May 2023

Three weekends in one again. And yes I know its June now but 2/3rds of the subject is May …

We start on a ferry - OK so first we drive to the capital and then get on the ferry - we’re heading off to Gran Canaria for three nights. Our friends from New Zealand have a day in GC, part of their fabulous journey on Soujourn, which is coming to the end of her 140 day world cruise. After an 80 minute sail we arrive on Saturday afternoon in the port town of Agaete which is then just 30 minutes to the capital, Las Palmas. This is at the most northern part of the island, and is the largest city in the Cañarías. 

Our chosen car park doesn’t support our EV plan, so we head off to find a different one, which actually took four attempts and consumed several hours of messing about. Of course it’s more complicated and in fact belatedly I realise that we could have used the first place, we just needed to update the Cupra app with our card details - our first foray into the world of public chargers so maybe I’m forgiven, and we get a lovely promenade walk for our troubles. We’ll probably not need to repeat this until we’re away again since our range is ample for normal driving anywhere on Tenerife.

We’re already worrying about restaurants, it turns out all the decent ones don’t open on Sundays, where will we take Sue and Ross, who are clearly used to the finer things in life? First we need to feed ourselves Saturday’s dinner and eventually chose a traditional restaurant on the beach-side promenade. Undecided, we opt for the shared mixed grill - a mountain of food which we manage to do justice to against the odds, it’s all very good, but did we really need fillet AND sirloin along with the chicken, sausage, pork and lamb ribs?

We take an early breakfast so we have time to walk to the port area where Sojourn is berthed, having checked on Marine Traffic to ensure she’s not parked up elsewhere, and we wait for Sue and Ross to appear - it’s always a gamble how long customs clearance will take and every port is different. Happily they are quickly with us and we’re on our way, starting with me getting lost in the roadworks all around the city. 

Soon we’re on our way up the mountain towards Arucas, home of San Juan Bautista, a gothic looking church strikingly constructed from black lava. The town is also preparing for its flower festival so is quite a visual treat, complete with fabulous guitar band.

Moving on we find Firgas, which has some great water features as well as super views as we steadily climb higher. 

Every twist and turn gives us another wonderful view, and there are a lot as we slowly ascend, the next stop Tejeda where we have the most incredible vista over the expansive centre of the island, including towards Roque Nublo, a famous peak, by which time we’re almost over a mile above sea-level. We begin our descent, continuing heading south towards the dunes, but we stop for lunch on the way. 

Maspalomas dunes are protected and famously used for many film locations, probably easier, and cheaper, than shipping an entire crew out to Namibia or Dubai. Malpalomas is also the centre of the tourist trade, spreading both ways for several miles with much development and many hotels. 

As we return towards Las Palmas we stop off at a couple of villages including Telde, the former capital of the island, with old houses, a monastery and an impressive viaduct. 

We return to Hotel Cristina to enjoy pre-dinner Chardonnay before heading out to the best restaurant we could identify for Sunday evening. El Cairo turns out to be very good, was adjacent to the beach and of course the company is fabulous. We deliver Sue and Ross back to Sojourn with six whole minutes to spare, it’s been an excellent 12+ hour day exploring for us all!

Next day, we decide those dunes need further investigation so return to Maspalomas, park in almost the same spot and then go for a wander alongside the dunes back towards the tourist area, continuing right up Playa de las Inglés, Englishman’s Beach, until the rocks prevent us going further. It’s a pleasant walk, also the return, but it doesn’t feel quite the same as our promenade in Tenerife, maybe we’re biased? We can’t find anywhere we fancy for lunch so opt for a sandwich instead to consume adjacent to the dunes, before commencing our return. 

We stop off in the old part of Las Palmas where we tour the cathedral, and wander round some impressive old buildings, before returning to Cristina.

After a swim, sangrias, shower and dress we are visiting another hotel with what promises to be a better restaurant, although in fact table-cloths aside it’s probably not significantly better, but pleasant enough.

Our last day is spent exploring the port for an hour before we return to Santa Cruz to make an appointment at Tráfico, driving licence complications requiring me to get an international licence in case my Spanish one doesn’t arrive quickly enough to hire a car in Manchester in June. The process is painless and we’re back home in time to shop and still get our evening walk done before dinner. 

Weekend number two involves revisiting a new favourite climb. Just behind our neighbour’s house stand Roque del Conde - our own little Table Mountain. She’s visible from pretty much anywhere along the entire Costa Adeje as can be confirmed by our later views from the top. We first climbed her in November 2021 and today will be our third visit. 

Although only 7.7km by crow, we have to drive 20km, climbing 2000ft, to Abona to park up and commence our walk. It starts easy, on to the next village, before a couple of barrancos (valleys) get in the way, the latter fairly steep. Then we’re continuously climbing, past an old farm (wheat) complete with threshing area, and upwards over the saddle. 

Then it gets tougher, the terrain is tricky and we are obliged to tread carefully - even a simple trip could end up in a prickly pear with inch-long needles - as we start to get enveloped by the cloud. 

Our reward is awesome views at every turn, and before too long we’re on the plateau, not quite as flat as it seems from our house, but gently terraced by farmers centuries ago. 

We walk around the entire plateau enjoying the views from beyond the airport one way, to Los Gigantes the other - over 40km just to drive, many more following the coastline. 

It’s not a long walk, but with 1750ft of ascent it pays to be steadfast and not rush it. We pass only a handful of other walkers and the silence is extraordinary - apart from humans we see lizards, mice, swallows and kestrels - a beautiful way to spend a morning with nature.

Last of three weekends we again pay a return visit, this time Volcán Chinyero. This is, as I am sure you will remember dear reader, the site of the most recent eruption some 115 years ago. A relatively small chimney, but nevertheless the devastation is considerable, we see the fields of lava and cross one river as we circumnavigate the chimney. The eruption before this, fascinatingly, was witnessed by non-other than a certain Señor Colon, just before he went on to “discover” America. 

We find some fabulous pines as we return to the car. Our walk is not so hard, and only 5.5 miles but at an altitude of 1 mile high it’s enough to build up an appetite. The return drive is horrendous as we descend through thick cloud with visibility down to almost zero, but the car gets its first ever wash. 

It’s full moon and we have a great sky. Next morning we are delighted to pick our first home-grown peach!