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Santo Antao
With 3 days delay we finally made it to Cape Verde. Unfortunately, we decided to fly with TAP Portugal. As many of our friends have already experienced it in the past, the airline was very unreliable and flights were cancelled on our trip too. After we finally arrived in São Vicente we had a short transfer to the port of Mindelo to catch the ferry which took us to Santo Antão. The drive from Porto Novo to the north of Santo Antão took us another hour mainly through very dry volcanic territory. That was quite a surprise since this is supposed to be the greenest of all islands in Cape Verde! But for the last 3 years the rainy season has been far too dry. We saw people selling their last pieces of goat cheese along the road on Christmas Eve and we were wondering how the animals can survive in such conditions.
The northern part was still green and the mountains around us really spectacular. The setting of our hotel - the Pedracin Village - was really beautiful. Enjoying a breakfast on the terrace while being surrounded by these magnificent mountains in the beautiful morning light was a real treat after our flight nightmare. We were now ready for some fun adventure!
On our first day we decided to do a trek along the coast. Our driver drove us to Cruzinha and along the lovely drive we stopped multiple times to enjoy the scenery and to take some photos. Some local farmers we met along the way and they gave us freshly harvested manioc to taste. On our ride, we were joined by some locals wanting to return to their village from their Christmas Mass.
In Cruzinhas we started our 13.6 km trek and after a short hike we had a first picnic at a deserted black beach. From here we walked up and down along the coast. The scenery around us was truly beautiful with waves crashing against the cliffs. At one point we came to an abandoned village called Aranhas with a perfect view at our rear of this beautiful coastline.
Most people choose to start the trek at Ponta do Sol. But we found doing it in the opposite direction was most rewarding. It's really amazing how the locals built the hiking path with stone walls for protection. We thought that the path was already a miracle on its own but together with the landscape and hardly any other people it was already worth the whole trip!
We saw butterflies, goats and after 6.5 km you come to the first place where you could stop for a rest in a restaurant, Formiguinhas. We chose to continue on and after another 1.3 km we arrived in Corvo - a tiny village just before the path meanders up steeply. From the top we had a great view to Ponta do Sol and Fontainhas, a perfect location for our first selfie with Aaron's tripod.
According to National Geographic, Fontainhas is one of the villages in the world with the most beautiful view. And it does really deserve this status! The colourful village is built on a ridge, encircled by agricultural terraces and a lovely sea view.
Passing through the village and after 10 km there is a last descent down a small road where an ice-cold beer was waiting for us in Ponta do Sol. What a treat on Christmas Day! We had some time to chat with some of the locals and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere before our driver picked us up again to drive us back to our hotel.
The next day, some resting time would have been good for our knees but since we lost precious time with our flights we wanted to try another highlight: the trek down the Paùl valley to the sea village of Cidade das Pombas.
The drive up the mountain was very spectacular: First we passed blossoming sugar cane fields glowing in the sun - what an amazing and unique sight! (see top picture). We drove further up from Ribeira Grande to Corda along the ridge. The views were great views on both sides especially at a point called Delgadinho.
Our trek took us down into the caldera (Cova de Paùl) with agriculture, cows and donkeys, and then up again to an amazing viewpoint to the Paùl valley. What a view!
The path you can see is very very steep! Unfortunately, Clare‘s knee started playing up and her climb down was not really a pleasure even with walking sticks! But she managed to make it down to where the road begins and we decided to take the minibus "Alguer" to get us down the rest of the way to Cidade das Pombas.
Along the road we saw many fruit trees and plantations. There are also some small guest houses hidden in the valley. This part of the island still gets water which is stored in the volcano and allows for the agriculture in this valley despite the drought.
At Cidade das Pombas our lunch at the restaurant Veleiro II right next to the sea was octopus which was served in one piece, something we had never seen done like this before. It was quite yummy!
The next day we were transferred back to the ferry terminal and after a one hour boat ride we were back in Mindelo.
Sao Vicente
Mindelo - the music capital of Cabo Verde and famous for their Mardi Gras. The overall population is close to 50'000. Many buildings are in good shape and the colourful houses transmit a very friendly atmosphere. We took a lovely walk to the beach and had a couple of drinks on the floating bar at the marina - a great place to chill :-).
Close to the sea we found this amazing portrait of the famous singer Cesaria Evra, carved out of the plaster of this building.
And just around the corner, we ended the day with dinner at the lovely La Veranda restaurant. On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at at the lively Elvis bar and tried a last strawberry caipirinha. We really enjoyed our day in Mindelo!
Santiago
Praia is the capital of Cape Verde on the island of Santiago and the biggest city in Cape Verde with a population of over 60'000. We stayed at a hotel close to the sea. Walking along the coast into the centre we came across this nice beach - a cool place with some great bars and restaurants with seaviews. Our taxi driver who took us from the airport to our hotel said we should eat dinner at the restaurant Ipanema - which we did - one of their specialities is hot stone and we chose the tuna which was really pretty amazing! We also tasted some local pontche. You can order these drinks with coco, honey or just with lemon - very tasty drinks made with sugar cane - but be careful: they are really strong!
We took a trip to the peaceful Ciudad Velha with a Portuguese fortress on top of the hill. This was the first European settlement in the tropics and was founded in 1462. In the distance we saw the active volcano on Fogo island - another popular tourist destination.
Ciudad Velha is a very peaceful place. We had lunch right on the beach at the restaurant Pelourinho followed by a lovely walk to the São Francisco church. On the way we were surprised to see a wild monkey and several blue kingfisher birds.
Boa Vista
Boa Vista - an amazing island which offers so much to explore - something you don’t expect when you look down from the plane. It just looks like one big dry desert where no life is possible!
But the truth is different. We rented a car to get to the beautifully restored Spinguera Ecolodge - a formerly abandoned fishing village. It’s best to rent a good off-road car since the roads to the hotel and to most parts of Boa Vista can be very rough.
The location of the Spinguera Lodge is very remote and you immediately feel the peace and serenity - perfect for the soul! It offers beautiful views to the sea and a little sandy path takes you down to a simple beach shack. There is no swimming due to the currents and rocks but is a beautiful place to just spend some time taking in nature. For swimming you can drive (or trek) to the next bay where a lovely secluded beach awaits you.
The very friendly and helpful owner of the lodge, Larissa, gave us excellent tips on how to discover the island. Our first excursion was to the beautiful beach of Santa Monica. The Boca Beach restaurant is a fabulous place to have lunch and to enjoy the view over this beautiful beach. A new Melia Hotel is currently under construction with around 1000 rooms. We can only hope that the peace and remoteness of this place will remain.
There is a sandy track following the long beach and it ends at the sand dunes where we saw many quads drivers out on a ride. Our drive took us to the base of the dune of the lighthouse Verandinha. We walked the final stretch up to the lighthouse and the view was spectacular.
We then returned to the new main road headed for our sunset spot: Right next to the Iberostar Club you can drive up the hill and park. From there you can enjoy stunning views over these vast white and pure sand dunes and Praia da Chave. The dunes are the last stretch of the Desierto Viana where the sand follows the wind direction from Espinguera to Praia da Chave.
The next day we wanted to visit the ship wreck 'Cabo Santa Maria' but we couldn’t find the road through the dunes. Instead, we drove up another road past the cemetery of Sal Rei up past the windpower station. A small dirt road took us to the next great view point down to Praia Porto do Derrubado with the ship wreck just visible in the distance.
Back at the main village of Sal Rei we stopped at the small bay called Praia da Cruz next to the Marine Club Village with crashing waves and a lovely view to the ruins of the former chapel Capela Nossa Senhora de Fátima.
On our last day we decided to further explore the island. We took a dirt road through the middle of the island and saw some goats and many wild donkeys. How they can survive in such rough conditions is a miracle. But they all look well and healthy! Gorgeous animals!
We arrived at two beautiful huge almond trees at Fonte Vicente in the middle of the island. There is a small water hole that must come from an underground source. Larissa told us that in over 15 years since she lived on the island it only rained once for more than 2 consecutive days! On average it rains one to two times every year for just a few hours!
Further south we arrived at the abandoned ghost town of Curral Velho. You can see some salt plains in the distance but it’s not advisable to drive on for risk of getting bogged in the middle of nowhere. We didn't meet any other tourists or locals and mostly no phone network coverage. Best to make sure your vehicle is in good shape before you set out!
Further east the road became very rough and progress was very slow. But the scenery was simply amazing. We saw many gorgeous beaches, no people and at one point there was a beautiful view towards Praia de João Barrosa towards Ponta de Ervatão. This is where many turtles lay their eggs in the season.
In Ponta de Ervatão there are some buildings next to a sand dune and from here the track continued inland again. After 6 hours of driving we arrived at the small village of Cabeço dos Tarafes. We met a friendly Spanish guy who owns a new restaurant and hostel called ,A Quinta do Norte’. He’s also looking after over 20 cats and we quickly made friends with many so cute and friendly dogs who all looked well looked after - that made us happy too!
From here we visited the lighthouse Moro Negro but the view was already foggy caused by the developing sand storm "Bruma Seca".
Bruma Seca
We booked our trip through a local travel agency and before the trip we were informed that the Bruma Seca can impact the flight schedules. On the following day, the air was very misty. After check-in for our flight at 9.30am we waited in the departure hall. There was no information and... no plane! A flight to Stuttgart was canceled, then a flight to Amsterdam, then a flight to Milan. But we were told to wait longer because they still hoped for an improvement. At 3pm the flight was finally cancelled and we had to organize a room and a car again. We drove back to the Spinguera Lodge in the hope that the weather would improve for the next day.
But next morning same procedure: Visibility was still limited but a bit better. We arrived at the airport at 9 am and waited... and waited... At lunch time we were told that there's also a ferry to the island of Sal. Our travel agent warned us that the cruise will be very rough and that many people get sick during the 3 hours trip. But we just wanted to leave for Sal to make sure that we didn’t miss our connecting flight back home. We took a taxi to the port of Sal Rei but we were already too late: there was only 1 remaining ticket left! So we had no other option as to find a room for the night. Due to the weather chaos and Christmas season most hotels were already fully booked. We tried the small hotel Fado Crioula with a lovely view down to the beach but unfortunately all rooms were booked.
By 1 pm we ended up in the large Iberostar Club resort. We were in the process of checking in when low and behold - we were told that there is a flight to Sal at 3.40pm! So back to the airport again and back to the waiting area. The flight indicator screen remained empty for another 2 hours and then the miracle: a plane arrived and the screen showed Sal as our destination! After a 15 minute flight we finally arrived on the island Sal. We were transferred to the Hilton hotel and enjoyed a good meal right on the beach.
Sal
Santa Maria on Sal offers a very long beautiful beach which is perfect for windsurfing or kite-surfing. This is the main tourist spot where over-tourism destroys a bit the charm of the rest of the islands and country. There are different sections on the beach with various hotels, beach restaurants, some with deck chairs for rent. We stayed at the very nice Hilton Hotel and picked a great room with seaview and terrace. Their beach-restaurant is located right on the beach and was an excellent place to chill at sunset.
The walk along the beach to the main pier was also very rewarding, where we ended up watching the daily life of the fishermen bring in their catches. In this area there are two excellent restaurants run by an Italian: Palm Beach with decent Pizzas and the LobStar restaurant which is specialized in seafood. The food (we had 3 different lobster dishes), the location and view to the harbour were all excellent!
This was actually our last dinner before we headed back to Switzerland. Despite the waits and delays with most of the flights, Cabo Verde is definitely a great place to see and we had a great time :-)!
Our other African blogs so far:
"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"
(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)
Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
© 2020 by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
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