Gran Canaria

Most tourists going to Gran Canaria end up in the urban sprawl around Maspalomas. However, Gran Canaria is much more than that. In fact, it can compete with La Palma for the title of Isla Bonita.

Scenery

While Maspalomas is an urban sprawl, it is located in an area of stunning natural beauty when compared to similar urban sprawls on Lansarote and Tenerife. It feels like an upper class place compared to them. Still, a 5 star bar crawl area has never been my place to spend a holiday.

Not surprisingly, for me the most interesting part of Gran Canaria are the mountains. 15 million years of erosion have converted the original Tenerife-like volcanic cone into a labyrinth of spectacular valleys, ravines and peaks. A welcome difference to La Palma and Tenerife is the multitude of paths and and roads to get around on foot, on bicycle or by car. Possibly the best place to enter this labyrinth of mountain paths and roads is the Valley of Soria above Arguineguin.

The spectacular valley leads up to the system of reservoirs which is feeds most of the island south with water.

Some of the reservoirs are accessible and have nice camping sites.

From there on it is possible to continue to the center of the island and the road which traverses it from Maspalomas.

The road out of Soria ends right at the Roque Nublo. What I do not understand why the mineral water cristened after it uses the least interesting rock for the picture.

The East of the island is rather dull and there is not a lot of interesting stuff there. The North is very similar to the north of Tenerife to the point where you can mistake them for one another in a few places. The most interesting part besides the mountains is possibly the West Coast.

Compared to the west coast on Tenerife or La Palma it has eroded to some extent, but it is still quite spectacular and scary at times.

Overall it scores a firm second in my Canaries preference list. Right after the "Isla Bonita, Spanish Paradise" - La Palma

Entertainment

Wildlife Park

The wildlife park in the ravine north of Las Palomas is quite good. While it does not rank on par with Loro Parque it is worth visiting. It has probably the best open air bird shows on Canaries.

Word of warning - do not go there if you tend to be scared from having your toes pecked by some strange secretary bird relative. The toddler in the picture is nearly 4 feet tall so you can judge for yourself how big the "chicken" really is.

-- AntonIvanov? - 15 Nov 2008