407 to Las Galletas
Ola Amigos,
Well here we are 6
weeks into my stay and the sea is as fascinating as ever as I type
this there is a blue haze on the horizon and the sun is glinting off
the waves and absolutely nothing in sight. I should be a novelist
typing in front of my open window – perfect for inspiration. The
temperatures have cooled slightly and there is often a chilly breeze
of an evening on this part of the island. I am told that this is not
experienced further up the coast at Los Christianos and Play America
which is probably why they built them there. The Christmas lights
were switched on at the beginning of December and I have updated the
'Los Abrigos' album. As I mentioned we had two public holidays last
week the Tuesday and the Thursday. On the Tuesday I went along to the
beach this side of El Medano with some friends. I didn't take the
camera as this is a family/topless/nudist beach all rolled into one
and no-one seems to be bothered. We walked back along the coast to
Los Abrigos and I wish that I had had the camera with me as there
were some stunning views and interesting shots to be taken. I intend
to re-create this walk with the camera so that you can see some of
the interesting things there. The beach itself is miles long of
natural sand and there is a big protest going on at the moment as the
local government in Granadilla want to turn it into a commercial
harbour, they already pipe oil from tankers at night to supply the
airport from large pontoons out in the bay and it is feared that the
whole area will be destroyed by the development and by pollution. (I
later discovered that it may be the expansion of a refinery just up
the coast into a port which will affect this beach)
Over the weekend the
weather turned very strange and, apparently, is a feature of the
area. A cloud bank develops which doesn't look like a cloud at all.
It appears to stretch from the horizon right across the sky so that
the light from the sun in reflected inside it but there does not
appear to be a horizon at all. It reminded me of the film 'The Truman
Show' where he sets sail and bumps into the edge of the set – it
looks as if you can reach out and touch the edge of the world. An
artist could probably portray this but a photograph will not.
I am now getting the
news on my 'Kindle'. I noticed the other day that they now sell
individual copies of the newspapers as opposed to taking out a
subscription so I can download the Sunday Times for 99p and the Daily
Mail for 78p. They cost over 2-3€
to buy out here which can work out very expensive. As it takes a few
days to read the Sunday Times and the Money Mail on Wednesday tops up
the news all is looking good on the 'Kindle' front. My next project
is to scan some maps and load them as pdf files and see if that
works. It is rapidly becoming an old style 'Filofax' as well as my
library. I even put one of my talking books and a mp3 track onto it
the other day.
I thought for my photo
album this week that I would complete the Route 470 west to Los
Christianos so that you would finally see the big resort but it was
not to be. I got on the 470 at Los Abrigos only to be told that he
was only going as far as Costa del Silencio for some reason so I
thought why not you can see the bit in the middle. The 470 goes up
the road towards Las Chafiras then does a funny squiggle – they
seem to stick roundabouts and junctions in any fashion to get them
where they want to be - to branch off to and round 'Golf del Sur'
before continuing on to Las Chafiras then back down to the coast
through Costa del Silencio and Las Galletas, which I think is the
original fishing village. If I'm right nothing remains. It then goes
back up towards the motorway, through a town which seems to have no
purpose whatsoever other than being built to house the influx of
workers for the construction and holiday trades, then on to Los
Christianos never actually touching the motorway. The 480 on the
other hand misses all this out, it only stops at Los Abrigos and Los
Chafiras and uses the motorway.
At the first stop on
the 'Golf del Sur' complex the front seat became vacant and I
formulated a plan – front seat photography again. You can see a
glimpse of the complex, Las Chafiras and on to our new destination as
I doubt that I will take a camera around these areas or even visit
them much. 'Golf del Sur' has masses of apartments, little villas
with no space between them and grand hotels. There are restaurants
and pubs of all persuasion, gift shops and everything required to
live a self contained lifestyle. A lot of the hotels are now 'all
inclusive' which is wrecking the local economies especially in the
recession as some of my photos show. A round of golf will cost about
100E all told and membership costs a fortune!
When we arrived at
Costa del Silencio I had a wander around as you can see before making
my way down to Las Galletas (pronounced Gayetas but they, generally aslo drop the 's' on the end of a word too. My overall impression was one of over
development, as new complexes such as 'Golf del Sur' and 'San Blas'
are built people either migrate or there is insufficient demand.
Costa del Silencio and the much publicised Ten-Bel shopping centre
all had a slightly run down feel about them and could do with a bit
of tlc to bring back their former glory, highly unlikely in the
current state of the economy. Let buyer beware I think is appropriate
here as the glossy magazine may not deliver future expectations. In
contrast, when I walked into Las Galletas there were some beautiful
streets and avenues, rows of places to eat and a beautiful marina and
beach. I suppose it depends on how long you are there for. A couple
of weeks holiday in the sun is markedly different that a retirement
home in the sun. All in all I had a pleasant wander around, a nice
chicken sandwich and bottle of 'Dorada', some different views of the
ever present mountains and returned home tired but satisfied with my
day out. Las Christianos will have to wait another day.
All the best
soon be Christmas... I
hear it is cold out there!
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