Gran Canaria Day 6: Agaete/Puerto de Nieves--Churches, Gardens and the Deep Blue Sea

The whitewashed city of Agaete

“When you increase the number of gardens, you increase the number of heavens too!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

For today's adventure, we went from La Aldea, the sleepy tomato farming village we are staying in at 9 o'clock on the map to about 11 o'clock to the twin towns of Agaete and Puerto de Nieves.

 Today, we ventured to the furthest point north we have gone thus far in Gran Canaria. Our day started with a bus ride across curvy mountainous terrain (do you see a theme here?) and eventually, about an hour and a bout or two of nausea later, to a town on the coast. We chose the city of Agaete because it is small, not very touristy and it had a botanical garden as well as natural beach. For anyone interested in the Canaries, Agaete also has a direct high speed ferry to Tenerife which apparently arrives in about 90 minutes.

Catedral de Nuestra Senora de Concepcion in Agaete

After our bus ride where we were greeted by a lady who insisted on walking us to the tourist office, we were disappointed by finding the office sign that said it opened at 9 was still closed at 9:45am. But we are living on Canarian time, which is a bit warped. Not to worry. We found a tiny bar open on the pebbled beach and drank a diet Coke and pondered the possibilities. We saw the ferry coming in from Tenerife. It was full of people, cars and large trucks. Really, there is no other way than ship to transport goods between the islands. This one is best known for tomatoes, bananas, mangoes and goat cheeses that are exported out to Europe and the other islands. The number of lorries on the ferry was pretty impressive. When we got back around to the tourist information center, we met a lovely Canarian woman who once lived in Ohio! She gave us great information about the area and a map. We took off on foot to the church--Our Lady of the Conception. (Apparently, immaculacy is not a major issue out here in the Atlantic Ocean!)  The church was really nice as you see above and I said a five candle prayer in the grotto for someone's house in Knoxville to sell.(You know who you are.)

The altar of the church in Agaete.

Example of the architecture and style of this relatively small community. It reminded me alot of photos of the Greek Islands without the blue rooves.

From the church, we walked a short distance to the botanical garden which once was owned by a wealthy citizen who planted many trees. It was then rented to the former garden of this person and then to a sculptor who took a notion to plant even more trees.There are some flowers there, but this garden is given particularly to trees from six of the seven continents and is quite lovely. It's obvious that there has been a lot of work put into it...which is true of nearly any garden. The city of Agaete bought the garden when the sculptor passed away in the mid 1970s, so there have been trees here for about a century and a half.

The Mexican calabash tree.

Paul enjoys huerta de flores in Agaete

Angelic feline from whom we received cat therapy. He seems to be a denizen of the garden and quite content here.

We had a lot of fun not only getting to know the garden cat who is exceedingly friendly, but learning about the many trees world wide and their uses...either medicinal, ornamental or industrial or some combination of the three.

The knobby bark of the floss silk tree of India 

The bark of the spotted fig tree of China. This one stood over 50 feet tall.

The lady at the info center told us not to leave the garden without sampling the local coffee from a plantation about 6 kilometers north of the city.  It is in fact the only coffee plantation in Europe. Why that unique distinction did NOT stick in our heads while we were in the tourist office, I have no idea. But Paul is a coffee hound so we tried the coffee. We thought, we should go to the only coffee plantation in Europe! But it closed at 1pm so that opportunity passed us by. Nevertheless, Mr Parris enjoyed his cupajoe.

Coffee anyone?

From here, we meandered back to Puerto de Nieves. It's only a mile or less back to this active fishing port with the ferry. We enjoyed a very nice lunch of "misted seafood" ( mixed seafood, to those who write English more correctly!)

Seriously? this is supposed to be for 2 people! It's an enormous plate of 4 whole fish, an octopus and enough potatoes, bell peppers and tomatoes to feed an army! Delicious though! We could not dream of eating all this.

We then walked along the boardwalk of sorts. One nice thing here is that they have some natural "swimming pools" where the volcanic material has made a rim that the waves crash into and fill the pools up but there is plenty of water for paddling around without dealing with undertow, etc. that sometimes comes with oceanic areas. Very safe and beautiful as well. We spent quite a while watching waves come in and Paul said, "I could sit here and watch this all day. " Not only were the waves breaking gorgeously, but we could see up the whole pristine west coast of the island. Lovely and breathtaking.

Eventually, we did have to get back to the bus stop to get to La Aldea. It is the last night of the organized hiking trip and we were having a farewell dinner at the local cactus park called CactuAldea. Someone went to a crazy amount of trouble to bring 1200 species of cactus, many local but many not and organize it into a beautiful recreational park. They have an eating area and the chef made our group of 16 very nice paellas for our bon voyage party.
 

The chef and the seafood paella. Tasty!

We have enjoyed every moment with our group of 4 Canadians, 12 Brits and a Dutchman!

A small glance at a very large cactus garden! The white stuff behind the cacti are the greenhouses for tomatoes. There are literally hundreds of these in La Aldea.

Afterward, there might have been a bit of dancing?

An anonymous Dutchman struts his stuff.

This has been a wonderful vacation so far and we have the independent part left. We are looking forward to it, but we are so grateful to these folks for making it even more enjoyable. We will miss them.

“Entering a garden  was like succumbing to a dream. Every detail was intended to produce a specific effect on the mind and body, to excite and soothe the senses like a drug. To awaken the unconscious self.”
― Linda Lappin, Signatures in Stone 

Paul's Ponderings:  A final great day out on the "hiking"part of our trip.   The bus ride over to Agaeate was a bit of a grind (think US roads before interstates), but manageable.   We like the port area more than Mogan due to its "local" feel.  We had a great seafood lunch and wandered about a bit, which was quite a change from the strenuous hike yesterday.   Tomorrow, we transition to Las Palmas for a different experience.   Bueno!

Gran Canaria Day 5: L'Inagua Cloud Forest.---Welcome to the Sanctuary

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.
                                   Hermann Hesse



L'Inagua Forest--the high pines on Gran Canaria way up on the ridgetop

A few days ago we mentioned when posting one of the photos of a forest high up on a mountain that we were told we would go there sometime this week. Well, today was the day that we explored L'Inagua Cloud Forest. Fortunately for us, we awoke to a very bright sunny day with ideal hiking temperatures for most of the day. It got a bit warm at the end, but after a week of at least starting the hikes at altitude with cold winds and sometimes moisture, today seemed perfect to me.

We drove those crazy curvy roads again to the bus stop at Tasartino, and this time, instead of heading down into the valley, we went up, up up. For a very long way--about 1500 feet. When I looked up and saw the forest again, initially I thought, there is no way I am going to get up there. But slowly and surely, we did exactly that . I truly enjoyed the walk up which was steep occasionally, but mostly a steady moderate uphill venture. 

One of the treats of the day was a glance across to Mount Teide which is the highest point in the Canary Isalnds on the next island of Tenerife. 

Mostly we see the mountains of our island of Gran Canaria, but if you look just in the very middle of this picture and just above the lower line of clouds , you will see Mt. Teide beyond the easily seen middle peaks.  You also get a glimpse of the curvaceous road up the mountain.

The views today were spectacular both up and down and in the middle, we got the lovely pine forest to accompany us along our journey.

Paul enjoys jamon iberico sandwiches on Turkey Day

We stopped for lunch around 1pm on a large rock which we had to free hand climb, but it was nice a and flat on top. Although I have to admit, I did somewhat miss my turkey and dressing, it was a beautiful spot for Thanksgiving picnic and we were no less thankful for everything we have received in this lifetime. We walked a good distance today through sagebrush, so we at least did have one of the smells of Thanksgiving to keep us from getting too homesick.

This mountain is called Azulejos for the blue green hues near its base. 

After lunch, we trekked about 2100 feet back DOWN the mountain. It was mostly gentle but the last section was a bear. Lots of loose medium size rocks that caused sliding underfoot and the threat of falling on a narrow trail. The very end was a slide on the bottom back down to the road and the bus stop. Challenging and a bit hard on the bum!

This roadside juice stand had a lovely papaya, banana, orange juice smoothie. Just the right thing after about 10.5 miles of hiking.

But there was silver lining in our playbook. After a tough long hike, we got to enjoy lovely fresh squeezed juices at this roadside stand. There were picnic tables to sit at while waiting for the bus. And the owner gave us fresh Canarian tomatoes--gratis. This area is famous for them and we see huge greenhouses growing them around every corner.

You say tomayto, they say tomahto. But it's all good.

The juice store also had some squawky but beautiful birds to enjoy.

Acrobatics show at no additional charge.

Finally, we caught the bus back to La Aldea and were off for a dinner at a local pub. The owner made us all a great vegetarian soup and that made a great end to our Thanksgiving feast.
 

Thanksgiving dinner Canarian style

So not a very traditional Thanksgiving for us, but certainly amazing scenery and plenty to be grateful for. A wonderful day!

“All forests have their own personality. I don't just mean the obvious differences, like how an English woodland is different from a Central American rain forest, or comparing tracts of West Coast redwoods to the saguaro forests of the American Southwest... they each have their own gossip, their own sound, their own rustling whispers and smells. A voice speaks up when you enter their acres that can't be mistaken for one you'd hear anyplace else, a voice true to those particular tress, individual rather than of their species.”
― Charles de Lint, The Onion Girl 

Paul's Ponderings:  This was the premier hike of our holiday here in the Canaries and it did not disappoint.   The hike up and down was very strenuous and by the end of the day, my pedometer showed around 13 miles.   We were blessed with perfect weather this time.   Door to door, the hike was around 8 hours total.

The hike up was about 500 meters total and down was around 700 meters.   Sounds like not a lot until you have to do it on this terrain!   The views were stunning all around, although not quite the total panorama we had yesterday.    We had a variety of terrain, but mostly rocky in general, both in the large and small sense!

This was our last day of big hiking as we now move on to more touristy things....like sightseeing and such.   But, we've definitely had the Gran Canaria hiking experience, with a great group of folks.

Since this is Thanksgiving, I'll say that I'm very grateful to have this opportunity with my wife....it's a unique and wonderful experience.    Weirdly, we saw evidence of "black Friday" here on Gran Canaria....perish the thought.    If there is something I can give "negative thanks" for, it is not being exposed to this shopping orgy and I hope the Spanish folks avoid that particular brand of consumerist behavior.

We closed tonight with another visit to a rural restaurant....good company and very representative of local life.

Overall, we've been quite physically capable of these hikes....a bit sore here and there, but nothing too bad....our training in East Tennessee has paid off.   I told our guide that we hiked with in the Pyrenees about a year ago that I found this hiking less strenuous....not that it was a junior league affair in either case, just less tough....altitude may be a factor (lower here).

Happy Thanksgiving to all!   If you had told a boy from Anderson County, TN in the 1960s that he would be spending Thanksgiving 2015 in rural Gran Canaria, that would have seemed about as likely as spending it on Mars.   Mucho gusto, to quote the locals!

Gran Canaria Day 4: Into the Clouds

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.

                                                                                 Edward Abbey

Picking off peaks

 

Today, we definitely were subjected to the prayer of Edward Abbey for our day. And we were grateful. We did three tandem peak hikes, spent quite a bit of time above or amongst the clouds, took some of the most curvaceous and narrow roads we have ever seen and got stupendous views. What a wonderful day!

We started by taking a winding path through the mountains. I tried to take a photo that would give some perspective to the drive and the skill of the bus driver, but it all pales in comparison to the actual experience.  Just suffice it to say that the W road in Chattanooga would be about the only local experience that comes close, and it doesn't have nearly enough hairpin turns, nor does "the Dragon" on Hwy 129 to compare to this. Let's not even discuss the single lane thread of  road. But needless to say, our capable driver, Juan, got us to Point A. Which was Roque Nublo--Cloud Rock...That in itself should give you a clue!

Roque Nublo roughly translated into English as Cloud Rock is seen in the distance...with a cloud on it.

It was once again windy and cold (what tropical island isn't ?) as we started our 45 minute uphill trek, hoping conditions would clear so we could see down into the valley and the path to the rock. As you will note, the mountains here are volcanic and subject to many spikes, points and fun shapes.  We bundled up and slogged up to the rock.
 

As you see, we got the reward of having the cloud clear off for a while. Paul is in the foreground to give perspective to this monolith, which is 125 meters high (about 400 feet).

The views into the valley below were intermittent with the misty cloudcover, but needless to say, it was very dramatic. We could see lower valleys and occasionally out to the Atlantic Ocean. Then the clouds would drift over us again and we'd see very little, but even that had its own special magic. From this point, we hiked to the base of the rock, and then back to road to get to peak #2  Pico de Nieves, the peak of the snows.

The beginning of the Pico de Nieves trail in a picnic ground where we enjoyed a mortadella and local queso rojo sandwich which we bought the ingredients for in the ubiquitous Spanish SPAR grocery store. 

As you see, we were hiking only a few miles away, but in a gorgeous pine forest. It was such a welcome contrast to hike on a pine needle floor for a way with many tall trees. Most of our hiking has been on bare rocks with only cactus and succulents as our cover, when available.  This area reminded me somewhat of hikes at home... prolonged climbs with lots of canopy. Eventually we did end up on bare rock again, but it was fun to do it a little differently.  After about another hour of uphill, we were greeted by the highest point in Gran Canaria, Pico de Nieves. In years past, before global warming (which of course, doesn't exist), there were frequently freezing temperatures here and the local people would come up to the peak to get ice and bring it back to the villages below. Thankfully, there was no snow today (and we are told its a rarity nowadays), although it was quite chilly, but there was a food truck selling coffee and cocoa! Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord as they say round home. And this was the view--

High up within the clouds at Pico de Nieves. Although the view was frequently shrouded, occasionally it would move over and give us a peek into the valley.

It was an impressive and fun hike and yet, we still had one segment to go. So we were back onto the bus, through even more hairpin turns and finally to Acusa Seco, a plateau high in the mountains with cave homes. People apparently still inhabit many of them today, as we witnessed both mailboxes and an active public trash service. We did not see any inhabitants. The guide says many of them live in the main city of Las Palmas now and use these cave dwellings only on the weekend. The cave homes have apparently been dated back native Guanaches 1100 years ago. They had an elaborate labyrinth of connections which are being excavated in places by archeologists, and they had crop storage areas, animal husbandry and their home all within the caves. We got the distinct feeling that most of these caves are now in disuse, but it was still fascinating to see the homes built into the hillside, much like areas of Cappadoccia in Turkey, the Pueblos of the American Southwest and some parts of Peru. 

Acusa Seco cave dwellings.

From this juncture, we ventured back down the mountain on a super narrow road. I have no idea how the bus driver manuevered on it, as it was only about a foot bigger than the bus. We passed reservoirs mostly and deep canyons that made you flinch if you looked out the bus window. I kept thinking about all the tourist bus disasters we hear about on the news!

But alas we made it safely back to our hotel in Aldea de San Nicolas. Dios mio!
 

As you see, I am no worse for the wear!

Overall a really great day with a variety of hikes covering amazing clouds, wonderful vistas and plenty of winding roads.

“Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton... I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by... If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations... What do you think you see, Linus?"

"Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean... That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor... And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen... I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side..."

"Uh huh... That's very good... What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?"
"Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!”
― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960 

Paul's Ponderings:  Three hikes of differing lengths but all of interest....the first one with the rocks at Rogue Noblo was the payoff today....simply stunning views with a panorama across the valley to the sea and beyond.   You won't see this at home as they say.   We were quite lucky as the clouds held off long enough for us to see that panorama.   The second hike was quite steep but we were socked in at the top for most of it.   Both of these had quite brisk weather and we were glad we had multiple layers for the trip.   Finally, the cliff dwellings....very much like certain ancient tribes in the USA.   

We followed it up with another communal meal at a local bar here in Aldea......we have a great group to hike with this time with a variety of folks, mostly from the UK.   

We are very privileged to be here as this is not a part of the world most folks ever visit.  While I hate to be effusive, the mountains here are incomparable and incredibly scenic.   That said, the hikes have been strenuous, but not quite up to the level of the Pyrenees a year or so back, which is welcome.   

We've had a couple of folks ask about food....out here where we are, it is pretty much home cooking at this point.   Lots of fish, potatoes, fried seafood, and such.   We think it may be different next week in Las Palmas, but will wait and see.   This is a very rural area for hiking and the amenities are limited.   The weather today had no rain at all, but was quite chilly up high....maybe 40 degrees on the peaks....at lower elevation, it was more like 70.

The roads, as someone said, are about six inches more narrow than a large bus.   We drove up and down on a roadway that would put Lombard Street in San Francisco to shame....and this was on a full bus meeting cars with huge ravines...can't say enough about our bus driver today, Juan.  

Much more to come....more hiking tomorrow then adventures to come....we keep on keeping on....

Gran Canaria Day 3: Mogan and the Elemental Sound

Part of a still active fishing fleet in the harbor of Puerto de Mogan.

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.

Henry Beston

Today, our guide, Bert, gave us two choices: (1) Hike 18 miles downhill from a place called Alta Vista (means high viewpoint) and back to the village with many great views and possibly a glimpse of the island of Tenerife, or (2) Be lazy slugs and come up with something else. We went with #2 (of course). Eighteen miles is okay with me,  although I don't generally enjoy anything after about 15-16 miles, but downhill for eighteen miles...not for me. So we explored some options on the west side of Gran Canaria, since we plan to spend week #2 on the more populous East Coast.  Yesterday we went to the city of Mogan, and we were told there was also a fishing port of Mogan with a nice beach and a few good restaurants. And we could get there for 4.5 Euros on the bus. SOLD!  We felt hearing a few waves crashing on to sand couldn't hurt our mental health.



One of the "canals" of Puerto de Mogan. Impossibly blue sky and water. 

This port  is a picturesque resort and active fishing village, set at the mouth of a steep-sided valley on the southwest coast of the island. It attracts many tourists either to stay or on day-visits, like us. Canals linking the marina to the fishing harbor have led to it being nicknamed "Little Venice" or the "Venice of the Canaries". I don't think they are quite there yet in resembling the wonderful city of Venice, but they ARE trying.

 Restaurants and bars fringe the marina and the beach front and there seems to be an overflow of pasty white Germans and Brits sunburning themselves on the very pretty and warm (75 degrees while its freezing in Knoxville) beach.  Who can blame them, although the 50+ year old with fat bulges in bikinis and speedos almost makes you NOT want to look at the water :) ? This is the winter European playground along with the Balerics and I know I would hop on over in the cold temperatures if I lived close by and had the means to do it.

Not exactly Venice, but an homage to it. This is actually a condo.

Paul and I started our journey here by walking about and getting the lay of the land...and a Diet Coke. Feed the addiction!  Then I asked Paul if he wanted to do something he had never done before....

The yellow submarine, Atlantica

That's right. To live in a yellow submarine...for about an hour.  I had taken my family, including my mother,  in the Virgin Islands a few years ago and we all had a blast. He agreed, but probably only because it's a Beatles song.

Paul coming down the hatch in true Navy style. He's the right height to be a submariner!

We boarded and were able to dive to about 60 feet or so. We saw plenty of fish and even a shipwreck.  They had a "fake" emergency, which I am not sure would have been allowed in the US, but the visible pilot and copilot were so bored, it was hard to accept anything was really going on. The reef here isn't very dense, but there were typical parrotfish, yellow snapper, tetras, grouper and other reef fish as well as a beautiful red starfish, some jelly fish that made me glad I wasn't swimming outside the vessel.

Plenty of sightseeing beneath the sea and on the seafloor

I think Paul really enjoyed it even though he seemed a bit skeptical to begin with!

We all live in a yellow submarine.

After an hour of doing nothing but staring at fish and such, we apparently developed an enormous appetite and went in search of something to make food porn photos of. We were in luck, because nearly all the real estate facing both the beach and the fishing port is a series of restaurants. The only problem is choosing just one. We ended up at Cafe Mogan.

The list of ice cream treats was massive and so were the serving sizes. We settled on "THE ROMANOV." Basically, strawberries and cream.

My lunch. Seared coalfish with salad and Freedom Fries.

Paul went with the pasta.

The lunch was really tasty. And filling. Causing us to need another stroll around the port.  This is not a huge place, but it is quaint and fun for a day. The weather was good enough to allow sunning and swimming, although we didn't partake. We did some shopping for small souvenirs of the island and then took another beach stroll  for  a grand total of about 6 miles, even on a non-hiking day. Then it was back to the bus for a curvaceous road trip with dramatic dropoffs with a driver who was pissed off at tourists. Yikes!  Once back in Aldea, we eventually reconnected with our very worn out hiking companions who chose the optional hike and ended up with 8 hours of walking including some having to return part of the way by taxi. And they loved that as much as we did the beach. But since we have three hiking days remaining, I didn't really have any regrets about spending a day NOT walking 18 miles downhill. I did that once from the North Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon down to Bright Angel and seriously wondered if I would ever make it up to the South Rim the next day. And I believe I was about 15 years younger. It's not fun having limitations, but that doesn't mean there's not plenty else out there to appreciate! And the ocean always makes a lasting impression. Especially one so blue and lovely.

“I thought of you and how you love this beauty,
And walking up the long beach all alone
I heard the waves breaking in measured thunder
As you and I once heard their monotone.

Around me were the echoing dunes, beyond me
The cold and sparkling silver of the sea --
We two will pass through death and ages lengthen
Before you hear that sound again with me.”
― Sara Teasdale

Paul's Ponderings:  We had a nice day out as described, starting off with a reasonably aggressive bus trip over to the port area; one of our co-hikers from the UK made the trip over with us....it is very hard to describe how narrow and twisted the roads are here.   Think blind corners, bus drivers blowing horns, and cars passing on blind hills....

Regardless, while our companions were hiking 18 miles in rain and such, we were sunning ourselves walking around a lovely, if touristy, port area and taking it easy.   Despite that, we walked around 6 miles today and then had a lovely dinner at a local bar/restaurant here in Aldea.  While we are pretty fit folks and love the walks, we agreed that an 18 miler would have been a pseudo killer for the rest of the week's hiking, so we are glad we stuck with the plan to see a part of the Canaries that we will likely not see again.   I would say it reminded me of  Palma, Majorca, a bit, but on a micro-scale.  

The Port of Mogan is mostly restaurants, beach, and harbor with tourist accommodations, but that's OK for a day....not sure we'd want to hang out there for a long time.   Meanwhile, we come back to find that Turkey has downed a Russian fighter jet....making our localized concerns seem trivial.   The world seems to be a much smaller place recently, more so when you are outside the US border.   To paraphrase Rodney King, wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just get along?   Life is short, experiences and friends, even short term acquaintances like the lovely folks we are sharing this trip with, are important, make the most of it.....that's our paradigm at this stage.....a warm day out in the Canaries is pretty hard to beat!

Gran Canaria Day 2: Roaming with Rumi

"Beauty surrounds us, but it takes walking in a garden to know it."
                                                                 Rumi

A map of Gran Canaria. We are starting all our hikes from 9 o'clock on the map: Aldea de San Nicolas. Haven't seen Santa yet!

Paul and I are really enjoying our walking vacation here on Gran Canaria. We are staying in Aldea de San Nicolas which on this map is at about 9 o'clock. We started at a saddle of the mountain in an area called Tasartico and walked to Mogan which is at about 7-8 o'clock on the map. The climate at Tasartico was chilly with a driving wind and slanting hard drizzle and we put our jackets on and rain gear and gritted our teeth for the journey ahead on this island of "near perfect temperatures year round." The island isn't extremely large, so the distance seems big on the map, but in reality was only about 9 miles total between the two locations, moving up and down between two mountain passes and through valleys and hamlets. Fortunately, the sun began to peek through the peaks after only about 15 minutes of walking and came full on in sunshine glory by lunchtime.
We walked over the landscape of volcanic rocks mostly interspersed with farms and plantations of bananas, mangoes, limes and squash, but also amongst yapping guard dogs (every small house has at least two) and through the village of Veneguera, where we enjoyed our lunch. While we cannot really claim to be walking in a garden, as Rumi suggests, we can claim to be seeing some interesting plant life.

The agave plant. It uses all its energy at the very end of its life to produce this seed stalk. The guide called it, "The last erection." These seed stalks are well over 8-10 feet tall. When Bert pointed them out today again, one of the British blokes on the trip commented, "It's really quite daunting."
Gotta love a Pommy wanker for understatement. :)

Canarian wildflowers.

Prickly pear cactus

Most of the flora is succulents and cacti. But there's a good bit of tropical fruit. Gran Canaria is also quite famous for producing most of Europe's winter supply of tomatoes...which are SO delicious.


Our guide Bert calls these finger cactus and I guess you can see why! They are over 8 feet high.

One thing that is very different is that except for a few birds such as crows, pigeons and the occasional sparrowhawk, the wildlife supply here is really sparse. We would rarely hike at home, even downtown, without at least seeing a rabbit or an insect, but we haven't seen anything more than a snail or a spider. No mosquitoes. No horseflies. Nada. So that is strikingly odd.

Also, we love our Smokies but it is difficult to get a vista except at the highest points or at the occasional pass. Here, the view is 360 nearly all the time and we can frequently see the ocean from the mountaintops. 

Sky, ridge and palm trees

Paul smiling because he is nearly to the end of the hike which started at a saddle in the mountain you see behind him.

Today we passed around the village of Tasarte, through Veneguera and over the next pass to Mogan, which is a  bit of a touristy town. This side of the island is not known for tourism, but Gran Canaria is trying to earn a reputation as an ecotourism hotspot for hiking. We certainly haven't been disappointed by their new direction.

He's happiest on vacay!

Our Dutch guide, Bert, points out the pine trees of the cloud forest. We haven't hiked there yet, but we are told we will in two days.

This morning we started our walk in a rain and high wind in Tasartico in the mountains and ended in sunshine in the beach town of Mogan. Lots of diversity in weather, plants, landscapes and terrain.

Henry David Thoreau said a walk started in the morning is a blessing for the whole day. I wholeheartedly agree!  Another walking bugger, John Muir, said that nature always gives us more than we seek and that's very true here on Gran Canaria. Very grateful for this opportunity to see a stunningly different part of this planet.

Chickens in a pen with cactus. Apparently PETA does not have a chapter here.

Paul's Ponderings:  A great day out....three valleys and three summits.  We had the full gamut of weather from rain to chill to sun to heat.   We are the only folks from the USA here, mostly people from the UK and Canada,   That said, it is a strong group of hikers and the day would put no one to shame from the view of being strenuous.   Even though it was "only" about 10 miles, it was a full day out.   Both the ascents and descents were tough at times but the view were well worth it.  These are volcanic islands with serious peaks and associated scenery.   We are always near ocean even if it is not obvious.   Lots of arid plant life, including cactus, orange trees, bananas, papaya, palms, and more.  This is Spain though, so the village life and food aligns with the mainland of Europe.   

Weirdly, wildlife here is pretty limited.   We've seen one horse, no cows, and a lot of dogs, cats, and birds.   

Why are these named the Canaries?  The theory is twofold.   One is the obvious one is that there are tropical birds.   The other is there are lots of dogs, which in Latin translates to "cana" or "dog".   No one really knows apparently.

Hiking-wise, so far so good.   I've been using low hikers and a pack with water built in and it has worked so far.  Some of the walk has been very loose rock, so it has been a bit challenging at times and I have sometimes wished I had higher boots for ankle protection....no disasters so far.   

As mentioned before, Europe often uses these islands like US residents use the Caribbean islands...generally warm, scenic, and cheap.  However, the interior and non-beach areas are totally unlike the Caribbean....huge peaks and valleys.   

As many folks know, we like wine and this is a low production wine area, but quite unique.   My take on these wines is they have an interesting heartiness to them, which has a bit less fruit and a bit more "vegetable" which is a unique quality.   So far, I would not put them as world class, but pleasurable and intriguing and unlike anything you will taste from the normal wine growing areas in the US, Europe, or Australia.   That alone makes them interesting, putting aside wine-hound comparisons.

This is a remote and unique area....it is a bit of a slog from the US, but worth it.   Much more to come over the next several days!

Gran Canaria: The Best Medicine

The wild west coast of  Gran Canaria.

 

Walking is man's best medicine.

Hippocrates

 

 Wow. What a great day in the Canary Islands. Paul and I made a long, but uneventful sojourn across the big, bad Atlantic Ocean. After about 14 hours of airplanes, we really appreciated the folks who came this way on boats for days and days and even sometimes months. So even though I got tired and stiff on the aircraft, I'd best not complain.

We spent the night in St. Lucia, very near the airport and the next afternoon, met our new friends from Canada and were off to our new temporary home of Aldea de San Nicolas on the west coast of the Canary Islands. We read the Lonely Planet entry on this town and basically it said, "There is absolutely no reason to go to this town." But we disagree! Respectfully of course. It is the gateway to some remote and beautiful hiking.

Happy hikers

 Gran Canaria, as you might surmise from the name, is the largest of the Canaria archipelago. These islands are volcanic in origin, so they rise dramatic up from the sea. They have a long history that involves the native Berbers (unfortunately, almost all gone now), France, Spain, Italy and the Dutch. Christopher Columbus spent some time here outfitting for his journey. Literally, it was the last stop before the trade winds to the New World.


 

A view from our hike to the Atlantic Ocean

More gorgeous views of this desert island

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Give the man and walking stick and trail and you will get this smile....if there is gin and tonic at the end of the road!

 We started out by meeting fourteen new acquaintances from the UK and Canada and our buddy, Bert, who guided our prior trip to Andorra. Nice folks, but that is typical of hikers, in general. We were told by Bert, who very obviously is NOT a meteorologist, that we would have a  sunny day with 0.01mm of misty rain. WRONG. It rained off and on all day, but not particularly hard. And we had a rainbow. What's to complain about? We started at public land that was once a private farm for hunting called Finca de Tirma.

 Apparently, Franco spent time hunting here with the family for birds. The terrain was super dramatic and with clouds, it was even more so. We often glimpsed the ocean, but mostly jagged mountain peaks.

We were invited into a cave home for tea along the way with a family that had an eclectic souvenir collection, about 7 dogs and a bird collection in cages. They were gardeners for the finca and they basically lived off the land by eating vegetables, goat and honey. Very pretty place and they attributed their health to "pure mountain air." They were very generous with the little they had and the tea was made from mint from their garden.

The city of La Aldea de San Nicolas. Very small but very very friendly people.

This hike was really gorgeous, not only because we were walking amongst agave, prickly pear, barrel and the taller version you see above, but because we were surrounded by serrated mountaintops, the ocean in the distance, and the pine forest punctuated by rainbows and walking through the mists. Seriously, can it get any better? We really got in touch with nature today, and we loved it. Sure we got rained on a bit, but why not let your "mother" wash you?

Mist, mountains and desert isle.

The best thing to do when it is raining is to let it rain.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Paul's Ponderings:

We had a bit of a slog over here, thru Amsterdam, being awake about 36 hours more or less in the end other than sleep on the plane.   But, we stayed at the airport overnight at a hotel and then were pretty refreshed on Saturday.   We rode up to the hotel with some new Canadian friends thru some stunning mountains and lovely views of the sea.   Folks from Europe appear to use the Canary Islands like US residents use the Caribbean islands.   That said, the Canaries are stunningly mountainous, unlike what we've seen in the Caribbean.   The town we are in is pretty devoid of restaurants, so the first night we bought food at the local SPAR (local equivalent of Kroger) and cooked in our room which is more like an apartment.   

 

The first hike today was a combination of rain, sun, and wind, but not overly strenuous, despite being 7 miles or so...about a 200m ascent and a 600m steep descent in the mist.   Dinner was at the hotel, then we went out for a nightcap at another nearby hotel, which is more "full service".

 

This is a very rural area.   The island is not large, but very mountainous outside of the Las Palmas area, meaning two lane curvy roads up or downhill.   And I mean really hilly and curvy....not the parkway in Virginia or Tennessee.  

 

The first night we were here, there was a large festival in this rural town, but we missed most of it due to eating in the apartment.  There is a nice hotel near us that has a quiet terrace and bar that we are composing this blog entry on, the "La Aldea de San Nicolas Inn and Suites".   As of 10 pm local time, it's about 60 degrees, versus 41 at home!   Very nice!  

So far so good.... a remote and unique corner of the globe and with many of the benefits of Spain....low prices, warm weather, friendly folks.   We have spent a lot of time in Spain over the past 2-3 years and continue to find it a pleasure......the Canary Islands are another unique region....if you get the chance, give it a try.