Fogo Island, Cape Verde
Today we visited the volcano of Fogo, the one island in Cape Verde which is currently active and which has been active throughout the historical period, beginning in 1500. The volcano has erupted about every 50 years during the past 500 years and most recently in 1995. In 1951 there was a major eruption which produced large flows of aa lava which breached the crater rim and cascaded down the mountainside. We were able to drive across this lava and into the caldera itself and visit the small village of Cha das Caldieras. The people of Cha das Caldieras were relocated during the 1995 eruption but have now returned and are building up their little town right on the caldera floor. We stopped at a lovely little posada and enjoyed some of the local wine and cheese. We were also able to walk the short distance to the cooperative which produces the wine and watch the bottling and labeling activities in action. The top of the highest peak of the volcano rises over 2900 meters above sea level, and over 6000 meters from the surrounding ocean floor, so that it represents a mountain nearly 20,000 feet in height, half of it above the sea.
The local musicians played a lively selection of Cape Verdean music and the overall ambience of the village was characterized by a sense of both hospitality and pride in their lives in this rather hostile setting. We returned to the ship for lunch and sailed to the westernmost island of Brava for an afternoon of Zodiac rides and kayaking along the sheer cliffs. We were treated to the shrill cries of courting tropicbirds and were also able to glide along the ocean water with several very large manta rays and a large pod of very playful Pantropical Spotted Dolphins which we stayed with until dusk, before returning to the ship to begin the last leg of our voyage north to the Canary Islands
Today we visited the volcano of Fogo, the one island in Cape Verde which is currently active and which has been active throughout the historical period, beginning in 1500. The volcano has erupted about every 50 years during the past 500 years and most recently in 1995. In 1951 there was a major eruption which produced large flows of aa lava which breached the crater rim and cascaded down the mountainside. We were able to drive across this lava and into the caldera itself and visit the small village of Cha das Caldieras. The people of Cha das Caldieras were relocated during the 1995 eruption but have now returned and are building up their little town right on the caldera floor. We stopped at a lovely little posada and enjoyed some of the local wine and cheese. We were also able to walk the short distance to the cooperative which produces the wine and watch the bottling and labeling activities in action. The top of the highest peak of the volcano rises over 2900 meters above sea level, and over 6000 meters from the surrounding ocean floor, so that it represents a mountain nearly 20,000 feet in height, half of it above the sea.
The local musicians played a lively selection of Cape Verdean music and the overall ambience of the village was characterized by a sense of both hospitality and pride in their lives in this rather hostile setting. We returned to the ship for lunch and sailed to the westernmost island of Brava for an afternoon of Zodiac rides and kayaking along the sheer cliffs. We were treated to the shrill cries of courting tropicbirds and were also able to glide along the ocean water with several very large manta rays and a large pod of very playful Pantropical Spotted Dolphins which we stayed with until dusk, before returning to the ship to begin the last leg of our voyage north to the Canary Islands
