Canaries 2021: three weeks on Gran Canaria during covid

To the island during covid

During covid travelling was banned and the Canaries were the first to open it up again, including direct flights. A house with a garden for two families right by the sea cost next to nothing and school and work were remote anyway. So we moved to Gran Canaria for three weeks.

We went as a whole family, Hanka, Barka, Žofka, František, Tonda and me, and with us Radim Mařík and Joža Maříková. Barka's classmate Leticie was staying nearby with her dad too.

Saturday 20 March 2021, Prague – Gran Canaria

We landed and in the evening took our first walk to the stony beach not far from the house. The boys were straight in the water.

Sunday 21 – Tuesday 23 March 2021, our house by the sea – San Agustín

A house with a garden and colourful beach huts on the lawn. Work on the laptop by the sea, the boys playing in the house and in the garden.

In the afternoon San Agustín beach: the boys buried in the sand, the girls on the benches along the promenade. In the evening wine and mussels.

Thursday 25 – Friday 26 March 2021, San Agustín

A vegetable market in the morning, then the rocks by the sea and building things in the sand. In the evening the lighthouse and the boys in the hallway of the house.

Saturday 27 March 2021, Playa de Tufia

Diving in the bay of Tufia. The whole family came along and for everyone except me it was their first taste of diving: wetsuits, tanks, instructors and the first steps into the water. After the dive, rock pools with creatures left behind by the tide.

I also went out once more on a night dive for octopuses with Vuki, who happened to be there as well.

Sunday 28 March 2021, Palmitos Park

A zoo and botanical garden in the hills above Maspalomas: parrots, giant tortoises, iguanas, butterflies and cacti. Then a show with dolphins and one with birds of prey, the falconer with an eagle right next to the boys.

Palmitos Park
A zoological and botanical garden in a valley above Maspalomas in the south of Gran Canaria, with a dolphinarium and bird of prey shows.

Monday 29 – Wednesday 31 March 2021, San Agustín – Arinaga

Coffee by the sea and lunch at the Casa Mama Gata restaurant. On Wednesday Arinaga: the coast below a volcanic hill, lunch with fish and in the afternoon the promenade with the Maříks.

Friday 2 April 2021, Roque Nublo

A trip to Roque Nublo, the rock tower in the middle of the island. Views across the whole island on the way, pine trees, a rock window and a plateau yellow with flowers in bloom.

Roque Nublo
A rock monolith in the centre of Gran Canaria, the symbol of the island and one of the most visited spots in the interior.

Saturday 3 April 2021, Tamadaba – Teror

We set off on a trip around the island in the van. The view from Tamadaba and in the evening Teror: the basilica of Our Lady of the Pine, little streets with wooden balconies and a dragon tree.

We slept in the van at a viewpoint above Teror, the lights of the town below us, and played Scrabble in the night.

Teror
A little town in the north of the island with the basilica of Nuestra Señora del Pino, the patron saint of Gran Canaria.

Sunday 4 April 2021, Teror – Agaete

In the morning the boys under a blanket in the van, then mountain villages and the port of Agaete with the ferry. In the afternoon a black beach with a rusty car wreck, the boys rolling around in the black sand and in the evening sunset on the rocks above the sea.

Monday 5 April 2021, Agaete – Puerto de Mogán – Maspalomas

In the morning a valley with terraced fields, then the port of Puerto de Mogán and in the afternoon the Maspalomas dunes. In the evening back at the house.

Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 April 2021, our house by the sea

Dinner with the Maříks, in the morning the little pool by the sea in front of the house and on Saturday windsurfers and wind turbines in Pozo Izquierdo.

For the trip back we had to get a covid test. They didn't give us one by mistake, and that turned into a big problem at the airport.