Ireland day 1459. Friday 26 September 2025- Gran Canaria 2

Today’s summary	Had a hotel-based morning. I had a massage while Val went for a run along the beach. After a swim and a snack lunch, we walked out to the Parque Botánico de Maspalomas, which was surprisingly good. Had a beer in Playa del inglés then hiked through the dunes back to Maspalomas. Hard work in the soft sand. More beers on the balcony then dinner in the hotel.
Today’s weather	Almost a carbon copy of yesterday. Dry all day, sun in the morning then cloud from about 1pm. Moderate easterly wind. Appx 26c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Maspalomas Day 2

Commentary

We decided we would make the most of the sunshine this morning. So after another superb buffet breakfast, we lazed by the pool for a bit, and went for a quick swim. But then we started to get itchy feet – Val rather more so then me, it seems, because she went on a 5k run along the beach while I treated myself to a rather good massage in the spa. 75 minutes and €140 well spent I thought. Though I probably couldn’t justify the cost of doing it more than once or twice a year.

When we had both returned from our respective sorties, I had another quick dip while Val got changed out of her running gear. Then it was time for a quick snack lunch before deciding how to spend the afternoon.

I had discovered from a close examination of my map, that there was a botanical garden in Maspalomas and as we both have an interest in plants, we thought we would walk out there and take a look. It was a decent leg-stretch to get there – but it did afford us the opportunity to explore the Maspalomas/ Playa del Inglés hinterlands at close quarters. Interesting, if not architecturally beautiful.

We eventually arrived at the Parque Botanico de Maspalomas at about 4pm and had a good look round. It turned out to be surprisingly interesting- better than we expected. Lots of fascinating subtropical species and we spent a decent while examining them all.

When we were botanic-ed out, we walked down into Playa del Inglés for a very welcome beer at a convenient bar. Then we headed off into the dunes to return to the hotel. It turned out to be quite hard walk, trudging through the deep soft sand, and it seemed to take an age even though in reality it was only about an hour. But there were lots of interesting sights along the way.

Once back at the hotel, we repeated the pattern of previous nights. A few minutes enjoying the sunset with (more) beers on the balcony, then dinner courtesy of the hotel. All delicious and doubly so because we didn’t have to do the cooking or washing up.

All that remains now is to reflect on another fabulous day, and to decide how we are going to spend our day of relaxation tomorrow.

Hasta mañana!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


I woke up early so sat on the balcony to watch the sunrise. I was treated to a beautiful view of the constellation of Orion, almost directly overhead	This is my kind of wine! At that price, who cares if it tastes disgusting?

Cotton plant in full bloom in the Botanic Gardens, complete with cotton-boll	The inglorious hinterland of Playa del Ingles

Well earned refreshments!	The altogether more attractive hinterland of Gran Canaria, with Pico de las Nieves – the highest summit on the island – in the centre of the ridge of mountains on the horizon

Ready for a bit of horticulture