Hola! From Sunny Gran Canaria in December.
A beautiful view from the sky on the airplane. A lit up town in Sweden below with a sunset in the distance.
On December 23 we flew from Kalmar in southern Sweden to Gran Canaria, Spain. The flight took 5 hours and 20 minutes and we landed in Las Palmas at 8.50 in the evening. We booked an AirBnB in the northern part of Gran Canaria, near Moya and our host, Thomas, picked us up and drove us to what is to be our home for the coming week. Since it was dark when we arrived we could not have any “first impressions” of the island. We did have a nice impression of the home and our hosts (and their little dog named Buddy). Since the evenings get a bit chilly it is nice to have an extra sweater and a jacket as we then can enjoy sitting on the terrace at the house. Our hosts invited us for a drink and a chat and gave us a little tour of the house. There is only one guest room with a double bed plus a private bathroom and a terrace on the second floor. We share the rest of the house with the owners and Buddy, but you can choose to interact or just do your own thing. It’s relaxed and quiet and most of all, the house is beautifully decorated and taken care of. We believe we made the right choice to stay away from the big hotels and more touristic areas in the south.
Our AirBnB in northern Gran Canaria is beautifully decorated and we have our own terrace on the top floor. There are also different fruit trees and other plants and herbs in the garden.
Motorcycle rental in Las Palmas
Day 1 It’s time to pick up our motorcycle at Canary Ride in Las Palmas! Again we got a ride from our hosts and it was a 30 minute ride before we were at the rental shop. We had already done an online check-in through a secure system to provide accurate information before our arrival, so to pick up our bike was very smooth! Ondrej (the owner) greeted us and gave us some tips about the best places to drive and an introduction to the bike. We were already prepared since these days you can find most reviews of bikes on YouTube. We rented the Honda NC750 X DCT and it looked as new and in perfect condition.
First time on the Honda NC750 X DCT with an automatic gear transmission. (You can also shift into manual gear).
First stop - the village of Moya
We decided to head out of Las Palmas and it was a very easy drive out from the city onto the bigger roads. Traffic was calm and the roads are in very good condition. Our bike has a phone holder so it is easy to follow navigation through Google Maps. Our very first ride was excellent, with a clear blue sky and the sun warming us. We brought our own MC summer jackets, helmets, motorcycle jeans and shoes plus gloves. We drove along the northern coast and it was beautiful to see the waves of the ocean and the coastline where surfers were waiting for the perfect wave to ride. The drive to Moya was 30 minutes from Las Palmas and the last part gave us some curvy roads and beautiful nature and views until we reached our first little village of Moya with it’s 8000 inhabitants.
Moya is the birthplace of the Canarian modernist poet Tomas Morales and his birthplace has been converted to a small museum. You can find his poetry written on the walls of the buildings. We found a quiet village with what seemed to be mostly local people conversing, having a walk or enjoying a cup of coffee on a little terrace. There were not many restaurants or so much to do for us in Moya, but we like to experience different places that are more authentic to watch the daily life go by. Since we were a bit hungry we stopped by a small Supermarket and bough freshly made sandwiches with cheese and salami that we enjoyed in the sun. Then it was time to continue to get to know our motorbike.
Second stop - Puerto de las Nieves (Port of the Snows), Agaete
After Moya we had decided to head to Firgas, but instead we missed a turn and decided to see where we would end up (isn’t this always fun?). We drove on nice curvy roads surrounded by valleys with cactuses and deep ravines which lead us back to coast and the little port of Agaete. The harbour of Agaete is known for it’s fresh seafood and here you find a few nice restaurants and beaches where you can go for a swim. We parked our bike and walked to a restaurant where we enjoyed an alcohol-free beer and some sun. There were people swimming in the sea while others were having their lunch. The village has small cobbled streets and whitewashed houses and it felt very calm and a place we would like to go back to and explore some more.
The sun sets around 6.15 pm and we decided to drive back to the house before dark since we still had some curvy roads up the mountain before we were home. Our first impression on the island so far was great and the motorbike was very easy to drive. It works good with a passenger, easy to handle in both slow speed and fast enough to feel secure when passing cars on the bigger roads.
In our next post we are heading south to visit Maspalomas and Puerto de Mogan.
Merry Christmas!
/Seen by Veen
