Los Gigantes - Carnival Grand Parade

The 'Fisherwoman' statue at the top of the hill
 at the entrance  to Los Gigantes

Bus Routes: 470[Granadilla], 111[P Americas Est], 473[Los Gigantes].
Return: 473[P Americas Est, Los Cristianos] to Costa Adeje bus station, 111[Santa Cruz] to Las Chafiras, taxi home.
(If you walked up the hill an earlier 473 would have allowed a connection with the 483 to Los Abrigos)

A Junior Carnival Queen float

The carnival grand parade at Los Gigantes took place at 17:00 on Sunday 4th March preceded by concerts, competitions, Drag Queen Gala and children's days. I had been on the 473 to Adeje (January blogs) so this would give me the opportunity to complete the run and to see a 'village' carnival. Little did I know that the run takes about 1.5 hours (there is an express but being a Sunday!) wending its way through several villages and coastal resorts inducing the panic of where to get off.  We eventually arrived at Los Gigantes however the bus does not go down into the village because it is blocked to traffic due to
the carnival. The end of the line is down the street from this statue on the roundabout leading into the village itself.

After some confusing conversation with the bus driver we all got off.  I walked back up to the roundabout where the procession was preparing then down 'heart attack' hill into the village itself to find some brunch, as it was now 14:30 it turned into a Chinese 'sweet and sour'. Tipsy Terrace Bar and Bistro had been recommended to me by one of the locals when asking directions but I couldn't find it at the time. It turned out that it was next to the bus station which was to prove an advantage later. Once lunch was over there wasn't much time to explore before taking up a position near the road junction to view the parade. I took some shots of them starting off at the top of the hill just to give you some perspective of the route and the effort put into this when you see the costumes. They continue to samba and play all the way even when the procession grinds to a halt due to the intricacies of the route - there isn't enough room down by the harbour so it has to double back on itself and off in the direction to the bus station. Whilst Santa Cruz is a gigantic spectacular this is a more 'family' affair. Three main villages take part but families come down from the small villages and settlements in the mountains surrounding Los Gigantes sleeping on mattresses on friends floors.


The 'Bombardiers' towed the floats and everyone helps to make this a most enjoyable affair. Once the parade was over and darkness was falling I walked back to the bus station to catch the 20:30 bus as restrictions were lifted at 20:00 hours. I heard the sound of drums and followed it around the corner to find a band still playing whilst they waited for their coach home. It turned out that the bus did not come until 21:00 so by the time we got back to Las Americas the 843 had gone. I met two young ladies from Holland on the bus back who had been advised to catch the 483 back to Golf del Sur, my 'local' knowledge managed to get them home safely via the 111. A cautionary word for anyone visiting the Siam Water Park - make sure you use sun tan oil/lotion/spray whichever suits, wandering around all day in swimming togs leads to sunburn!

View my 'Los Gigantes Carnival Parade' Photo Album