Looking for the sun in Gran Canaria

 

At the beginning of September, two friends and I were fed up with the Dutch rainy weather and we decided to go to the sun for a week. In the end we chose Gran Canaria because of the cheap price and the warm weather. October 18 was the day and we were already on the train to Schiphol at half past five in the morning. The journey went well and in the afternoon we arrived at the airport of Gran Canaria. After a short bus journey we arrived at our hotel in Playa del Inglés, Corona Roja.

Enthusiastic as we were, we immediately walked in to check in. There I soon came to the conclusion that my mobile was still in the bus. We immediately called the travel organization TUI, they would arrange it further for us. We had one of the highest hotels in the area and our room was on the highest floor. We had 2 bedrooms, a spacious living room and a large balcony with a view of the sea and the town. We found the hotel highly recommended.

The first day we mostly relaxed at the pool and explored the town. We had a nice meal in one of the many restaurants out there. The next day I still didn't have my phone back, but Tui had contacted the bus company and a phone had been found. Hoera! We enjoyed the wonderful weather that day, over 30 degrees. There was also a welcome meeting that day with an explanation about the island and the possibility to book excursions. We had decided to do a jeep safari excursion, where you would also ride on a dromedary. In addition, we had arranged a boat trip at a local shop and rented a car. This was in fact much cheaper than at TUI.

Thursday I first went to the head office of TUI to pick up my phone, finally reunited! And sure enough, all my money and debit cards were still in it. My day couldn't get any better. Then a nice beach day was planned.

ViewView

Friday we had to be ready early for the jeep safari. From a meeting point we left with 9 jeeps into the mountains. We have seen many beautiful views and everything was told about the area. The nice thing was that a cameraman went along all day to film the people and the environment. You could buy that movie at the end of the day. In a small mountain village we had lunch with of course sangria. Then it was the dromedary's turn. I had never been on a camel or dromedary before, so I was looking forward to this one. In retrospect, this was a deception. The animals were tied one after the other and walked for ten minutes into a dirt road before turning around and walking back the same part. That was not really what we expected.

CamelsCamels

The last part with the jeeps was by far the most fun. We went off road a bit. You had to hold on tight, because we went through winding mountain roads full of potholes and stones. It was recommended in advance to buy a bandana because of the sand. During the part of off-road driving we understood well why that was advised. Everything, absolutely everything, was covered in sand and dust. After a bumpy part we arrived back at the meeting point. Our 'macho' driver was willing to take us to our hotel. During the day we were not allowed to stand in the jeep, the boss was very clear about that. But our driver indicated that he would condone that, if we still wanted to. Of course we still wanted that and so it happened. At 100 kilometers per hour (where you were only allowed 50) we raced to the hotel with the music on. We had a lot of attention...

JeepsJeeps

Saturday we rented a car to go to the highest point of the island and to visit the capital Las Palmas. It was quite a climb to get to the top of the mountains and the car had some trouble with it now and then. It took us several hours to reach the highest point of 1949 meters. This was at the top of the Pico de las Nieves. In clear weather the whole island would be visible, unfortunately we had some clouds. Still, the view was cool and it was definitely worth it. We ended the day in Las Palmas. About half of the total population of Gran Canaria lives in this city. It is the largest city in the Canary Islands. It was pleasantly busy and we walked along the boulevard, had something to eat and drink.

Sunday we took a boat trip, where we might see dolphins. The crew was soon busy searching with binoculars and at one point began to speak Spanish enthusiastically. We obviously had no idea what they were talking about. We changed direction with the boat and then one of the crew members mentioned that whales were swimming. We ended up seeing three whales up close, one of which was a small one. Very nice to see!

Boat tripBoat trip

The rest of the day was mostly relaxing on the boat. We were allowed to swim and snorkel. It fell a beehow many fish could be seen. It was just one kind. We also went on a banana boat.

On Monday we had bad weather for the first time. In the morning the sun was still shining, but in the afternoon and evening there were rain showers. It was clear to see that this does not happen very often, as many shops and restaurants were flooded. While it was only showers of about five minutes. We went to an escape room in the village. For the people who don't know this: you are locked in a room where you have 60 minutes to escape. You do this by looking for keys and codes. Escape rooms are currently very popular in the Netherlands and abroad. It was very nicely put together and we managed to escape in time. It is a nice activity to do on a rainy day. The name is Parapark and it is located in the middle of the village.

And then it was Tuesday again. The day we had to go home. Fortunately we only flew in the afternoon and we still had plenty of time to walk in the dunes of Maspalomas. These vast dunes were created by Sahara sand that came in from Africa. Africa is only 150 kilometers from Gran Canaria. It was a long walk through the dunes, but we thought it was very nice to have seen. And then it was really time to go to the airport and leave Gran Canaria behind us.

Sand DunesSand Dunes

Are you looking for a relaxing holiday with good weather, where you want to do something active? Then Gran Canaria is definitely recommended.