Adventuring around Aguimes

Besides unpacking our clothes into dressers and cooking in our kitchen, we had some particular things we wanted to do during our week stay in Aguimes.

First, diving. We went with a British company which was exciting because we got to speak English for a bit of the day. Though we overestimated our understanding of the British accent, we managed. We went on two dives, about an hour a piece. We saw tons of new things! Cuttlefish, arrowhead spider crabs, a scorpion fish, a school of barracuda, tons of sponges, anemones with cleaner shrimp, garden eels (they look like seaweed from far away but as soon as you get up close they scoot back into their holes in the sand), nudibranchs (rare brightly colored slugs), a sea hare (a snail with a ruffle and it’s shell on the inside), and a feather star (like a star fish made out of five individual feathers). We also swam under an arch 60 feet down and went back into a small cave.

The dunes

Second, the sand dunes of Maspalomas. After our dives, we headed off to the southern coast of the island. Generally, we avoided this area like the plague as it is famous for hideous resort development and all the daiquiri imbibing tourists. Locals suggest not visiting this area at all, it seems it breaks their hearts a little. Despite all this madness, there are some dunes that are well preserved on the Southern tip of the island, and a nearby oasis. You may laugh, but it’s literally called “The Oasis.” It’s comprised of fresh water, a commodity in high demand, particularly to birds migrating from Africa. It’s some of the only natural standing water on the island. The sand dunes were picturesque and peaceful. Like a fresh layer of snow, or those moments when you can smell the rain before it begins to fall. The oasis fit the bill, and we enjoyed yet another ecosystem on this small island.

Lemons of Tejeda

Lastly, the mountains. We had visited the high pine forests near Agaete, but were intrigued by the high mountain town of Tejeda in particular. The bus ride up reminded us of the Grand Canyon with enormous boulders and rugged rock
formations on the highest peaks. Again, it was quite dry, though they must receive more water here than any other part of the island because agriculture flourishes without the use of greenhouses.

This pretty much sums it up