Botanic Gardens - Triana walk

 Globularia sarcophylla, globe daisy endemic to Gran Canaria. Apparently it grows only in Tirajana. I've never seen it in the wild, have to look for it, it is sort of cute.

Couple of days ago, Timur and I decided to check out a relatively new walking path. It links one of the old areas of Las Palmas - Triana* to Canarian Botanic Garden in Tafira Baja (Jardin Canario).

I have no explanation as to why I have never written about Jardin Canario before, since we've visited it many times. As the name suggests, the emphasis in planting is on the native flora, but it is not exclusive - Canaries used to be a testing ground for plants from different parts of the world, mostly from the Americas**. There are some rare, vulnerable and endangered species, some of them beautiful, some less so. So, let's start with some pictures from the garden.

Cheirolophus falcisectus, Aldea centaury or Guigui centaury, endemic to Gran Canaria. Endangered species.

Limonium pectinatum, endemic to Macaronesia

Euphorbia atropurpurea, endemic to Tenerife

Left - Isoplexis isabelliana, endangered species endemic to Gran Canaria / Right - Retama rhodorhizoides, broom species endemic to Canaries

 Pterocephalus dumetorum, Mountain scabious endemic to central islands Tenerife and Gran Canaria

Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum, silver lace plant, endangered species endemic to Gran Canaria.

Now, to the walk itself. We went to Jardin Canario by pubic transport - there are quite few buses going past the upper entrance to the gardens. From there, we navigated our way to the lower part of the gardens, photographing everything along the way. The hiking (well, walking really) path starts at the lower entrance gates - there is a wooden pointer sign and everything.

You can find the route below - I started tracking just a little bit away from the gardens, where there is an entrance signed "Foro Guiniguada - Plan de Embellecimiento" (Guiniguada Center - Beautification Plan). Behind the gate a largish group of people in green uniforms could be observed sitting and eating their lunch. I assume they were island council employees, employed by the said center to clean and beautify the Guiniguada valley. Every single one of them looked at us as we walked by, which probably means that hikers are still a rare sight there. On our way we met a few cyclists, a runner and some guys walking their dogs closer to the city, so it was pretty empty.

Some of the local flora we saw on our walk, while already out of the gardens. On the left, Echium callithyrsum, blue bugloss of Tenteniguada, endemic to Gran Canaria and a vulnerable species, probably planted as a part of the beautification program. On the right Campylanthus salsoloides, endemic to Canary Islands, likely growing all by itself.

About half of the population of Gran Canaria live in Guiniguada valley. It starts close to the center of the island and opens into the ocean between areas of Triana and Vegueta. It changes its name a few times along the way, but it is the same valley. Close to the center of the island it is beautiful; close to the capital, not so much, so the beautification plan is definitely needed.

Abandoned house close to the edge of Las Palmas. There were a few of those around.

The walk itself is not pretty - although let's be optimistic and add "yet". It runs along the bottom of the barranco, always following a dirt track. Remains of old paving is visible in some parts. There is no problem finding your way. As you can see from the route below we did a brief detour to the left just under the motorway bridge. The track branches there and some joker must have removed the sign to Triana. Don't do what we did, just follow the branch running along bottom of the barranco till you come to the places which are definitely not rural any more.

You end your walk opposite from the colorful heap-of-Lego-bricks-like Risco de San Jose, as featured in the glorious and rather scary Cascadia.

The signs of beautification are already visible - there is some obviously deliberate planting along the way and two (or maybe even three) rest areas with benches. One of them is strangely positioned right under the (enormously tall) motorway bridge. The project doesn't look finished nor abandoned, which hopefully means everything will continue to improve. The path is reasonably rubbish-free, which is also a sign of ongoing work. Usually rubbish accumulates quite fast here, especially closer to the roads.

I think this shortish and not-so-pretty-yet path serves one very important purpose - it can take you right out of the center of the city into much more hike-able areas.

I also think (or, rather, hope) it is an attempt to start rectifying the rather strange situation with GR131. GR stands for Great Route, originally, I think, from French "Grande Randonnée", rather neatly fitting with Spanish "Gran Recorrido". Right now, parts of GR131 run through every one of the Canary Islands, except Gran Canaria. Or rather, GR131 is not marked on our island. Various hiking sites show something which is currently considered something GR131-esque - trans-Gran Canaria route, which starts in Agaete (logically, there is a port there), but finishes, not that logically, in Maspalomas.

I do hope one day I can put on my hiking shoes, walk out of my front door and finish, maybe a day or two later, in Agaete, walking along a dedicated walking path all the way.



Distance: 8.89 km
↑ 24 m
↓ 260 m

Flora of Gran Canaria pictures on shutterstock

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* well, I say "Triana" to emphasize that you can start walking from central Las Palmas. The start of the walk is above Triana and belongs to Risco de San Nicolas.
** On Tenerife they even have an "Acclimatization Botanic Garden"