...Followed by an unspolit bay...
...and on to the entrance to Puerto Mogan.
I spent an hour wandering around Puerto Mogan. There were a lot of yachts for sale and a few projects including "Fossil" from Dover.
Detail of repairs on ferro cement yacht "Fossil".
I caught the next boat back to Puerto Rico.
Tourist day trip schooner.
More undeveloped volcanic coastline.
Back in Puerto Rico, Tomas had returned and we set off on the afternoon tour. I had been told that Pasito Blanco was one of the best Marinas in the Canaries so we went to have a look. It wasn't bad. Set on a private development and providing berths for those who had bought houses. There were only a few berths for visitors.
We went north to San Bartolome on the road we had travelled a couple of days ago. It was just as spectacular going the other way. At San Bartolome we turned right towards Santa Lucía and Argüimes. It was a hairy drive down the C815 with often very little or nothing to prevent a car plunging down into the valley. Spanish drivers are different! Space between vehicles is not an established driving tactic here. Nor is using gradual braking or attempting to avoid high G forces on corners. I was a jibbering heap by the time we got to the bottom. This was my last day as passenger!!
Next we turned onto the Guayadeque road. This winds up a steep sided valley to what was marked on the map as the town of Guayadeque. When we got there the road stopped. There was a car park, a restaurant, a few normal houses and paths leading to many troglodyte houses (caves).
Valley road.
Troglodyte storage cave with old fridge and washer.
Nicely landscaped path complete with garden gate leading to troglodyte cave. We didn't see any troglodytes but there seemed to be quite a large community.
Cloud spilling over the mountain into troglodyte (Guaydeque) valley.
Troglodyte caves. They have metered water and electricity in some caves. Note twee street lamp.
On the way back to Puerto Rico we made a brief stop at Maspalomas to visit the Dunes. These are a protected area of wind driven sand dunes at the extreme south of Gran Canaria and look like something out of Lawrence of Arabia.
Dunas de Maspalomas with a freighter steaming north in the background.
Gran Canaria - North Coast and Las Palmas
16/11/07 20:13
Another lovely day. After a latish breakfast we took the motorway to Jínamar near Las Palmas and turned onto the Santa Brigada road. Then we followed a winding mountain road to Vega San Mateo, Terror, Firgas and Arucas. It was a very scenic route with many large houses belonging to Las Palmas Commuters.
We drove up to a very high mirador near Arucas with spectacular views over Las Palmas and the north coast of Gran Canaria. On a clear day one is supposed to be able to see El Teide on Teneriffe. We couldn't see it.
North Coast with Las Palmas in the distance.
Interesting trees and plants from the municipal gardens in Arucas.
Then we drove into Las Palmas for a visit to the old city. Not particularly overwhelming but some nice buildings and a fair amount of history. A sad sight was the supposedly enhanced national theatre. A lovely classical building hand been enhanced by putting a tin shed on the roof and building a box on one end to expand capacity.
Another theatre was closed for redevelopment and a third had been converted into a restaurant.
Statue of the writer Néstor Alamo.
A typical Canarian wooden balcony with some nice gargoyles.
Front view of the same building.
Another balcony.
We spent quite a bit of time in Casa Colon which was a sort of a museum about the discovery of the Americas with strong emphasis on the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
Then it was back to Puerto Rico from where we went along the coast to Arguineguin for dinner in a restaurant called Bahia.
After dinner we ended up having a drink in a bizarre place called Busters Sports Bar.
It was full of Norwegians listening to an Irish singer (Irish John) do mainly country and western.
We drove up to a very high mirador near Arucas with spectacular views over Las Palmas and the north coast of Gran Canaria. On a clear day one is supposed to be able to see El Teide on Teneriffe. We couldn't see it.
North Coast with Las Palmas in the distance.
Interesting trees and plants from the municipal gardens in Arucas.
Then we drove into Las Palmas for a visit to the old city. Not particularly overwhelming but some nice buildings and a fair amount of history. A sad sight was the supposedly enhanced national theatre. A lovely classical building hand been enhanced by putting a tin shed on the roof and building a box on one end to expand capacity.
Another theatre was closed for redevelopment and a third had been converted into a restaurant.
Statue of the writer Néstor Alamo.
A typical Canarian wooden balcony with some nice gargoyles.
Front view of the same building.
Another balcony.
We spent quite a bit of time in Casa Colon which was a sort of a museum about the discovery of the Americas with strong emphasis on the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
Then it was back to Puerto Rico from where we went along the coast to Arguineguin for dinner in a restaurant called Bahia.
After dinner we ended up having a drink in a bizarre place called Busters Sports Bar.
It was full of Norwegians listening to an Irish singer (Irish John) do mainly country and western.
Gran Canaria - Central Highlands
15/11/07 20:14
Puerto Rico is a densely populated tourist resort with some hotels and apartments built into almost vertical cliffs. It is tourism on an epic scale and in no way prepared us for what we found inland.
We drove along the coast road to Arguineguin before taking a minor road north through El Sao and Soria. The road was well surfaced but very narrow in places once past Soria and with increasingly spectacular scenery. Steep mountains rose either side of the valley with trees including Canary pines and Eucalypts and shrubs. That said, the terrain was still pretty barren.
North of Soria
Fires had passed through last year. Note new growth at the top of this tree.
We turned onto a slightly wider road at Ayacata and began to climb higher. Terraced agriculture was scattered on some hillsides.
We stopped a very pretty little town called Tejera. Here the hillside was scattered with green patches of agriculture, water tanks and white houses.
The church in Tejera.
A steep residential street in Tejera.
Tomas admiring an old sewing machine set into a wall in Tejera. Public art?
A lovely little hotel nestling quietly in amongst the houses in Tejera. Looking for an out of the way place for that special break?
A view from Tejera looking down a valley towards the sea.
Continuing down along the mountain road we made our way to a small village called Las Lagunetas. Then we turned onto a minor road leading back up and over the mountain via Cuevas Grande to complete a circle in Ayacata. At the highest point on this road we passed through a dense pine forest.
At Ayacata we took the C811 main road to San Bartolome before turning south towards Fataga and Maspalomas.
This was another spectacular mountain road with glorious scienic panoramas too big to catch with my little camera. I managed to get a few micro panoramas.
Our road disappearing around a huge mesa.
A minor road on the other side of the valley.
Our road south winding along a mountainside.
A wonderful day and when we got back to Puerto Rico we finished with a walk round the harbour and drinks with our hosts.
We drove along the coast road to Arguineguin before taking a minor road north through El Sao and Soria. The road was well surfaced but very narrow in places once past Soria and with increasingly spectacular scenery. Steep mountains rose either side of the valley with trees including Canary pines and Eucalypts and shrubs. That said, the terrain was still pretty barren.
North of Soria
Fires had passed through last year. Note new growth at the top of this tree.
We turned onto a slightly wider road at Ayacata and began to climb higher. Terraced agriculture was scattered on some hillsides.
We stopped a very pretty little town called Tejera. Here the hillside was scattered with green patches of agriculture, water tanks and white houses.
The church in Tejera.
A steep residential street in Tejera.
Tomas admiring an old sewing machine set into a wall in Tejera. Public art?
A lovely little hotel nestling quietly in amongst the houses in Tejera. Looking for an out of the way place for that special break?
A view from Tejera looking down a valley towards the sea.
Continuing down along the mountain road we made our way to a small village called Las Lagunetas. Then we turned onto a minor road leading back up and over the mountain via Cuevas Grande to complete a circle in Ayacata. At the highest point on this road we passed through a dense pine forest.
At Ayacata we took the C811 main road to San Bartolome before turning south towards Fataga and Maspalomas.
This was another spectacular mountain road with glorious scienic panoramas too big to catch with my little camera. I managed to get a few micro panoramas.
Our road disappearing around a huge mesa.
A minor road on the other side of the valley.
Our road south winding along a mountainside.
A wonderful day and when we got back to Puerto Rico we finished with a walk round the harbour and drinks with our hosts.
By Ferry - Lanzarote to Gran Canaria
14/11/07 20:12
There being not great hurry we decided to catch the Naviera Armas ferry from Arrecife to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. The crossing took about four and a half hours.
Our ferry was large and comfortable with several bars and restaurants and films playing in the seating lounges.
A view of Gran Canaria from the boat deck.
We had a smooth crossing and arrived on time. It was only a short walk to collect our hire car. An Opel Astra Coupe with about 7800km on the clock. After stopping to collect some flowers and chocolates for our hosts we set off for Puerto Rico on the south coast.
The island is not that big and as it was motorway all the way our trip took just over an hour. Our hosts were staying in a self contained apartment in a fourplex about 2 minutes from the main beach at Puerto Rico. After settling us in they drove us along the coast to Puerto Mogan. This is a large relatively recent complex with a smallish marina. The mainly low rise houses are set on a grid of small canals. The marina is fronted on three sides by restaurants displaying menus in up to 6 languages. We saw on that didn't bother with Spanish. This development, in common with Marina Rubicon, looks to me what Puerto Sherry in Andalucia set out to be but didn't quite achieve.
After a stroll around we drove inland to the town of Mogan for an excellent meal at a restaurant called Acaymo.
Our host, Genocho, self and Tomas at dinner.
Our ferry was large and comfortable with several bars and restaurants and films playing in the seating lounges.
A view of Gran Canaria from the boat deck.
We had a smooth crossing and arrived on time. It was only a short walk to collect our hire car. An Opel Astra Coupe with about 7800km on the clock. After stopping to collect some flowers and chocolates for our hosts we set off for Puerto Rico on the south coast.
The island is not that big and as it was motorway all the way our trip took just over an hour. Our hosts were staying in a self contained apartment in a fourplex about 2 minutes from the main beach at Puerto Rico. After settling us in they drove us along the coast to Puerto Mogan. This is a large relatively recent complex with a smallish marina. The mainly low rise houses are set on a grid of small canals. The marina is fronted on three sides by restaurants displaying menus in up to 6 languages. We saw on that didn't bother with Spanish. This development, in common with Marina Rubicon, looks to me what Puerto Sherry in Andalucia set out to be but didn't quite achieve.
After a stroll around we drove inland to the town of Mogan for an excellent meal at a restaurant called Acaymo.
Our host, Genocho, self and Tomas at dinner.