Gran
Canaria may not be thought of as a typical walking holiday destination,
suffering from a dubious reputation as a mass tourism island of the
"worst" sort (depending on your preferences, of course, this may be
exactly what you are looking for). The truth is, and more and more are
starting to discover this, the island is just terrific for walkers.
Even the authorities are realizing this now. Don't expect much in the
respect of waymarking etc., but old "caminos" ARE being restored. And
hardly anywhere in the world will you get landscapes as diverse as this
packed into the same place.
If you can stand the city,
Las Palmas is the best place to stay if you are planning to do a LOT of
walking. Buses will take you to all of the northern/northeastern part
of the island, with its many GREAT walks, and even the more remote
areas of the south/southwest are within reach (but perhaps not very
practical). If, on the other hand, you would like to get the most out
of the sun and the sea and the sand, Maspalomas/Playa del
Inglés is a better bet. You would still be able to do a fair
amount of walking.
Good news to all who want
to take the local bus
to get around (an experience in itself): The three bus companies on the
island have finally joined forces to make a "Tarajeta Insular" that is
valid on all buses (yes, even the yellow city buses). It costs 2000
pesetas and saves you around 30% off the regular fare, apart from being
very convenient. I managed to use up two of these in just one week,
beat that!
When it comes to eating in
Las Palmas things are (as expected) not overly exciting. If you, as
most tourists, are staying in the Las Canteras area, there is so much
on offer within walking distance that it's not really sensible to hunt
around in other districts, this is a big city. But the menus tend to be
very internationalized, too much of the same standard boring stuff
everywhere. And some outlets are tarted up beyond belief (as well as
having Swedish names). But the food is invariably eatable. As a basic
principle, the further west you walk, the more quiet the restaurants
get. But they also tend to get simpler, perhaps even too much so. You
will have to find your own balance here. For a really good dinner with
good wine from a more international menu, try e.g the Gallo Feliz. For
a quiet and more Spanish meal, try e.g the Restaurant Royal. You may
not get all that is printed on the menu, but you might get something
else that is more exciting. If you ask her, the friendly hostess will
prepare a genuine Spanish meal from what she has available (she also
speaks good English, which is surprisingly rare in this big port).
Selected walks: For walks on Gran Canaria take a
look in Noel Rochford's Landscapes
of Gran Canaria.
All references below are to this book (as "Rochford",
and PLEASE NOTE: when I refer to walk numbers etc. from this book they
are all taken from the 3rd edition). You should
also check out the Gran
Canaria Mountains Tour & Trail Map by David and Ros
Brawn. There is also Walking
in the Canaries
Volume 2 by Paddy Dillon and Gran Canaria by
Izabella Gavin. On the web
visit Gran Canaria Travel and Holiday Guides, Walks and Photos by Foxy's Island Walks.
◉
1 BANDAMA
(my
total time 3h15): This is walk 14 in Rochford. This very concentrated
walk is a great appetizer, and is easy to find and follow. You will see
most of the area at all times, and it is quite impossible to get lost.
That is, if you don't fall down. Because the walk should be avoided by
those most prone to suffer from vertigo. Really no great difficulties,
but care is needed. The only really awkward point is a small
climb/scramble up the rock face to get from the last portion of the
crater rim and up to the golf course at the end of the walk. There is
only a few other points to note. At my visit, the path to the guanche
caves had been covered by screes at a couple of points, some twenty
meters or so before the actual caves. If you carry a shovel, please be
my guest, otherwise it is probably not very safe to continue. Remember,
it's a long way down. Rochford's description of the initial path around
the crater rim is not very good. The path is OUTSIDE the rim when you
climb the initial crest, after which it is exactly at the center of the
rim (for good reasons). There is no path running INSIDE the rim as the
book says. OK, there might be something like a goat track there, but
use the PATH, or else it's bye, bye...
◉ 2 CRUZ DE TEJADA -
TEROR (my total time 3h45): This is walk 6 in
Rochford. The walk is mostly easy to find and follow. Time to get up
into the mountains! Take a few minutes at Cruz de Tejada to admire the
view towards Rouque Nublo etc, before you head in the other direction.
At this point it might be appropriate to say a few words about some of
the other walks starting from the same point. A new construction lot
covered most of the area from the Parador to the electricity station,
where walk 6 starts. This may make finding the trailheads for walks 4
and 5 difficult. You just might have to round the Parador from the left
side and pick up the path from there. I did not search for it, but
happily got myself into gear on my own trail. Only a few points have to
be made: Although Rochford grades this walk as "Easy", the descent is
often very steep, and the path stony and gravelly. No compromise at all
can be taken in the area of footwear! Now for some tricks of this
trail. When you cross the road (be aware that many of the road numbers
in the interior of Gran Canaria has changed) at Cruz de Constantino you
are not supposed to take the path that starts at the exact opposite
side of the road and then curves left. Instead take the cobbled path
descending a few meters on the right. At the end of the walk, where you
are supposed to shortcut the road (it's only by a few meters, so you
can just as well skip it), the map trace (p.53) of the "C814" is
slightly wrong, the "C814"/"C817" crossroads is actually more or less
inside that last curve of your road towards Teror, so the shortcut is
BEFORE the crossroads, not AFTER, as the map indicates.
◉ 3 ARTENARA - LOS
BERRAZALES (my total time 3h45): This is walk 25 in Rochford. It
should be no problem finding and following this walk, as long as you
carefully read the map and the accompanying text. Finding the correct
bus however, DID give me a small surprise, as the bus never arrived at
the advertised gate inside the Las Palmas bus station. But a small sign
soon appeared in the front window of a bus at a neighboring gate (a bus
in towards Teror, as far as I remember), it turned out that on this day
passengers towards Artenara had to change buses somewhere in the
outskirts of Las Palmas. This was probably just an anomaly, just be
aware. The walk is of great variety and beauty, one my greatest walking
experiences to date, and is greatly recommended. It is also very
dramatic, and when you have finished carefully sliding yourself down
the last meters towards Los Berrazales, you will feel a certain degree
of accomplishment. Take a few minutes to admire the view towards Rouque
Bentaiga e.g from the left of the crossroads above the football field
in Artenara before setting off on the actual trail. And mind: The
comments about footwear for the previous walk also goes for this one!
◉ 4 ARTEARA - LOS
PALMITOS (my total time 4h): This is walk 19 in Rochford. Even if you
are staying in Las Palmas you should by all means not miss the "grand"
canyons of the south! It is also a nice opportunity to stretch your
legs a little, after all those crampy mountain paths. And surprise:
this walk is rather easily accessible even from Las Palmas. Rochsford's
bus timetable is missing the very useful 1130 departure of bus 18
(Maspalomas - San Bartolomé). A few notes on getting off the
Las Palmas - Playa del Inglés bus at the correct stop. This
is not difficult, but the bus turns off the Avenida de Tirajana one
block BEFORE the Los Molinos, so this is NOT a good landmark, as the
text claims. The sign for these apartments are so covered from view by
vegetation etc. anyway, you would hardly notice it even if you passed
it. The main track for this walk is VERY easy to follow. But there are
a few snags in Arteara: There is no sign for the village, but the bus
stop shelter has the name clearly written. Also, there are no stops
between the Guanche "city" (Mondo Aborigen) and Arteara. After leaving
the bus, cross the road, take up the track, and turn 90 degrees left
almost immediately. Crossing this area of gravel and stone (which is
more a gravel parking area than a track) enables you to pick up the
road into Arteara. After Arteara the route sneaking into the Guanche
cemetery to the left of the fenced-off area is clearly SECOND choice.
There is a path straight through the area as long as the gate is open.
In normal tourist season this should not be a problem. The route
suggested by Rochford is also potentially dangerous, as it is only too
easy to trip and fall climbing over those big sharp rocks. Otherwise:
Let your legs roll. Enjoy the ENORMOUS canyon vistas along the way. For
once a walk where you can walk and look around simultaneously. Normally
this is suicide... After your bus ride from Los Palmitos back to Playa
del Inglés, be sure to pay a visit to the famous dunes
before going back to Las Palmas.
◉ 5 BARRANCO AZUAJE (my
total time 2h50): This is walk 10 in Rochford. Now, this was
more of an experiment, but it turned out very lucky. It was great fun,
climbing and sliding over cliffs and crawling under masses of bamboo,
and should by no means be missed. I think the difficulties and the
grade is exaggerated by Rochford here. Just take your time and it will
work out for the best. The path is not difficult to find and follow,
the biggest problem might in fact be finding the correct bus in Arucas.
The correct bus number on my visit was 118 (not 123 as suggested), and
it is possible to take a "Direct Service" bus from Las Palmas to
Arucas, as an alternative to the one Rochford suggests. And do mind to
get off the number 118 bus at the correct place, as far as you can get
inside that deep, deep barranco after Buen Lugar. Quite unmistakable,
really, and there IS a sign, but AFTER the spot where the bus normally
stops. If the bus does not have a fatal accident before you can get off
it (in my mind, the bus ride must be the most risky part of even this
adventure), the walk up the barranco will be a great thrill, in serene
surroundings. After about 35 minutes of climbing, sliding and crawling
you will reach the spring, where you can rest and enjoy the bird song
for a few minutes before it's time to turn back. Just after the spa,
take the track down the barranco. This is a much easier part of the
walk, it gets rather rough towards the end, but no big problems. There
is only a little bit of confusion about the last part, to find the
track for San Andres, where you should leave the barranco bed for the
last time. Also mind that the timings are a bit off between the last
two landmarks here. I used just about the same time as Rochford for the
entire walk, but found that I used about 50% longer between these than
suggested. So 5 mins between barranco bed and abandoned house, and 5
mins between house and you leaving the barranco, should both read 7-8
mins if you match my speed. The description in Rochford is not very
clear either, and I am not sure you really have to leave the barranco
bed at all, you are just about 50m from your goal (the track) when the
walls closes in and the barranco turns left. Well, I did not
investigate. Inside the turn, you have a water channel on your right,
you will have seen it for a couple of minutes already, but do not mount
it before a faint, but still clear path takes you to it. Then climb the
edge of the channel and use that as your road. Curve to the right, pass
above a water cistern, then pick up a narrow path on the other side,
and continue for a few meters, then follow it down to a wider path
which will take you to the rather overgrown track. In San Andres, cross
the football field and take the stairs up on its RIGHT for the main
road. Turn right for the bus stop, it is still there, but on the
traffic island (be careful crossing that road).
◉ Good
starting points: •
Las Palmas - from here buses
will take you to most of the island •
Maspalomas/Playa del
Inglés - Enjoy the great sand dunes, buses will take you to
walking opportunities in the southern part of the island
◉ How to
get there: •
By air •
Some ferries from other Canary
islands do exist
◉ More
info: • ABC of Gran Canaria,
an interesting web site in the process of starting up • Gran Canaria Travel and Holiday Guides, Walks and Photos by Foxy's Island Walks
