Gran Canaria, Temisas — Aguimes, with a visit to Barranco de Las Vacas

Horizontal panorama

Some time ago I wrote that we would repeat the visit to the Barranco de Las Vacas following a linear route Temisas — Aguimes. Since then we have visited the area twice. First we did the linear route (find the map below), with a visit to the cave complex Cuevas de la Audiencia very close to Temisas. I don’t have any photos of the caves, partially because they are VERY dark (it’s almost like being blind!), but mainly because they were chock-full of people. To be fair, we went on a bank holiday, so the hikers were out in force, more on that later.

Second time we went from Aguimes (and back) with a specific purpose in mind — that is, to make a photosession with Timur playing his guitar there.

No, he didn’t walk there barefoot. We took a change of clothes with us.

We went on a weekday, hoping there would be nobody in the ravine (see update at the end of the post). We were wrong. As we were approaching it, there was a young couple on the road, obviously not sure where to go. When they saw us, they followed. Inside the most photogenic part of the ravine there was group of three (or four) people having a little break. While we were there, there was also a runner who ran in, made a few selfies and ran right out again.

However, we were patient and waited, so eventually everybody left and we had our chance to do what we wanted.

Rather endearingly, Timur paused to tune his guitar at some point.
He said “I know the sound is not going to be on the photo, but it annoys me when it is not tuned”

I must say I was a bit surprised to find that quite a few people were prepared to brave the sun (apart from us, that is). Personally, I think we are done walking in the south of the island till autumn. “In the south” may sound strange, because all of the island is only slightly bigger than, say, Moscow’s first ring road, and can fit inside M25 with a lot of space to spare (in fact you can fit almost all of the Canary Islands inside M25). But, because of the mountainous relief and prevailing winds, the south of the island has a very different feel from the north, believe me.

Vertical panorama

:)

Now, about weekends and bank holidays. Below are some pics from the Temisas—Aguimes route. The first one shows perfectly why you should aim to go on a weekday, if you possibly can. It is a very accessible area, and the route is short, easy and beautiful. It’s hardly a surprise that so many people want to go and see what’s there.

It’s not even the biggest group we saw. And if you add individuals/small groups, plus people just parking close to the main attractions and nipping down to make a few snaps — you don’t stand a slightest chance to be alone anywhere.

The views are nice though

Roque Aguayro rock formation. We were supposed to ascend it one day with Arawak, but it was too dangerous after rains. Something still to do.

The whole route is signposted and very obvious.

Distance: 8 km
↑ 154 m
↓ 547 m

Funnily, one aggregator site that is partially responsible for some of the less obvious Canary Islands attractions growing amazingly (and somewhat dangerously) in popularity, started re-publishing the same sights under different names. Dunno if they simply run out of things to write about or what. But now they rather grandly call the self-same Barranco de Las Vacas (i.e. Cows’ Ravine) — “The canyon of Temisas”. I predict the next name will be “Grand Canyon of Aguimes”.

Update: It saddens me to say that the sudden fame and easy access to Barranco de Las Vacas pretty much killed the spot. This April, in 2025, I wanted to show it to a friend.  We went on a weekday, per my own advice. As we were approaching the place from Aguimes, we saw quite a few people walking on the path and on the road, dressed mostly as tourists rather than hikers. There were a few families with small kids, and babies in arms.

As we went down to the bottom of the ravine and under the bridge, we were met with this graffiti.

I normally don't approve of graffiti, but as we finally got to the (formerly) beautiful part of the barranco, I saw why it was there. The path was full of people. The very first smooth wall is full of names, hearts, dates and the usual crap with which some feel compelled to announce to the world about their existence, their being on the spot and their fleeting passions. And there was one guy doing it right there, in plain sight of a few dozen people, with nobody being concerned about it in the slightest. We shouted at him, but he was completely unbothered by that and went on with his ratty scratch scratch scratch (I wish him a wretched life full of crappy happenings). My friend even considered physical altercations, but  thought better of that, the vandal was a part of a big group, who kept silent and apart, but would have likely interfered. Calling the police didn't make much sense either, they won't have gotten there on time.

As we unhappily trudged back, we met a group of local guys walking a large and friendly dog. A few words were exchanged about the state of affairs. They told me that the flow of people only seem to grow, and that it is now "Like Triana at Christmas time" all the time, regardless the day of the week. They were also entirely unsurprised by the scratchy rat. 

So. Maybe, just maybe, early in the morning, when most of holidaying crowds are still asleep, you can still enjoy the site. Or maybe when the weather is bad. The walk from Aguimes was pretty much empty of people and quite beautiful, if you like walking. That's all for the moment.

Pics from Barranco de las Vacas on Shutterstock.