Active Gran Canaria
If you imagine visiting Gran Canaria is just about lying on the beach, it’s time for a rethink. To make the most of the island’s scenery, take a hike, a bike or a boat
words by Max Wooldridge
For most visitors stretched out on their backs on Gran Canaria’s sandy beaches with their towels and their paperbacks, the island’s interior remains a great unknown – little more than a misty, mountainous backdrop. Tourists stay on the beach because they believe that the centre of the island is barren and there’s nothing to do there. They don’t know what they’re missing.
Gran Canarians proudly refer to their island as “a continent in miniature”, and with good reason. There’s a desert, mountains, meadows, pine woods, almond orchards, deep valleys and volcanic craters, as well as charming little villages and Spain’s seventh biggest city – Las Palmas – home to half the population of the Canary Islands.
Activities such as trekking are particularly suited to this, the third biggest – and sunniest – of all the Canary Islands. It’s the ideal way to combine exercise with a sense of discovery, and the perfect antidote to over-indulging on local cheeses and delicious papas con mojo: sweet Canarian baby potatoes boiled in their jackets and served with a spicy green-chilli sauce.
So, rather than just soaking up the sun around the pool, why not turn inland and head for the hills? A local multi-adventure company called Canariaventura organises trekking trips and wide-ranging activities on the island, including climbing, mountain-biking and canyoning. Canariaventura also offers kayaking on the south of the island, which allows you to explore beaches virtually inaccessible by land.
What’s immediately clear from a trekking excursion is that the “miniature continent” label is no empty claim. At every turn in the road the landscape changes, from the warm coast, through valleys and subtropical forests, to high peaks. Empty tarmac roads head up into the barrancos – deep, fertile ravines that cross the centre of island.
Start your trek at the Chira Dam, the third biggest on the island. It’s close to the village of Fataga, which is reminiscent of an Andalusian white town. Amid the solitude of this cowboy landscape are hiking paths that pass olive trees and saunter gently along lavender-scented camino reales: old shepherds’ footpaths that crisscross the island. Banana palms and huge cactus plants sway in the fresh Atlantic breezes – ideal for cleansing your lungs of big-city toxins.
None of the trekking on Gran Canaria is particularly challenging; a sturdy pair of trainers will be fine for scrambling over rocks and examining the strange plants that grow out of them. Be prepared to walk among prickly pears, though, and king-size pine cones that would sell for a fair sum in chic boutiques. In summer temperatures can be a little on the hot side, but in spring, autumn and winter, the weather is close to perfect: warm and sunny with any humidity kept at bay by those breezes. The average winter temperature of 22ºC makes the air so unbelievably clean that the locals should market it as a souvenir for visitors to take home in plastic bottles.
Around this point you are virtually in the centre of the island, trekking north towards Los Cercados across a near-lunar landscape. As hawks fly above, and you pass by lemon and lime trees, look out for some wooden doors carved into the rock. These were the cave houses of the Guanche, the cave-dwelling aboriginal people of the Canary Islands who were wiped out in the 15th century by the Spanish. They followed a sun-worshipping religion and no doubt paved the way for all the recumbent tourists catching the rays back at Playa del Inglés. Some of these caves have been transformed into hotels and you can stay in one in the village of Artenara (see page 68).
En route to Lomo de la Plata you’re likely to find long, orderly lines of large aloe vera plants that farmers used to mark their territory instead of fences. Those farmers were smart folk, also using the tabaiba bush, which only grows at heights of above 1,000 metres, as an altimeter. Trekking in Gran Canaria often means a host of small, wonderful and unexpected discoveries like this.
Picnic under an almond tree and admire the amazing views all the way to Tenerife on the horizon. In and around the lunar landscape that surrounds the town of La Plata, there are good views of Gran Canaria’s highest peak, the 1949-metre Pico de las Nieves. Tenerife’s volcano Mount Teide, Spain‘s highest peak, can easily be seen on a clear day – of which there are many here.
Hiking is just one of many activities on offer on Gran Canaria, and biking inland is also popular, either on some of the smooth tarmac roads or on a series of designated off-road tracks. Inevitably, the sea also beckons.
There are lots of water-based activities at Puerto Rico, just along the coast from Playa del Inglés, including jet-skiing and scuba-diving. Glass-bottomed boat rides and whale-watching trips are available if you want to take it easy. There’s also bottom fishing, should you wish to inspect rays or conga eels at close quarters.
Puerto Rico is also the best place for a parasailing adventure, a brief but thrilling 10 minutes in which you take to the air from a boat about a kilometre out to sea. You can rise up to 200m high above the waves and you only get your feet wet coming into land at the end. Or you can take a boat called Spirit of the Sea for a two-hour excursion. It sails 10 miles off the coast so that passengers can see dolphins and turtles in their natural habitats. If the dolphins are feeling shy, don’t worry: hundreds of silvery flying fish skimming the waves provide ample excitement Gran Canaria also has some great windsurfing beaches and is an ideal place for sailing. Each July, windsurfing championships are held at Pozo Izquierdo, a beach halfway between Playa del Inglés and the airport. In November, 150 yachts from all over the world set sail from Las Palmas on the annual Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), the world’s largest trans-ocean sailing event. Las Palmas’ prize asset is not the skateboard park in the centre of the city, but Las Canteras beach, which has clean sand and is protected by a lava reef. The beaches of Confital and La Barra, just to the north, are great for surfing – both at intermediate and expert level.
Fancy a little bit more sand? Maspalomas, a protected habitat in the island’s deep south, has nearly 425 hectares of the stuff. These amazing dunes can only be crossed on foot or by camel, and they look as if part of the Sahara desert has been transported hundreds of kilometres west. The best way to experience them is by camel, though sadly Lawrence of Arabia robes are not included.
If golf is more your bag, Gran Canaria has six major golf courses, spread across the island but never more than 30 minutes apart. They include Spain’s oldest golf club, Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas, founded in 1891, which is situated on the plains of Bandama, near an extinct volcano. The crater does not form one of the holes, but it makes a wonderful trek if you need to retrieve your ball.
Whichever activity you choose, at the end of the day your muscles will ache, your tender face will gently glow from too much sun, but you ‘ll have seen a side to Gran Canaria you never knew existed.
For more information on these outdoor adventures visit www.canariaventura.com, or for more general information visit the Gran Canaria Tourist Board website at www.grancanaria.com
stay in a cave
Gran Canaria’s original inhabitants used mountain caves as lodges, a tradition that still exists for today’s more adventurous tourists. You too can go native and stay in an enchanting cave house where the walls, ceilings, windows and doorways have been cut from volcanic rock. Each hotel is located in Artenara which, at 1,200m, is the highest town on the island. Rooms feature a bedroom, living area and kitchen, a bathroom with hydro-massage bathtub, and a garden terrace with barbecue and outdoor shower.
El Caidero is a refurbished Aboriginal cave dwelling excavated from the rock, with magnificent views of the surrounding valleys and ravines.
El Mimo is a peaceful cavehouse with great views of the island’s summits. The rooms are imaginatively lit, and feature a harmonious fusion of furniture and stone.
Las Margaritas is located on the island’s summit. The hotel has been sensitively refurbished and all the rooms are now strikingly furnished.
For more information on any of these cave hotels call +34 9 2866 1668 or visit www.returcanarias.com
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