I turned 41 in March, and for my birthday, I got a fantastic gift: to go to Gran Canaria for 5 days, and have a rest in April. It’s interesting how, among many other things, the definition of "rest" morphs as our life progresses, as our situation evolves. Nowadays my main enemy is the need for constant focus and context switching, so the idea of rest is quite simple: I don't have to pay attention unless I want to. This is exactly what I got from this trip - that, and that sometimes there's less need for planning ahead.
Day 1 : arriving
Upon browsing for a place to stay at, my wife spotted something in the mountains: a literal cave house, Cueva las Nubes1. At first I thought it's a novelty, but once I was there it turned out it's the indigenous way of living2.
This is what you see when you're searching for the place from the road
Now there's a nice, big gate installed, and it's quite a fun turn with the car
The covered patio and roso of the accommodation
The living room of the cueva - with the mornig sun bathing it
again, I really like this cave
it even had a fireplace and all
This one I stayed in was extended, as many others - added roofs and frontal space. It's nice from the perspective of a house, it's much less nice from the perspective of relentless condensation. It turns out the caves needed a certain way of ventilation to prevent this, and this house doesn't have the natural flow any more. Modern solutions, such as dehumidifiers, should be added, otherwise the caves tend to get musty and mouldy in absolutely no time. If the owner is reading this: please consider a smart dehumidifier that runs when needed, because it does smell a bit moldy and musty in there. Not unlike some British houses though.
Over-developed cave-house vs. the condensation
Apart from this, the place is fantastic. The view is insane; what the clouds cover is the airport itself, meaning the cueva can be seen from the runway.
This would be the morning view from the cueva - that is when the clouds are under you and not over you
Somewhere there
The surprise cat
We have 2 cats at home, neutered males both, one silent killer, one retarted loudmouth, and we love them both. So when a skinny, seemingly feral cat showed up at the cave demanding it's share I realised the place had cat food and pet feeding pots. Apparently there are more cats around, I got to meet 4 of them in the end, and they supposedly belong to the shepherd on the other side of the hill. They don't want to be petted at all.
Day 2
The plan: go to see the pine forest close to me, then to go to Teror, see the town, and buy food. The first part went well, the second taught me lessons.
Pico de las Nieves
The Canary Islands host pine forests, with pines native and unique to these islands. What's incredible about them is how wonderful they smell when the sun hits them and they get warm. It's like the nicest smelling sauna, a forest of aromatherapy. I fell in love with this and the feeling it generates the moment I first experienced it, and I wished to experience it again, so my first trip was towards where the pines are.
On Gran Canaria there are two main areas of this: the forests around Pico de las Nieves and around Tamabada. My cave was closer to the first, so that's where I headed. I wasn't expecting the military complex on the top of the mountain, but that didn't prevent me from having a nice hike after parking in the completely empty parking spot.
Except...
I took a wrong turn, and moved away from the restaurant I was trying to head for - which brings me to the problem of food. I keep forgetting that there are still places in the world where most stores close for Sunday, and where there isn't some kind of takeaway or restaurant open at basically any time of the day, meaning I came a bit underprepared with food.
When I got back to the parking spot it was swarming with people and cars, including a food van - foolishly I decided I'd rather get back in the car, go to see Teror, a village famous for it's beauty, and eat something there.
To Teror or not to Teror
On my way I went through a village called Lanzarote - yes, the same name as one of the other islands, one that I like a lot, so I stopped to eat at the local restaurant. I went for fish, so you don't have to. Fresh fish around the docks is great; not completely fresh fish in the mountains is not. I made this mistake one more time, believing it was the place, but no; it's truly not worth it.
I continued to Teror.
I stopped at a turn, because there was a forest I wanted to check out
Except...
The next part of the road didn't go as planned: a few kilometers from Teror the only road going there had a police closure. A half-size car and two plastic barriers, blocking the road. After spending some time, looking for options, I gave up, decided to turn around, and head to Maspalomas.
I stopped in Tejeda, given how the tour books rave about it. It's pretty, but I didn't feel anything special, and continued.
It's hard to explain the sizes, even if there are people for scale
Except...
The rest of the trip didn't happen. The last 4 kms (sic) to Maspalomas from the mountains was stuck in a traffic jam.
I ended up turning around, slightly panicking on food for that night and the day after as started the drive back. Eventually I spotted another food van - in a parking lot that is closed to cars... At that point I gave up, put the indicators in blinking, and left the car on the road, and got some oranges and a bocadillo.
I drove 6-7 hours and getting nowhere. I should have headed back to my pine forest when the road to Teror was closed. The lesson of the day was to stop forcing things: sometimes the solution will present itself. This theme kept resonating, so maybe it's what I have to take away.
Day 3
About a decade ago my sister and her spouse went to Grand Canaria and I told them to go to the coffee plantation. Sadly they couldn't, and by the time I was preparing for my trip, I completely forgot about them myself. And then suddenly the memory came back from nowhere, so I had a very clear plan that I want to go to the coffee plantations.
The plan: going to Agaete and swimming in the ocean. This quickly went up in petrol fumes: both roads leading not into the mountains from of my place were closed till mid afternoon due rally.
Barranco de Guayadeque
So far my trip didn't look relaxing, but some days before my wife spotted a crafts shop not far from me - not far in direct line. Google, which has streetview on the very track itself doesn't recommend the short one for hiking, but openstreetmaps does:
Being "trapped" on the mountain turned out to be great. The trail is part road, part dirt, and is not hard to walk. I left rather early, meaning I didn't meet anyone for a while, only to be surrounded by the loud buzzing of bees and other insects.
The valley is serene, and it"s one of the main areas for cave houses.
View in the barranco
I tried to capture the insect buzzing that surrounded me, probably without luck:
What's visible from the outside of a casa-cueva
The whole rock of Montana de las Tierras is riddled with caves, and most of them are casa-cuevas; this street runs around it
oldschool instagram, drink with a view
lap-cat being lap-cat
I ate at Restaurant Tagoror, and, as mentioned before, I got fish, again. because there was a weekend only menu, so I thought this is the local equivalent of a Sunday roast, why not. The lesson I learnt is to stick to fresh, grilled fish on the seaside instead. The gofio was very nice though.
Dunes de Maspalomas
After getting back from the small hike I realised there was plenty of time left from the day, so I attempted Máspalomás again. Well...
The dunes are beautiful. That is if you're able to spot any piece without an asshole tourist playing the center of the universe, ignoring all signs, and walking into them. This is especially true for entitled Asian wannabe influencers.
What sort of destroyed it all was that to access the dunes I had to go through a hotel complex that is practically the entrance to the view. I understand it's a tourist attraction but it's a bleak, stark contrast compared with the seclusion and serenity of the mountains.
Good luck finding a pristine dune...
turning around provided a nicer image
Day 4
This day went as planned - with the plan I had for the day before. And it was a bit chilly for swimming, but it didn't stop me.
Agaete Valley
I entered Agaete with no expectations. If it really was just a coffee plantation, and I had a good coffee, I would have been happy. And it turned out for the best: this place is incredible. It has a ringing serenity to it, one that I so rarely found anywhere. With the grey clouds sitting right on top of the surrounding mountains it was even more peaceful.
I spent most of the day just wandering around after the morning coffee taste. I didn't book anything, so when they asked if I want the tour or just the taster, I went for the taster - only to change my mind when more people arrived, and they were so nice about it all, no fuss, no nothing. Shout out to Ruben and James, given your coffee interest; Finca los Castaños3 has absolutely marvellous, kind coffee, in case you find yourself on Gran Canaria. There are many other tiny coffee plantations, but I didn't have the chance to taste those yet.
This view, when sipping a wonderfully relaxing cup of mellow Agaete coffee
Yep, those are not small
Mountains surrounding the valley
That is a waterfall somewhere far.
The dramatic view was in strong contrast with the peacefulness of the day and the place
The coffee. With jam tasting.
Agaete Piscina Natural
I wanted to swim somewhere, but in April, it's not that trivial (or safe, see below), but natural/semi natural pools can always help. It was certainly a new experience to swim while the locals and the Spanish were standing next to me in jackets and coats.
Day 5
Before the flight home I first visited a local arboretum, but it wasn't really worth it, as the more interesting parts were closed up. I also went into the old town of Las Palmas. It's pretty and it has some very nice little shops, but finding a parking spot was challenging.
Lastly I went out to the shores to say bye to the ocean.
There are some brave people living here for sure.
There were red flags up, which I attributed to the wind, until I saw this - so yeah, no swimming.
Summary
Go to Agaeta and the mountains.
Skip the tourist zone.
The universe will provide if you're willing to be flexible.
And if you keep to yourself for a few days the brainfog will finally lift.
My whole trip on the map
This entry was written by Peter Molnar, and originally posted on petermolnar dot net.
