Grand Canaria, Las Palmas

This island is bigger and a bit greener than Lanzarote. It was discovered in 1478 by European explorers, much to the detriment of the Canarios. It is a dry island with only about 25 days of rain each year. Water is desalinated for non-consumption but otherwise, water is purchased from the reservoir. Las Palmas looks like a financial and commercial centre.

Brian and I took a ship excursions to Finca LaJaja (finca means plantation) in the Agaete Valley (pronounced Ah-Rah-Tey). Much like the plantations of the south, it grows coffee and sugar cane and produces wine to sell on the island but it also is self-sufficient for vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy. But today, its main income was from tourists. It is very well organized to manage large groups of tourists to learn about and taste coffee (from Arabica beans), wine and local fruits like oranges, avocados, limes and bananas. The island is heavily terraced for agriculture. On this finca, no chemicals are used on the plants.

The town of Agaete is quite pretty with all houses painted white (by law) . We also visited Puerto Agaete, a tiny fishing village -very picturesque.Read more