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Published: December 3rd 2007
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A month already passed since we came back from Canary islands but I'm still dreaming of those amazing days spent there.
We chosed to travel by ourselves, all reservations were done via internet, nothing organized by any tourism company.
We studied a lot the travel Forums, made quite a serious research and we also found very useful the images on Google Earth so we knew exactly what we wanted to see, how to get to a specific place, how the roads looked.
We left for Madrid by plane on the 10th of October early in the morning and arrived there by 12:00.
As we had few hours until the connection for Gran Canaria, we decided to take the metro from Madrid airport and go to the center of the city (we changed it twice and it took us aprox. 1 hour to get there). We took a walk on Grand Via, one of the biggest boulevards, sat in Retimo Park for a quick lunch and then headed to Latocha railway station which really impressed us. We didn't expect to see such luxuriant plants in a railway stations although we had seen some photos.
At 21:00 we took off
for Gran Canaria and at 23:00 we landed on Las Palmas airport.
For the 6 days spent in Gran Canaria we rented an Opel Astra for which we paid 24.5 Euros/day. We also paid a 50 Euros deposit as warranty but the money were released after returning the car.
We stayed in San Agustin. For those who look for excitement and night life this is definetely not the best choice especially during this time of the year. But for us San Augustin was only the place to return to each night after having traveled on the island.
Places worthwile seeing in Gran Canaria: - all the beaches, depending on your preferences; we were mostly impressed by those beaches still untouched by the man's desire to improve, to modernize. There, either on sandy (yellow, grey, black) or on pebbly beaches you will feel more connected to Nature. Don't miss Maspalomas! For good minutes you'll wonder: Am I in Sahara or what? And if you can, go there and wait for the sun rising. You won't regret it, trust me!
- Las Palmas, evening: life, lights, excitement...; an impressive view over the city from one of the down-town Mall's
terraces.
- On the road to Guyadeque (coming from Aguimes), there is a place you can't possibly miss on the left side of the road (oposite to a cars parking), Baranco de Guayadeque: in caves digged in mountain you'll have the surprise to discover some nice houses forming a small village... and people really live in there!
- Sioux City - the exact copy of a small town from Far West. It can be visited daily but only on Friday evenings, starting with 20:00 and for 46 Euros/ticket you can enjoy a barbeque with plenty of food and drinks of all at your discretion; around 22:00 you are invited to see an attractive show with cowboys, indians, gun shots and French Cancan dance; inside the Saloon they play live country music and you can dance American popular dances (if you don't know how, they'll teach you!) In my opinion Sioux City is an experience you mustn't miss.
- Arucas, a small town, well-known for its Gothic cathedral built in 1907. Take a few minutes and go inside! Then go for a walk on the narrow streets with beautifuly coloured houses.
- Firgas, another small town whose
beauty spot is the natural slope which has been used to build a beautiful 30 metre waterfall using quarry stone, finished off by an impressive monument of a fountain representing the traditional richness of the water resources. On one side of the Paseo there are the 22 heraldic shields of all the municipalities of Gran Canaria, including the shield of the island. The Paseo de Canaria also has representations of the 7 Canary Islands carved into the ground, with their respective heraldic shields and a landscape typical of each island.
- Pozo de Las Nieves - a stop on the way to Roque Nublo, where the white clouds float between mountains giving you the impression that there is a boiling water somewhere and its steam comes up to you. A real show!
- Roque Nublo - impressive volcanic rocks; you can reach there after a not so difficult 1 hour climb. You won't regret the effort! From up there you get a view of the entire valley which leaves you speechless. And also up there you realize how insignificant you are compared to Mother Nature.
- Sardina Lighthouse. For those who love nature and wilderness a
stop on the rocks near Sardina lighthouse is a must. From there you can admire the ocean greatness and listen to the noise of the waves breaking over the rocks.
Routes: 11 Oct - tour of the island, started in San Agustin; Playa del Ingles, Maspalomas, Arguineguin, Puerto Rico, La Playa de Tauro, Puerto de Mogan, Mogan, Tasarte, Playa de Tasarte and back on the main road, Puerto de San Nicolas, stop in Agaete port harbour, Galdar, Santa Maria de Guia, Cabo Verde, Cardones, Playas de las Canteras, Castillo de la Luz, Las Palmas and back to the hotel on the motorway.
12 Oct - San Agustin, on the motorway, to Aguimes, Guyadeque, Aguimes, main road C815, Sardina, El Doctoral, motorway, hotel; in the evening - Sioux City.
13 Oct - San Agustin, Playa del Ingles, Maspalomas, on C812 to Arguineguin, Puerto Rico, La Playa de Tauro, Mogan, then a mountain road to the center of the island to Ayacata (to see the lakes), San Bartolome, Fataga, motorway, hotel
14 Oct - San Agustin, on the motorway close by Las Palmas, turned left to El Fortillo, Tafira Baja, Lomo Blanco, Tamaraceite, Tenoya, Santidad, Arucas, Firgas, Teror, Vega de San
Mateo, Santa Brigida, Tafira Alta and back to the hotel.
15 Oct - San Agustin, Maspalomas (to see the sun rising), on the motorway to El Doctoral, Vecindario, Aguimes, Telde, Valle de Las Nueve, Cazadores, Pozo de Las Nieves, Roque Nublo, Ayacata, Tejera, Artenara, one of the mountain roads to Vallesco, Teror, Tamaraceite, Puerto de la Luz, back home.
16 Oct - (last day in Gran Canaria) we left the hotel, on the motorway to the NE of the island to Catillo de la Luz, Lomo Blanco, Ayala, then the Northern coast to Banaderas, San Andres, San Juan, Santa Maria de Guya, Galdar, Sardina (the Lighthouse), back on C810 road to get to Puerto de las Nieves (the port harbour in Agaete); there we returned the car and took the ferry to Tenerife.
I posted some photos for those who want to discover a bit of Gran Canaria.
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