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Finca de Osorio, a great cure for homesickness
Before moving to Gran Canaria, we lived at the east end of the Central Line, in Loughton. On Epping Forest’s doorstep, many was the time we acted the dandy highwayman. As in making like Dick Turpin in High Beach. Which we missed doing in GC before hearing of Teror’s Finca de Osorio.
Everglades
Gran Canaria’s Florida
Emerald Isle
Green Gran Canaria
Finca de Osorio
The green, green trees of the Finca de Osorio
Palm Island
Gran Canarian palms are not only to be found in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Southern Northern Spain
There ain’t no Spanish terrain more austral than the Canary Islands. And though Gran Canaria’s in the arid eastern isles, its lush centre, taking in the Finca de Osorio, brings to mind the wet and west Canaries of El Hierro, La Palma, and La Gomera more than it does the dry Fuerteventura or fiery Lanzarote. As well as the Green Spain of Asturias, the Basque Country, Cantabria, and Galicia.
The Canarian Everglades
Yet such is the leafy range of the Finca de Osorio, with its 207 hectares part of the Parque Rural de Doramas, home to 400 distinct species of trees. So as well as aping Essex and north Spain, it’s a dead ringer for Florida too. Oddly, or not as the case may be, the Canary Islands lie on the same latitude as Orlando, that US state’s capital.
Nine to five
The Finca de Osorio, once owned by the haughty Manrique de Laras, is open to the public from 9:00am to 5.00pm Monday through to Sunday. If you want to use the on-site picnic facilities, you’ll need to call the Finca in advance on 928 630 090. Younger family members will love gawking at the farm animals whilst older ones might want to rise to the trial and climb the Pico de Osorio, the Finca’s famous peak. Whatever you choose to do, the Finca de Osorio’s a great free family day out.