Santo Antão, Cape Verde
Despite its name, Cape Verde is not typically a very verdant place. In fact, being described as a “marine extension of the Sahara”, it’s usually pretty arid, and the rivers rarely run in this archipelago off the coast of Africa. However, the past few nights as we sailed our way down to Cape Verde, the small group of islands experienced a tremendous amount of rainfall to try and make us think otherwise. It rained so much in fact, that we arrived to discover that one of our options, a long hike down a steep mountainside, couldn’t happen because it had been washed out! But we didn’t let that stop us, and after a breezy Zodiac cruise ashore to the town of Ponto Novo, we hopped into ten little motor coaches for our adventure on the northernmost island, Santo Antão.
The weather was spectacular as we bopped along upward ever upward along a precipitous, cobblestone highway. We headed north and peered out the windows on volcanic landscapes so entirely foreign. The lower terrain looked almost Martian with its hills and ravines of rusty red rock. However, this Martian red had a wispy, green fuzz of grass sprouting all around to suggest that maybe, just maybe, this place is “verde” afterall. As we climbed higher towards the clouds, more and more terraces and farms began to appear with crops of corn and beans growing on the steep hillsides. Even higher, even greener. Pine trees, and other shrubs began to take over the rugged mountainsides until at last we stopped at a lush perch near the 1500 meter summit. The clouds raced by and below, and it was quite a sight to peer down on various villages, farms, and out to the sea in the distance. Passing waterfalls that hadn’t “fallen” in years was a special treat for us, if not Mother Nature’s ploy to convince us that Cape Verde is really a verdant place.
A few more viewing stops, and then we dropped down to the north side of the island to the town of Ponta do Sol right on the shore. Down around this area, we went for walks around town, visited a sugar cane operation, and had lunch at a quaint local bar and restaurant. A particular highlight of the lunch was being entertained by a local trio of talented musicians playing beautiful, light dance music in their native Creole language. To round off our lunch, we meandered through the town down to the shorefront to look around and experience the warm, breezy town just a bit more. At last, our convoy of buses carried us back up and over the rugged, green mountainsides and back down to the National Geographic Endeavour quietly waiting for us in the warm Atlantic waters below. Thanks to the rain of the previous few days, we had a verdantly green experience in this dramatic island of Cape Verde. And that’s the verdade!
Despite its name, Cape Verde is not typically a very verdant place. In fact, being described as a “marine extension of the Sahara”, it’s usually pretty arid, and the rivers rarely run in this archipelago off the coast of Africa. However, the past few nights as we sailed our way down to Cape Verde, the small group of islands experienced a tremendous amount of rainfall to try and make us think otherwise. It rained so much in fact, that we arrived to discover that one of our options, a long hike down a steep mountainside, couldn’t happen because it had been washed out! But we didn’t let that stop us, and after a breezy Zodiac cruise ashore to the town of Ponto Novo, we hopped into ten little motor coaches for our adventure on the northernmost island, Santo Antão.
The weather was spectacular as we bopped along upward ever upward along a precipitous, cobblestone highway. We headed north and peered out the windows on volcanic landscapes so entirely foreign. The lower terrain looked almost Martian with its hills and ravines of rusty red rock. However, this Martian red had a wispy, green fuzz of grass sprouting all around to suggest that maybe, just maybe, this place is “verde” afterall. As we climbed higher towards the clouds, more and more terraces and farms began to appear with crops of corn and beans growing on the steep hillsides. Even higher, even greener. Pine trees, and other shrubs began to take over the rugged mountainsides until at last we stopped at a lush perch near the 1500 meter summit. The clouds raced by and below, and it was quite a sight to peer down on various villages, farms, and out to the sea in the distance. Passing waterfalls that hadn’t “fallen” in years was a special treat for us, if not Mother Nature’s ploy to convince us that Cape Verde is really a verdant place.
A few more viewing stops, and then we dropped down to the north side of the island to the town of Ponta do Sol right on the shore. Down around this area, we went for walks around town, visited a sugar cane operation, and had lunch at a quaint local bar and restaurant. A particular highlight of the lunch was being entertained by a local trio of talented musicians playing beautiful, light dance music in their native Creole language. To round off our lunch, we meandered through the town down to the shorefront to look around and experience the warm, breezy town just a bit more. At last, our convoy of buses carried us back up and over the rugged, green mountainsides and back down to the National Geographic Endeavour quietly waiting for us in the warm Atlantic waters below. Thanks to the rain of the previous few days, we had a verdantly green experience in this dramatic island of Cape Verde. And that’s the verdade!
