The mountains of Gran Canaria, what is worth seeing
In order to see the mountains and the famous cliffs of Gran Canaria, you need to go to the center of the island or to the most remote corners, as, for example, those in the west of the island. We are going to tell about that.
If you are without a car on the island – you will see nothing, only your beach and a suite. We don’t even discuss whether to have a car during travels (we either take ours or rent it like here), since buses and other dependent means of transport are not for us. The first destination where we went along the mountain spiral roads – is a rock Roque Nublo.
The roads throughout the island are very good, and lots of greenery around. This is if compared with Tenerife, where the roads are very old and need repair, as well as new markings. And only remnants of lava in the form of crushed stones surround you in the Teide National Park. However, will are going to tell later about Tenerife)
On the way to Roque Nublo there is a city of Fataga, where everyone stops. For, firstly, they have been traveling for a long time along the spiral roads, and, secondly, it’s beautiful there and there are restaurants, a grocery store, and a gas station.
The town with almost white houses 🙂 The residents interestingly rub the spots.
The Canarians like to decorate the area around their houses, and on the streets in all the cities there are many flowerbeds, pots with trees or flowers. A good tradition.
After Fataga, we took a long ride to Roque Nublo, and forgot to take something to eat. Moreover, there was a national holiday and all the stores in the villages and cities were closed. We didn’t want to climb the mountains on foot hungry, so we stopped in a village in a “restaurant”. We didn’t know about Barakitos during the first days, so we ordered cappuccino, and that was a mistake – because they can’t cook it and the majority have nothing to do it from. It was already 5 pm and the café was going to close, but they still agreed to cook pasta Carbonara for us) served very quickly – so, we ate those “pasta with something” and drank our coffee. Conclusion: they don’t steam their beam here!
You need to walk up about 1.5 km to the rock Roque Nublo from the parking lot. At first the trail, then steep climbs through the forest and rocks.
A strong wind was waiting for us on the mountain, but we took jackets with hoods, so it was comfortable.
In fact, there are many such rocks scattered in different places in Gran Canaria, but Roque Nublo is the most popular one. A beautiful panorama opens from there.
Two small stones from away. And if you come closer, they will be about 90 meters high.
The environment is interesting here because the stones surface is light and it’s quite extensively here.
You can see a little of Maspalomas from here and the mountains through which we drove here along the spiral roads. Roque Nublo is located at a height of about 1400 m.
And that was another day, when we went to the West of Gran Canaria and visited the Bay of San Nicolas, and a restaurant with cacti and a garden with exotic fruits. The steepest and the narrowest twisted serpentine road with breathtaking views was waiting for us in this area.
This road leads past the rivers and reservoirs, but the rivers has dried up a number of years ago, because even palm trees grew on their place at the bottom. And the water level substantially decreased in the reservoirs. Here, in the valley below, they grow bananas and other crops that need to be watered. There are almost no rains. We had an impression that no one drives cars here; we met only two cars on the way. And it’s good, for the roads are very narrow, and there are not many places where you can go in both directions.
The first reservoir: here you can see by how much the water-level has fallen down. But surroundings is beautiful)
It’s been a long time since we drove on such roads. But how interesting!
Not far from the first reservoir, there is another one. You need to go up along the concrete wall, hiding tons of water behind.
But the most interesting we had awaiting us ahead. We took direction towards the arduous hill and ascended serpentine.
The road is without a protective fence and very narrow. No car on the way.
Somewhere far from the civilization there is a village, so lonely among the high mountains.
As we go forward and higher, the landscapes become more and more breathtaking.
Having overcome a long serpentine way, we went along a more popular road that led us to the main one, by which everyone goes to Roque Nublo, which we were able to observe from another angle. Landscapes of indescribable beauty we saw that day, and finally even a cool sunset. And after that we were going down the spiral rods for a long time and went to bed satisfied.
With love, RH.
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