Agaeta-dalen, Gran Canaria, January 15, 2015

After a day with rain, we had a day with sun and clear weather. We had a beautiful drive across the island to the village of Artenara. Artenara is a village and a municipality in the western part of the island of Gran Canaria. Artenara is the smallest municipality of Gran Canaria in population. The village Artenara is situated in the mountains, 24 km southwest of Las Palmas. From Artenara we walked down to the Barranco de la Curunas gurgling streams. We passed some reservoirs, and head down through the fertile Agaete-valley to the hamlet of El Hornillo.

At the start of the hike

Kanariefugl (Serinus canaria); Atlantic canary

The canarii (not the bird but the people) who occupied the island before the 15th-century Spanish conquest lived in caves in the area, before they were killed by the Spanish invaders/conquistadors. And the new settlers made use of the caves, as they still do so today with 17% of Gran Canaria's 2,192 cave houses located in Artenara.