Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Grand Canary Islands


Cubist Houses
Shapes and colors by the always bright Aguimes
Silhouettes
Silhouettes on a street in Aguimes.
Los Marteles Caldera
One of the many expressions of volcanism in Gran Canaria.
Las Nieves Peak
The forest around Pico de Las Nieves, with the island of Tenerife in the background.
The Roque Nublo
The natural monument of Roque Nublo, in the vicinity of Pico de Las Nieves.
la tejeda
The target houses and descendants of La Tejeda.
Teror's Calle Real
Late afternoon on Calle Real de Teror, with its main church in the background.
Teror Balconies
The traditional Canarian balconies, concentrated on Calle Real de Teror.
canine walk
Mascot ride in an elegant alley in Aguimes.
a thorny home
Resident enters the house below a large cactus that rises from her patio.
Spontaneous Climbing
Conquest of a small summit next to the viewpoint of Los Pozos.
Half way
Village between La Tejeda and Teror.
Guayadeck
Car slowly climbs the deep Guayadeque ravine
Iglesia de Aguimes
Dome of the cathedral very prominent above the houses of the village.
Street People
Residents meet on a corner full of color in Aguimes.
Flowered Cross
Cross of flowers decorates and blesses an entrance to Aguimes' house.
Parked Dromedary
Camel statue parked in an alley in Aguimes.
The Threshing floor of "La Era"
Panoramic chairs from "La Era".
It is only the third largest island in the archipelago. It so impressed European navigators and settlers that they got used to treating it as the supreme.

 With a diameter of 45 to 50 km and its zenith, almost central, bordering the 2 km of altitude, more than steep, Gran Canaria is abrupt.

Whenever we point to its interior, the roads go up and up, through the meanders that the furrows of the volcanism and erosion submitted to modernity.

The route between Vecindário and the centuries-old village of Aguimes, already 5km into the island, is hardly different.

Aguimes' Cubist Vision

The village stretches over a ridge on the foothills of Pico de Las Nieves, above one of the many verdant gorges that the canaries prefer to call ravines.

It spreads out over the vegetation like a lego of pastel pieces, crowned by the inevitable Catholic cathedral.

On the other side of the ravine, we resume our discovery, already in pedestrian mode, through the alleys, alleys and alleys that furrow the Cubist houses.

Elegant in its eccentric way, Aguimes welcomes successive waves of visitors. At that hour, perhaps because of the distance from the main seaside resorts, the outsiders were yet to arrive.

We come across one or the other, like us, independent, and dazzled by the chromatic harmony and forms in which the town it kept on, adorned by delicious whims of street art.

Cactuses sprout from the interior of patios.

Pots decorate corners with unpainted stones, an architectural fashion that, like the fruitful style of balconies and culverts, is considered imported from Portugal.

Other details are, just and only, canaries. This is the case of the bronze camel lying in an alley, among variants of yellow.

And that of the flower crucifixes that bless and reinforce the exuberance of the houses, a tradition that dates back to ancient times, but much later than the foundation of Aguimes.

A Gran Canaria Pioneer Town

It is estimated that the Spaniards began to build the village in 1491, shortly after they submitted the Canarian indigenous people and founded the settlement that gave rise to Las Palmas, the current neighborhood of Vegueta.

In fact, as would happen elsewhere, the conquerors and settlers who followed them imposed Aguimes on a settlement that the natives were forced to abandon.

The undisputed supremacy of the Church of San Sebastian, built with three naves, twin and lofty towers, has an obvious reason for being. It was the Catholic Monarchs of Spain who validated the foundation of the village.

When they dictated it, grateful for the missionaries' participation in the war against the Canary aborigines, they gave it to the church.

The sun rises in the firmament. It shortens in the shadows of passersby who, after the arrival of some tourist buses, are in greater numbers and justify that business owners, guides and the like to dedicate themselves to them.

Ironic as it may sound, in recent times, Aguimes attracts so many visitors that it justified an influx of immigrants from other less fortunate parts of the island.

This reality contrasts with that of previous decades, in which horticultural and other products proved to be insufficiently profitable and forced Canarian settlers to migrate to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other places, especially Hispanic in the Americas.

Overall, the municipality's population has increased for a hundred years and, from the beginning of the XNUMXth century until now, based on the strength of the industrial zone of neighboring Arinaga, almost doubling.

Other businesses, installed even further inland and upwards on the island, have proven themselves to be successful in all different ways.

Guayadeque: Rio, Barranco and Casas Cuevas Restaurants

With Aguimes behind, we follow the bank of the Guayadeque river.

The more we climb in its 15km extension, the more we feel the dry breath of Africa. agaves and cacti puntia flowers compete for the meager humidity retained by the slopes there, full of deep caves and caves adorned by man.

In a panoramic area with strong gastronomic traditions of the island, several restaurants have adapted to the recesses and other shapes of the cliffs.

The “Tagoror”, the “See” and the “La Era”, among others, became small houses and picturesque hostels, some even bizarre, with their gloomy tunnels and rooms contrasting with the monumental views from the sun terraces and gardens.

serve parrilladas with fried porridge or rugada – the latter, the traditional ones from the Canaries – enriched with standard peppers e blood sausage, in any case, everything produced around it, such as honey, Ingenio's questions and the wine mouth that mixes sweet wine with red wine.

Lunched at “La Era”, we sat on the threshing floor that inspired its name. From there, among agaves and cacti, we followed the cars on their way from tiny to life-size, in those, along the road that approached them.

A few minutes of contemplative quiet later, we follow the same asphalt, towards the summits of Gran Canaria.

On the way to the summit of Gran Canaria, the Pico de Las Nieves

We pass by El Sequero. We enter a ravine parallel to the one at Guayadeque – that of Ingenio – which approaches the homonymous river.

Crossing some mountain villages: La Pasadilla, El Roque, La Solana, Cazadores and similar villages, we leave the parched part of the island to the vast domain of its pine forest, irrigated by the mist and humidity that the trade winds bring from the Atlantic .

Countless curves and pine trees later, we cross the Caldera de Los Marteles. Then, we reach the Pico de Los Pozos viewpoint, also known as de Las Nieves.

With a good part of the island around, the view to the north-west catches our attention, with the rocky cliff of Roque Nublo standing out above the pine forest that fills the island's old main caldera, set against the united blues of the Atlantic and the sky.

From behind, in a distant background, the lines of Tenerife and the cone of El Teide volcano, with its 3715 m, the roof of the Canaries overlooking the top of Gran Canaria.

Prominent, and a lot.

We see hikers making their way to the trails that go into the pine forest. And others who photograph themselves, in acrobatic poses, on nearby rocks.

Below, meaningless, a kiosk kiosk kept a noisy generator running.

The unexpected desecration of Nature Canary Island and the harshness of the sun, soon, at the bottom move us to resume the itinerary.

Tejeda: the Cross and the White Village

We went down to Cruz de Tejeda. Upon arrival, we see his ornate cruise, crowned by a Christ in distress. on the margin of the religious meaning, the monument marked the geographic center of Gran Canaria.

A rooster and two or three chickens surrounded him, concentrating on the tidbits that tourists leave there.

From Cruz de Tejeda, we descend to Tejeda, the mother village of these parts, all white, contrasting with the rough gray-green of the slope that protects it.

Tens of kilometers counted, we realize that we are to the east of the Roque Nublo that we had glimpsed before.

The rock juts out from the top of the slope in the shape of a geological needle. With its 67 pointed meters, it reinforces the diagonal drama of the village.

In the middle of the caldera, home to almost two thousand canaries, Tejeda is considered one of the people most charming in Spain. Several others in Gran Canaria could join the group.

Already aimed at the capital Las Palmas, having completed 25km of zigzags by the threshold of the Rural Park of Doramas, we enter one of them.

Teror and the Cult of the Virgen del Pino

Teror is, today, a municipality in its own right, important in addition to the fact that it houses the Basilica of Nuestra Señora del Pino, temple of the patron saint of the diocese of the Canary Islands and, in particular, of Gran Canaria.

A Virgin of the Pine starred in a Marian apparition in Teror.

It became the raison d'être of an exacerbated Catholic cult.

And from one of the most exuberant celebrations of faith in the Canary archipelago, based on the XNUMXth century custom of carrying the image of the Virgin to Las Palmas and, before her, to pray for the rains that, at the time, were kept away from the island.

On the contrary, by the time we reached Teror, the sky seemed to prepare a bout. Facing northeast, exposed to the cloudiness dragged by the Alísios, only the beauty and joy of the town and its population broke the leaden atmosphere around.

We walk along the pedestrian street Calle Real de La Plaza, dazzled by the elegance of the wooden balconies, detached from so many other centuries-old facades.

At the end of a Friday, residents and visitors from the surrounding area engaged in raucous conversations, some on foot, others sitting in the terraces attended.

Long gone beyond the mountains, the sun took what was left of its light to the west. Delivered to Parisian lamps, Teror began to enchant in a post-twilight mode.

Until we left it, destined for Las Palmas, the Virgin of the Pine he refused to irrigate that large, arid but welcoming Canaria.

Vegueta, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Around the Heart of the Royal Canaries

The old and majestic Vegueta de Las Palmas district stands out in the long and complex Hispanization of the Canaries. After a long period of noble expeditions, the final conquest of Gran Canaria and the remaining islands of the archipelago began there, under the command of the monarchs of Castile and Aragon.
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Fuerteventura's Atlantic Ventura

The Romans knew the Canaries as the lucky islands. Fuerteventura, preserves many of the attributes of that time. Its perfect beaches for the windsurf and the kite-surfing or just for bathing, they justify successive “invasions” by the sun-hungry northern peoples. In the volcanic and rugged interior, the bastion of the island's indigenous and colonial cultures remains. We started to unravel it along its long south.
El Hierro, Canary Islands

The Volcanic Rim of the Canaries and the Old World

Until Columbus arrived in the Americas, El Hierro was seen as the threshold of the known world and, for a time, the Meridian that delimited it. Half a millennium later, the last western island of the Canaries is teeming with exuberant volcanism.
La Graciosa, Canary Islands

The Most Graceful of the Canary Islands

Until 2018, the smallest of the inhabited Canaries did not count for the archipelago. Arriving in La Graciosa, we discover the insular charm of the now eighth island.
PN Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

PN Timanfaya and the Fire Mountains of Lanzarote

Between 1730 and 1736, out of nowhere, dozens of volcanoes in Lanzarote erupted successively. The massive amount of lava they released buried several villages and forced almost half of the inhabitants to emigrate. The legacy of this cataclysm is the current Martian setting of the exuberant PN Timanfaya.
Tenerife, Canary Islands

The Volcano that Haunts the Atlantic

At 3718m, El Teide is the roof of the Canaries and Spain. Not only. If measured from the ocean floor (7500 m), only two mountains are more pronounced. The Guanche natives considered it the home of Guayota, their devil. Anyone traveling to Tenerife knows that old Teide is everywhere.
La Palma, Canary Islands

The "Isla Bonita" of the Canary Islands

In 1986 Madonna Louise Ciccone launched a hit that popularized the attraction exerted by a island imaginary. Ambergris Caye, in Belize, reaped benefits. On this side of the Atlantic, the palmeros that's how they see their real and stunning Canaria.
Tenerife, Canary Islands

East of White Mountain Island

The almost triangular Tenerife has its center dominated by the majestic volcano Teide. At its eastern end, there is another rugged domain, even so, the place of the island's capital and other unavoidable villages, with mysterious forests and incredible abrupt coastlines.
Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands

A Journey into the History of Santa Cruz de La Palma

It began as a mere Villa del Apurón. Come the century. XVI, the town had not only overcome its difficulties, it was already the third port city in Europe. Heir to this blessed prosperity, Santa Cruz de La Palma has become one of the most elegant capitals in the Canaries.
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Fuerteventura - Canary Island and Jangada do Tempo

A short ferry crossing and we disembark in Corralejo, at the top northeast of Fuerteventura. With Morocco and Africa a mere 100km away, we get lost in the wonders of unique desert, volcanic and post-colonial sceneries.

Valencia to Xativa, Spain

Across Iberia

Leaving aside the modernity of Valencia, we explore the natural and historical settings that the "community" shares with the Mediterranean. The more we travel, the more its bright life seduces us.

Matarraña to Alcanar, Spain

A Medieval Spain

Traveling through the lands of Aragon and Valencia, we come across towers and detached battlements of houses that fill the slopes. Mile after kilometer, these visions prove to be as anachronistic as they are fascinating.

La Palma, Canary IslandsSpain

The Most Mediatic of the Cataclysms to Happen

The BBC reported that the collapse of a volcanic slope on the island of La Palma could generate a mega-tsunami. Whenever the area's volcanic activity increases, the media take the opportunity to scare the world.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands

To César Manrique what is César Manrique's

By itself, Lanzarote would always be a Canaria by itself, but it is almost impossible to explore it without discovering the restless and activist genius of one of its prodigal sons. César Manrique passed away nearly thirty years ago. The prolific work he left shines on the lava of the volcanic island that saw him born.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

José Saramago's Basalt Raft

In 1993, frustrated by the Portuguese government's disregard for his work “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”, Saramago moved with his wife Pilar del Río to Lanzarote. Back on this somewhat extraterrestrial Canary Island, we visited his home. And the refuge from the portuguese censorship that haunted the writer.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
safari
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Faithful in front of the gompa The gompa Kag Chode Thupten Samphel Ling.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 15th - Kagbeni, Nepal

At the Gates of the Former Kingdom of Upper Mustang

Before the 1992th century, Kagbeni was already a crossroads of trade routes at the confluence of two rivers and two mountain ranges, where medieval kings collected taxes. Today, it is part of the famous Annapurna Circuit. When hikers arrive, they know that, higher up, there is a domain that, until XNUMX, prohibited entry to outsiders.
Sculptural Garden, Edward James, Xilitla, Huasteca Potosina, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Cobra dos Pecados
Architecture & Design
Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Edward James' Mexican Delirium

In the rainforest of Xilitla, the restless mind of poet Edward James has twinned an eccentric home garden. Today, Xilitla is lauded as an Eden of the Surreal.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Aventura

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Parade and Pomp
Ceremonies and Festivities
Saint Petersburg, Russia

When the Russian Navy Stations in Saint Petersburg

Russia dedicates the last Sunday of July to its naval forces. On that day, a crowd visits large boats moored on the Neva River as alcohol-drenched sailors seize the city.
Perth Lonely City Australia, CBD
Cities
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Lunch time
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Saida Ksar Ouled Soltane, festival of the ksour, tataouine, tunisia
Culture
Tataouine, Tunisia

Festival of the Ksour: Sand Castles That Don't Collapse

The ksour were built as fortifications by the Berbers of North Africa. They resisted Arab invasions and centuries of erosion. Every year, the Festival of the Ksour pays them the due homage.
4th of July Fireworks-Seward, Alaska, United States
Sport
Seward, Alaska

The Longest 4th of July

The independence of the United States is celebrated, in Seward, Alaska, in a modest way. Even so, the 4th of July and its celebration seem to have no end.
Entrance porch in Ellikkalla, Uzbekistan
Traveling
Uzbekistan

Journey through the Uzbekistan Pseudo-Roads

Centuries passed. Old and run-down Soviet roads ply deserts and oases once traversed by caravans from the Silk RoadSubject to their yoke for a week, we experience every stop and incursion into Uzbek places, into scenic and historic road rewards.
deep valley, terraced rice, batad, philippines
Ethnic
Batad, Philippines

The Terraces that Sustain the Philippines

Over 2000 years ago, inspired by their rice god, the Ifugao people tore apart the slopes of Luzon. The cereal that the indigenous people grow there still nourishes a significant part of the country.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
History
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Ribeira Grande, Santo Antao
Islands
Ribeira Grande, Santo AntãoCape Verde

Santo Antão, Up the Ribeira Grande

Originally a tiny village, Ribeira Grande followed the course of its history. It became the village, later the city. It has become an eccentric and unavoidable junction on the island of Santo Antão.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Winter White
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Mahé Ilhas das Seychelles, friends of the beach
Nature
Mahé, Seychelles

The Big Island of the Small Seychelles

Mahé is the largest of the islands of the smallest country in Africa. It's home to the nation's capital and most of the Seychellois. But not only. In its relative smallness, it hides a stunning tropical world, made of mountainous jungle that merges with the Indian Ocean in coves of all sea tones.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Mangrove between Ibo and Quirimba Island-Mozambique
Natural Parks
Ibo Island a Quirimba IslandMozambique

Ibo to Quirimba with the Tide

For centuries, the natives have traveled in and out of the mangrove between the island of Ibo and Quirimba, in the time that the overwhelming return trip from the Indian Ocean grants them. Discovering the region, intrigued by the eccentricity of the route, we follow its amphibious steps.
The Dominican Republic Balnear de Barahona, Balneario Los Patos
UNESCO World Heritage
Barahona, Dominican Republic

The Bathing Dominican Republic of Barahona

Saturday after Saturday, the southwest corner of the Dominican Republic goes into decompression mode. Little by little, its seductive beaches and lagoons welcome a tide of euphoric people who indulge in a peculiar rumbear amphibian.
In elevator kimono, Osaka, Japan
Characters
Osaka, Japan

In the Company of Mayu

Japanese nightlife is a multi-faceted, multi-billion business. In Osaka, an enigmatic couchsurfing hostess welcomes us, somewhere between the geisha and the luxury escort.
Daytona Beach Portico, most famous beach of the year, Florida
Beaches
Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

The so-called World's Most Famous Beach

If its notoriety comes mainly from NASCAR races, in Daytona Beach, we find a peculiar seaside resort and a vast and compact beach that, in times past, was used for car speed tests.
Engravings, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
Religion
luxor, Egypt

From Luxor to Thebes: Journey to Ancient Egypt

Thebes was raised as the new supreme capital of the Egyptian Empire, the seat of Amon, the God of Gods. Modern Luxor inherited the Temple of Karnak and its sumptuousness. Between one and the other flow the sacred Nile and millennia of dazzling history.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Walter Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand
Society
New Zealand  

When Counting Sheep causes Sleep Loss

20 years ago, New Zealand had 18 sheep per inhabitant. For political and economic reasons, the average was halved. In the antipodes, many breeders are worried about their future.
Coin return
Daily life
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Etosha National Park Namibia, rain
Wildlife
PN Etosha, Namíbia

The Lush Life of White Namibia

A vast salt flat rips through the north of Namibia. The Etosha National Park that surrounds it proves to be an arid but providential habitat for countless African wild species.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.