Review Gran Canaria:
from Teror to Roque Nublo via Fataga,
contrasting prints
From these sites, the memory of our first visit was almost magical.
And this time?
Gran Canaria,
Teror, what is left without the sun?
Heaven is definitely not with us.
We understand why the north of the island, its mountains and its valleys are also green, far from the sunny, sharp and mineral reliefs, from the asperities, dark and barren gullies from South : the sky remains heavy, clings to the peaks, leaves occasionally escape a few showers.
However, we find with pleasure in Teror ( see page 57 of the document reached by this link) this beautiful avenue, the "Calle Real de la Plaza", which slowly descends the slope of the hill, barely winding, and widens majestically towards the beautiful basilica (the "Virgen del Pino"), the culmination of traditional processions at the foot of two large centuries-old pines.
But there, damn dull light, Calle seems shorter, narrower. As if the city had shrunk.
Perhaps also the deceptive effect of a memory which remembers only the charm and surprises of the unheard of.
Seasonal conditions, low time during the week or even during the day? The Calle is this time almost empty, calm, and is draped in banality of day-to-day.
The absence of a sidewalk at the foot of the facades brings severe severity. Few shops, open shops, no other tourists than us.
But there are still the superb alignments of the colorful facades and the beautiful Canarian balconies.
The spacious square in the basilica, itself very well maintained, is also pretty.
The plots in the background seem embellished. Below, the vast modern space with an interpretation center has not changed.
On the other hand, the perpendicular perspective which goes to the assault of the mountain is more ample than in our memory.
Sideways, an old gable house now houses a perfume shop.
Its facade, white 5 years ago, was repainted in a carmine red powerful which makes it lose its elegance.
March 2014
march 2019
Gran Canaria,
Roque Nublo, always noble and cloudless
Towards the center of the island, a winding and pleasant road brings us back this time towards the intact car park, perhaps a little enlarged, of the famous geological site of "Roque Nublo".
Roque Nublo means something like "the rock in the clouds", and not the noble rock ...
In any case, with a persistent chance, we will have seen it at 5 years distance still well clear.
Both from Artenara a little to the west and from the Roque Bentayga, we only see him and his more modest neighbor, enormous snag, the Roque Rana ("rock of the frog") standing on the edge of the void, on the vast peak which overlooks the valley.
From the parking lot, we recognize, almost familiar, the rocky hiking trail that climbs up to the site. The difference in height is roughly
1750 - 1580 = 170 meters, over 1500 meters go.
The power of attractiveness, to which the majestic scale of the landscapes is not foreign, this time remains intact.
For the breath and the physical form on the other hand, it is the discomfiture after 5 more years: the age of his arteries ...
But the payoff at the top is remarkable.
After having skirted this other erected rock, El Fraile, which evokes a human silhouette in prayer or in a posture of contrition, the long sloping plateau directs the few visitors to the two monumental standing rocks.
Block of basalt, leftover (like other major reliefs of the island) of a violent volcanic eruption of 3 to 5 million years ago, the Roque Nublo culminates at 1813m (2nd highest point of the island after Pic de Las Nieves) and 62 meters above its base, on this plateau.
Superb side views. But not to the point, like the first time, of seeing the Teide of the island of Tenerife to the west floating on the ocean of clouds. Nothing this time.
in March 2014, Tenerife and Teide ...
Gran Canaria,
and on the way, Fataga,
quiet and flirtatious
By the main road that climbs from Maspalomas directly to the center of the island, Arteara, a mountain oasis, is recovering from the recent fire (just the week before) at its palm grove.
Here is then climbing a few switchbacks the charming village of Fataga, which curls up on a bump above a short valley, around a zigzag that makes in its center bitumen.
It is a usual stopover for European cyclists from all walks of life who come to this island. to train all year long, (almost) certain to benefit from the mercy of the sky, and to find the slopes to the measure of " their forge breath and their calves of steel ".
In their ranks, the French are not the most numerous.
But above all, more and more smaller sizes, hairless and soft calves, hair escaped from the light helmet, ... in other words more and more of you, ladies of the fair sex who are said to be weak.
And not the least efficient.
The beautiful white chapel (Church of San Jose), which one must be content to see from the outside, In the center of a small heavily shaded place (of ficus?) is there.
Quiet halt.
Opposite, a picturesque old house houses a local craft shop.
It is however probable that for this region around Tejeda, summer 2019 will have fatal summer:
the violent fires which will have ravaged it in July and August will leave indelible traces for several decades ...