spain: canary islands: gran canaria: arucas and maspalomas and las palmas

While on my bus from Agaete to Las Palmas I realized this would be the last few days of my new years holidays. The bus didn't take long, around 40 minutes. I got off the bus before the final stop, as it went quite close to where I had booked a place to stay. This particular hostel was just a couple streets over from the place I stayed when I first arrived in Las Palmas, three weeks earlier.

I checked in and relaxed for a while, then went for a walk. By walk I mean I walked to the beach, all of a seven minute walk. 

The weather was good, it felt good to lay in the sun for a while. After a couple hours I put clothes back on over my bikini, and started walking again.

The only sight I hadn't seen during my first visit to Las Palmas was a former castle. It was over on the east side of the Las Palmas peninsula, near the marina/port. I walked by several beautiful rose bushes in the gardens in front of the castle, they smelled lovely even though the flowers looked as though they were near their end.

As I entered the castle I discovered there was an entrance fee, payable at a ticket desk in a different building. I didn't feel like paying (I have no idea why, I just didn't,) so I walked away instead. The reviews I read later made me think I hadn't really missed anything.

I stopped in a couple souvenir shops while walking back toward my hostel.

The next morning I took my time getting going, (when on holiday, I like having no responsibilities, or a hard core schedule to keep,) but eventually started walking toward a bus stop to catch a bus to my destination for the day. On the way I stopped at a cafe and had porras con chocolate for breakfast. These were even better than the churros I'd had in Puerto a few days earlier.

I got on the bus, which took me to Maspalomas, on the southern end of Gran Canaria.

Maspalomas is mostly known as a resort area, and as the bus drove through, I could see why. I saw hotel after hotel after hotel, as well as restaurants and cafes. I'm sure there are homes somewhere in the area, but I didn't see any of them.

I had briefly looked at booking accomodation in the area for a couple days, but after seeing that it was nothing but hotels and such, I was glad I hadn't done so. Especially because the prices were not cheap, and none of the reviews were outstanding.

By the time the bus came to its final stop I was rather carsick, and I was thrilled to start walking. It wasn't the fault of the driver, rather, the roads were very twisty which doesn't usually sit very well with me.

I entered the beach area near a lighthouse, turned right, and started walking. Then I realized that continuing in this direction was not going to take me to a beach, which is what I wanted. I turned around, walked past the lighthouse, and got to a beach. I found a spot and laid out my malong, then soaked up sun for a little while. It turned out to be just windy enough that I was covered in fine sand after just 30 minutes or so. Oooops.

Either way, it was worth it to be in the sun.

One of the sights of Maspalomas (other than the beach,) is a series of really big dunes. After throwing on clothes over my bikini, I started walking around the dunes. I was initially wearing jandals, which I ended up taking off rather quickly, as they made walking in sand rather difficult.

Some of the dunes are pretty big, and when I finally got to the top of a couple of them, I felt as though I had a pretty good view of the water and beach.

I got to see sunset, which was lovely. I wasn't the only one out there, but it was pretty quiet, with people just taking in the natural beauty.

After dark I walked back to the bus station, and caught the next bus back to Las Palmas. Thankfully, the way back didn't make me feel sick.

The next morning I went back to the same cafe for more porras con chocolate. I don't know how to describe it other than to say these are a bit of heaven, and its a good thing I don't have easy access to them back in Moscow.

I caught another bus, the ride to a small town called Arucas was less than an hour. I hopped off the bus in the middle of a very small town, slightly motion sick. Since none of the roads on the islands are straight, I was a little motion sick every time I rode a bus between towns.

The main sight of Arucas is a giant cathedral. I was amazed at the size of the church in relation to the size of the town itself. The carving of the exterior of the church was really intricate, I wish I'd been able to get closer, and higher up, so I could appreciate more of it. Unfortunately the church wasn't open when I arrived, but hours were listed, so I made a mental note of when to come back.

The streets of Arucas were super cute. It felt like a small town, and was relatively quiet whle I walked around. At one point while I was taking photos a guy came up to me and asked if I would be a model in a posed photo for him. He said he was working in an official capacity of the tourist office of the town. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but the photo he wanted was of me taking a photo, with the sign of the tourist office in the background, so hey, whateva. I never did figure out where I could find the finished product of whateva he was doing.

From there I wandered into a small platz, where I sat for a while, chatting with my sister through an app. I watched people as we talked, which was nice.

One of the other sights listed online was a park. I headed in that direction, and found it easily. The park seemed rather small to me, it didn't take me long to walk through the entire thing. Maybe I missed part of it?

Across the street from the park was an interesting looking building. I used my phone to find out that it was the building of the water usage organization on the island. It wasn't open for visiting, but the front of the building was photogenic. (To me at least.)

I looked at my watch and noted that I still had a couple hours to go before the church would open again, so I walked down the street in the opposite direction from town. The street took me sloooowly down a hill, and during the walk I got some nice views of the city back up on the hill.

Eventually I turned around, and walked all the way back through town, and out the other side. The way I've written this makes it sound as if the walk was longer than it was.

I stopped when I got to a traffic circle that had a big city name sign on one side. Next to the city name was a cactus garden of sorts, which I loved. I'd learned my lesson previously, and did not make any attempts to befriend any of the cacti. ;)

When I got back to the town center, it was finally time for the church to be open. I loved the feeling when I walked in. The interior architecture drew my eyes up, and I appreciated the grand feeling of the place. Some stained glass windows all around, and a grand altar up front. I walked all the way around, taking plenty of photos, then sat for a while and thought about life.

After the church I found a random cafe nearby and ordered a sandwich. It ended up being another case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach, I couldn't finish the food. Whoops.

Eating just before the bus ride was a good thing, it helped settle my stomach a bit; I felt fine when I got back to Las Palmas. It was either that, or we were on straighter roads. Either way, I called it a day and went back to my hostel for the evening.

The next morning was my last day on the islands. I started with another breakfast of porras con chocolate, and seriously considered figuring out a way to get them in Moscow. SO GOOD. 

I packed up my bags, and checked out of the hostel, leaving my bags at the front desk.

From there I started walking. I found a playground of sorts (basically an outdoor gym for adults, kindof,) on one end of the beach, and played around myself for a few minutes. Then I realized how out of shape I am, and moved on.

I kept walking along the road, which followed the coast. I got to see the water crash against the coast over and over again. A 30 minute walk down the road I came to a statue of sorts. 

A lot of rocks were piled up, in a shape that made me think of a woman. It was as if she was looking out over the water.

After taking photos of the woman, I walked back to the beach, and laid out for a little while, taking my last chance to soak up the sun. From there I went to a souvenir store, to make sure I had enough postcards.

From there I went back to the hostel where I changed and repacked, then took the bus to the airport. I slept at the airport, though the sleep wasn't good and I'm not sure how much time I actually spent unconscious.

The departures area of the Las Palmas airport is not a place you want to have to spend a lot of time, it's not terribly comfortable.

The plane took off right around sunrise, and I was treated to a beautiful view as the plane rose through the crowds.

I would happily return to the Canary Islands sometime in the future. I only got to see two islands, so there are plenty I haven't seen. I'd like to return when it is slightly warmer, so the beaches would be more fun. I'd like to do more hikes, and see more of the national parks.  

spain: canary islands: gran canaria: puerto de las nievas and agaete

I arrived in Puerto de las Nievas on Gran Canaria after a 90 minute ferry ride from Santa Cruz, on Tenerife. The ferry ride was okay, though the weather wasn't great so I ended up slightly seasick. It didn't help that the boat arrived to rain and wind, which I hate.

Puerto de las Nievas is a tiny town on the coast, with a twin town of Agaete slightly up the hill. I'd booked a place in Agaete, so I had to make the walk in the rain. The walk was pretty, as both towns are quite cute. The buildings are mostly painted white, and there were a number of flowers blooming.

I'd booked my accomodation relatively last minute, so it was the most expensive place I stayed during my entire trip. I thought I'd booked a double room for 40 euro, but it ended up being a small flat with a kitchen, small living room, and a bedroom with bed space for 4!! If only I'd been traveling with someone.

I relaxed for a few hours, then went for a walk. The weather had cleared up, it was now mostly sunny, yahooooo!! It took me just a few minutes to walk back through the center of Agaete, to the church in the center of town.

Unfortuntaely the church wasn't open, so I was only able to see the outside. I couldn't find a sign anywhere with open hours listed, I wasn't sure if it would be open while I was there.

More walking took me back down the hill to Puerto de las Nievas. I headed to a different area from where the ferry arrived, as I'd seen a listing of natural pools. To get there I had to walk down a dirt road, which made me wonder if I was going the right way, but it worked out well, as I ended up where I wanted to be.

The pools weren't completely natural, but they weren't completely man made as well. Volcanic rock had been carved out in areas by the constant movement of water over time, creating areas for the water to fill in, like pools. Someone had put stairs into a couple of them, and I saw kids in the water even though it seemed a bit chilly to me. The rock into which the pools had been carved was volcanic, so it wasn't at all smooth, and I was glad I was wearing shoes with thicker soles, not just jandals.

I loved watching the waves crash into the area, over and over again. I could've stayed there for hours, if I'd been planning to stay in the area for more than just one night.

After a while I kept walking along the coast, heading back toward the ferry port. A boardwalk has been built, with extra rocks built up to protect the area from storms and the resulting crazy waters. I walked along the entire length of the boardwalk, then doubled back a little to get to one of the streets of Puerto de las Nievas. (I hope there is a shortened version of the town name, it's annoying to say the whole thing every time.)

The buildings facing the port are all restaurants/cafes or hotels. The next street back had a very small church, but was otherwise full of more hotels, cafes, and souvenir shops. The town is small enough that the number of buildings isn't big at all, though I wondered where everyone lives.

I walked to a tiny beach, and it was finally warm enough that I would've spent time in the sun if I'd worn a bikini during this walk. The view from the beach was gorgeous, I could see a cliff that probably had amazing hiking.

I was in the area long enough to see sunset, which was beautiful. I loved the colours of the sky as background to the beautiful landscape of cliffs and water. After the sun went down I got cold, and was more than ready to head back to my room to sleep.

Before going to sleep I used the stairs in my flat to get to the roof for a view of the town at night. Quiet, and pretty. 

The next morning was the end of my stay in Agaete. I had to walk just six minutes to get to the bus stop, which was awesome.

I would definitely come back to the town if I had time to do some hiking. It's a small area, but I bet the hiking is fantastic. And the small town aspect was quite nice. 

spain: canary islands: tenerife: santa cruz and la laguna

I arrived in Santa Cruz after four glorious days in Puerto de la Cruz. The bus ride was easy, and short, only about an hour. The bus ride took me through fog and rain, arriving in more rain. I was not thrilled, to say the least.

I walked to my hotel, and was able to check in. It was a simple room, but good enough for me. I took a nap, since rainy weather is perfect for that. I also hoped that when I woke up the rain would be gone.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It was still raining when I woke up. For the most part, the rain didn't go away until late evening. Argh. I didn't let that stop me from going out, but it was rather miserable.

The day was 6 January, a Saturday. Spain is Catholic, which means 6 January is the 12^th day of Christmas, also known as Epiphany. This basically means nothing is open on the day. A few corner stores with convenience food, McDonalds, and very little else.

Walking around in the rain, when nothing was open wasn't much fun. At all. I wanted to buy ferry tickets to go back to Gran Canaria, but the offices at the marina/port weren't open. Argh. Several times during my walk the rain came down really strongly, I was not a happy camper.

The next morning the weather was slightly better, thank goodness. It was still very cloudy and windy, but it wasn't raining. Eventually I got going, my first stop was the port, for another attempt at buying a ferry ticket.

I ended up buying a ticket for a different company than the one that had brought me to Tenerife. It was a bit more expensive, but the ride would be less than half the time, and took me directly to where I wanted to go on Gran Canaria.

From there I walked to a giant mall, hoping to find a supermarket. It had occurred to me that I should get real food, since I hadn't had a proper meal in over a day. I ended up buying snacks, which weren't quite enough, but were good enough for the time being.

The bus station wasn't too far away from the mall. When I got to the station I waited in a queue to buy a ticket, only to be told that the ticket I wanted could be bought on the bus. Fortunately, the next bus to San Cristobal de la Laguna (usually called just La Laguna,) left less than ten minutes later.

The bus ride wasn't long, and took me to the main bus station of La Laguna. It was just off the highway, nowhere near the city center. I'm glad I had checked ahead of time where I wanted to go, and how to get there from the bus station. The street on which I walked was really quiet, there weren't any other people out, and very few cars.

The city center of La Laguna is Unesco designated, and is very cute. The entire city center is a pedestrian zone, which was perfect for my day visit. There weren't too many other visitors out in the city center either, probably for a couple reasons. One, it wasn't raining, but it was still rather dark, with strong winds. Two, it was a Sunday, and a Sunday right after a big Catholic holiday.

The first proper sight I saw was the Catedral de La Laguna. A pretty big church, in a rather small town. It was a surprisingly (to me) plain church. The part I liked best was the ceiling ribbing behind the altar, there really wasn't much other decor throughout the church. Part of the sanctuary was roped off, which made it easy to take a photo of the whole thing without anyone else in the way.

I found another church, but it looked ruined, and there was no open entry that I could see. Darnit. In one area of town I found a giant Christmas tree, I wonder who did the decorating.

I also found a third church, this one wasn't open either. It seems most of the churches I saw during this holiday trip were only open certain hours, not all the time. Booo. The bell tower of this church was beautiful, though it didn't match the church at all.

One of the sights listed on trip advisor was the Palacio de Pena, but it wasn't open. A bit of investigating informed me that it was almost never open to the public. Argh. The front facade was very grand, and photogenic, even if I had no idea what the building was supposed to be.

There wasn't much else to see in town, so I started walking back toward the bus station. Along the street I saw a couple buildings with huge murals on the walls. Even though I'd been out for several hours, I still wasn't seeing very many people out on the streets.

I didn't have to wait long for a bus back to Santa Cruz. When I got back I went back to my room for a few hours, until I remembered that I had seen a fertility clinic named after me on the map. I wanted to take a photo of the place, so I went for a walk. The clinic wasn't open at that hour, but I was still happy to take my photo.

The next morning I was up early to walk to the ferry port.

I don't feel the need to come back to Santa Cruz again, but it is a center of transport in this area of Tenerife, so I can't say I'll never be back.

spain: canary islands: tenerife: puerto de la cruz

Getting from Garachico to Puerto de la Cruz was easy. I got up early and caught a bus. It was on time, and I got only slightly carsick from the curvy roads. Since I caught such an early bus I wasn't able to check into my hotel. I was able to change, and leave my bag behind the front desk.

Puerto de la Cruz isn't known as a city with much to see. I had about three hours to kill before being able to check in properly, I didn't have anywhere particular in mind to see. I wandered for a little bit, then ended up at a cafe for breakfast.

When I sat down I noticed someone else with a breakfast of churros con chocolate. Churros with a cup of really thick hot chocolate, almost like hot pudding. I ordered that, and was in heaven while I ate. So good. I was surprised when I asked for the bill and it was only 2.40 euro, that was cheaper than I expected.

After eating and hanging out at the cafe for a while I went back to the hotel and checked in. Despite having been sitting for over an hour I was still tired, so I took a short nap. Then I put on my bikini and cover dress, and walked to the beach.

The beach in Puerto de la Cruz isn't amazing but it was much better than the one in Las Palmas. There were plenty of people spread out over the black sand (which was kinda rocky in some places,) but I spread out my malong and relaxed.

After a few hours I packed up my malong and sat on some stairs on one side of the beach to watch sunset. I loved watching the rhythm of the water, as the sun set slowly. The colours of the sky weren't very pretty, (just yellow, and very pale blue,) but it was still nice to watch.

I returned to my hotel to change out of my bikini and grab my purse. I went for an evening walk, which took me past two churches. Both were pretty, not too decorated and not too plain. One was close to starting an evening service, so I didn't stay inside for long.

My walk took me along the coast, along a boardwalk of sorts. I passed heaps of restaurants, cafes, and stores, all aimed toward tourists. One of those stores was named after me :)

As I'd seen in Garachico, the rocks along the water were sharp, despite the constant crashing of waves.

I could've watched the water for hours, or watched the people watching the water. So peaceful.

The next day the only change in routine I made was to have a double portion of churros at breakfast. I repeated everything else almost exactly. A morning walk to breakfast, relax in my room for a bit, time on the beach, watch the sunset, (though I took this time to check out the many stone cairns stacked up behind a small, unopen 'castle' near the beach,) and an evening walk.

The third day the waiter at my breakfast cafe remembered me, and asked if I wanted the double portion of churros again, hahaha. I opted for the normal single portion instead. (A big deal for me, I don't usually have any willpower when it comes to turning down sweets.)

My walk that evening (after time on the beach,) took me to a small amusement park. It looked just like amusement parks I've seen in the states, all lit up in the evening. It was different though in one aspect, there were hardly any people around.

The next morning was the start of my last day in Puerto de la Cruz. At that point I had my routine down pat, and I didn't break it the last day. A breakfast of churros con chocolate, relaxing in my room, beach time, and an evening walk. I was finally getting tan, and super relaxed.

The next morning I checked out of my hotel, and walked in the rain to the bus stop.

I would consider going back to Puerto de la Cruz again, but I'd want to use it more as a base to explore the surrounding area, instead of just going to the beach each day.

spain: canary islands: tenerife: garachico

My visit to the small town of Garachico on Tenerife happened entirely by accident. I'd only booked a place to stay through the morning of 31 December 2017. I thought about staying in Santa Cruz another day or two, but when I looked for accomodation everything I could afford was already booked.

I ended up putting in the entire island of Tenerife into the search option for where to stay for the nights of 31 December and 1 January, only Garachico had something reasonable. I made my booking, with relief.

The trip to Garachico involved two bus rides, both of them easy and on time. Well, the second wasn't quite easy, in that the roads were along the winding, curvy, coast, which meant a lot of speeding up and slowing down. In other words, I was slightly car sick by the time I got off the bus.

The place I'd booked in Garachico said to call when I arrived, so I did. They came over and checked me in, earlier than the normal checkin time. I took the opportunity to relax for a couple hours, and try to sleep. I realized the wifi connection at this hostel wasn't great, argh. Each bed had two USB ports next to the bed, but finding it wasn't as easy to find 'regular' plugs.

Eventually I went out for a walk. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and was absolutely thrilled to do so. It was rather windy, but I was determined to wear clothing for warmer weather.

Garachico is a small town, it doesn't take long to walk around most of the town. There is a church on the platz in the middle, but the church wasn't open. I looked at the signage and figured out it would only open after I left town. Argh.

Listed on one of the travel apps as a sight was a series of 'natural' pools, right on the water. I was keen to see what they were all about, and walked in that direction.

Unfortunately, when I got there I found they had been blocked off by plastic tape. I wouldn't call them pools exactly, they were just interesting 'carvings' of rock from the actions of the waves through time. I loved watching the water rush in to each area, then rush back out. Its the kind of thing you can watch for a surprisingly long time, the water is mesmerizing.

Another 'sight' listed was a castle. This also turned out not to be open. Judging by the size of what I could see, it wouldn't have taken me long to see the whole thing even if it had been open. There was a tiny landscaped area in front of the castle, suitable for photos.

I kept walking along the coast, because that was pretty much the only way to see anything new. Not too much later I got to a small area with a 'photo frames' that were probably set up specifically for photos. I waited for others to take their photos, then took mine.

From there I walked back to my hostel, even though I'd only been outside for a few hours. Garachico was small, and for the most part I felt like I'd seen the entire town. Oddly enough, this was New Year's Eve, but I didn't feel as though the town was getting ready for a party.

The owner of the hostel said there were be something in the city center, but I didn't hear it, which was a pleasant surprise. As is typical for me on New Year's Eve, I went to sleep before midnight.

Despite going to sleep in plenty of time, it still took me foreva to get going the next morning. Sometimes having access to internet all the time isn't good for time management. Even when I'm on holiday, I don't need to be online all the time.

Eventually I did get going. I wandered toward what I thought of as the 'back' of town.

This was the side of town that backed up to the bottom of the mountain right behind town. I found a set of stairs, and followed it up.

This set of stairs led me to a path that basically went up the mountain with a series of switchbacks. It was interesting to see how the view changed of the town and water just by going up. The path itself had a lot of loose rocks, which loved making themselves at home in my shoes.

Eventually I got up high enough to find myself in another small town, this one even smaller than Garachico. I wandered through all the streets, which didn't take long.

I wanted to go even further up the mountain, but the clouds were hanging pretty low, so there weren't any more views. Argh.

Instead I went back down to Garachico. I hadn't been hiking for long, but the way up was pretty much straight up, and the opposite on the way down.

When I got back down to Garachico I walked through town. As I passed through the platz in the middle, I noticed a band doing some kind of rehearsal, and chairs being set up for an outdoor concert, I assumed taking place in a few hours.

I went back to the coast, walking in the opposite direction I'd walked the day before. I walked until I got to a very small marina. There was a gate at the entrance, so I wasn't able to get very close.

The best part was the series of wood penguins on a nearby fence, I have no idea why they were there.

I looked at my watch and realized this was a date on which a supermoon was supposed to happen. I could definitely see the moon, but in photos it didn't look very big at all. Since it was around sunset time I enjoyed watching the colours of the sky change, and the water crash into the rocks on the shore.

Eventually I turned around, and walked all the way back to the photo frames I'd seen the day before. Since it was now dark, I got to see how they were lit up, with colours changing every 10 seconds or so. I liked it. The nearby tree of lights was lit up, also quite pretty.

I went back to the platz in the middle of town, arriving in the middle of the concert. I'm pretty sure the entire town and all visitors had shown up. All the chairs were filled, every other area was full of people standing. I enjoyed the music, and the general atmosphere. I loved the idea of having a concert the evening of 1 January for the entire town. Awesome.

The next morning I boarded a bus to my next stop.

I would definitely come back to Garachico, even though the town is tiny. I should've been a bit more organized with my time, and done more hiking in the area.

spain: canary islands: tenerife: santa cruz de tenerife, san andres, and igueste de san andres

There are seven main islands in the Canary Island group. My original vague idea was to visit 3 of them, one for each week of my holiday. Instead, I ended up only seeing two, but that was okay. 

After Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, the ferry took me to Santa Cruz, on the island of Tenerife. The ferry ride was smooth, even with the wind and rain outside. Ferries are the most common way of getting around the islands, there are regular connections between most of the islands.

It was easy to disembark, but I had a harder time figuring out where to walk to get into the city. There were lines painted on the ground, but I kept getting confused and couldn't figure out how to get out of the port area. I hope it was at least slightly confusing to others as well, that would make me feel better.

From just the first few minutes of walking I could see that Santa Cruz is surrounded by mountains, which got me excited for hiking possibilities.

On my walk to my hostel I passed a giant sign spelling out the city name, so I stopped for a photo. The not so wonderful weather meant there wasn't anyone else around wanting to take the same photo, though I have no doubt the sign was busy at other times.

The rest of the walk to my hostel was mostly uphill. I was sweating quite a bit by the time I arrived. Fortunately, I was able to check in early. My bed wasn't quite ready, but I was able to drop my bag, eat breakfast, and change clothes.

After a bit I walked out the front door and began exploring the city. My first sight was a park up the hill from my hostel. It didn't take long to get there, it was only a block or two away. Parque Garcia has a statue in the middle of a fountain in the middle of the park, with cemented paths leading away. One of the pathways had greens stretched over arches over the path, which were quite pretty. Another path took me next to trees with lovely red/orange blooms. There were benches in a few places which made for great people watching.

After the park I walked toward the city center, stopping at a supermarket along the way. I stepped into waaay too many bakeries too, though somehow I managed to avoid buying anything in any of those.

The buildings I could see were colourful, and didn't seem very old. What I could see in general made me think Santa Cruz was relatively new, though that probably isn't the truth.

There is a church listed on the sights of Santa Cruz, but it was closed, and the sign didn't mention any hours at all. I later found information saying it was open on Saturday; but I was not there on a Saturday.

Another sight listed was the auditorium/theater. The photos online clearly show unique, modern architecture, so I started walking in that direction. No one mentioned the interior, so I was happy just to stick with the exterior.

The auditorium was awesome. A very modern, very unique building. I don't know how to describe it, except to say that it's great for photography. A couple sets of stairs, soaring white stone, awesome. In setting up the photos I wanted to take, I ended up taking photos for several others, just because I'm a fan of group photos, without leaving anyone out.

There is a tiny fortress/castle next door, it was not open. I'm not sure what it did originally, but it was so small I have no idea how it ever could've done anything to protect the city or island. I could be totally wrong, of course.

As I was on the shore looking toward the fortress/castle, I noticed many of the large rocks had paintings of famous people on them. By famous I mean anyone well known. Modern celebrities, classical musicians, etc...

I found an Indian restaurant for dinner, which made me happy. The portions were big enough that I had leftovers for dinner the next day. Woo hoo!

The next morning I took advantage of the free breakfast included in my hostel price, but took a while to get moving otherwise. Eventually I got walking, and headed down the hill toward the coast, but in the opposite direction I'd walked the day before.

I found another statue in a fountain (though the fountain wasn't running) that made me think of 'victory' somehow. I'm not exactly sure what it was, or what it represented. I kept walking, eventually ending up on a sidewalk with the water/port on one side, and low hills on the other.

I found a small beach at one point, but it was rocky, and didn't seem like a place people went to spend any time. From there I could see a few really big ships, and structures out in the deeper water.

Eventually my walk brought me to the town of San Andres. It was small, but seemed cute. As soon as I arrived I realized there was a fairly large beach, but the weather was not good for hanging out on a beach. It was cloudy, and windy, and too chilly to wear a bikini. I wasn't the only one who thought so, but there were a few hardy souls out there.

I saw more paintings of famous people on the rocks near this beach, including the face of Christopher Columbus. There was a modern bridge crossing a small river/creek to get to the beach. Each arch had been painted in a rainbow of neon colours. Very photogenic.

The streets of San Andres were very cute, despite having some abandoned homes. I found a small church, but it wasn't open, darnit. As San Andres is a very small town, it didn't take me long to walk all the streets, or at least most of them.

I stopped into a cafe for a lunch of fish and chips, which was more than enough food after I made the mistake of ordering the big portion.

My feet were plenty sore by that point, as I was wearing jandals. I opted to catch a public bus back to Santa Cruz, and I knew they came along quite regularly. The bus dropped me off near the big city sign I'd seen the day before. At this point I realized this was wear the tourist information office was located, in a building with cacti on the roof. Weird.

The next morning I was up early so I could catch the not so regular bus up the coast to a place called Igueste de San Andres. One of the hikes mentioned in the hiking guidebook had a starting place just outside this town, and I could get there easily by public transport. I'd prepared for the hike by bringing my camelbak filled with water, snacks, extra camera batteries, etc...

After the bus dropoff, I made my way to the back side of the town. I found the small bridge mentioned in the guidebook as the starting point of the hike, then followed along. I kept getting the book out to see if I was following the right way, as it said there were only a couple markers. This ended up being untrue, I noticed a series of horizontal double stripes, one yellow and one white. When there was a fork that might be confused as part of the hike, the stripes were crossed, not horizontal parallel.

The hike took me up the side of a valley, every view was stunning. The trail was a combination of switchback up the side of the bowl, and moving parallel to the height of the ridge.

The trail took me through trees, cacti, and other random greenery. I stopped all the time to take photos, the views were incredible. I was enjoying myself enough that I seriously considered coming back to Santa Cruz just so I could do this hike again.

Part of the trail was over the ridge, looking over into the next valley/bowl. I wanted to hike that area too, there were probably a few trails there as well.

I was a bit confused in only one section of the trail, but luck had me making the right choice on which path too follow. I saw a couple homes on this section of the path, but they were very abandoned, falling into ruin.

The next part of the path took me to a road, which I followed for about 5 kilometers. At one point a police car driving in the opposite direction asked me if I was sure about where I was walking. I was confident in the path at that point, so I said yes.

The next section of the route took me down, rather steeply. It took me through a lot of trees, I had to watch out that I didn't trip over roots and irregular steps. Since I'd been going for a bit by this point, my whole body was tired, and keeping myself from tripping over roots was easier said than done.

As I said earlier, the views during the entire hike were awesome. I'd gladly do it again. Even when I was super tired at the end, I was constantly impressed everywhere I looked.

The path finally brought me back to the bridge where I started. From there I walked back to the bus stop and waited for the next bus. I wasn't hungry, (I never am during or just after exercise,) but ate some of the snacks I brought anywho, trying to prevent dehydration and a headache from lack of food.

I took the bus back to Santa Cruz and went back to the Indian restaurant for another dinner. Why mess with something that isn't broken?

The next morning I got up early to catch a bus to my next destination.