Cabo Verde travel guide

Boa Vista has some of the finest untouched beaches on the planet. Never-ending stretches of soft white sand, fringed by desert inland and by bright turquoise water oceanside. It doesn't come more picturesque than this. The thing is, there is nothing else here. No palms, no shades, no roads, no people, no bungalows, no beach huts, no resorts (besides the few on the whole island). Just sand, sun, and the sea... and, of course, the wind.

After a few days on Boa Vista, you might start to wonder whether the rest of the island is as barren as where you are. And yes, it is. But the best way to figure it out, is a tour of the island. A full loop of Boa Vista takes a whole day in a 4x4 on dirt tracks, in sand dunes, over stony desert, and occasional on a stretch of real road – with potholes of course. Rent a car with a driver, since they know the right track from the wrong ones.

A suggestion for a route could be:
Sal Rei (town) – Rabil (village) – Deserto Viana (desert) – Povocao Velha (village) – Praia da Varandinha (beach with caves) – Praia de Santa Monica (beach) – Curral Velho (ruins and salt lake) – Praia de Joao Barrosa (turtle nesting beach) – Baobab (a lone Baobab tree) – Ervatao (a surf beach) – Fundo das Figueiras (village) – Santa Maria shipwreck – Sal Rei

Take a look at the photo gallery for more details.

At the Western end of the island lies a small gem called Carbirinho. It may be a little hard to get to this spot, which is hardly mentioned in any guidebook, but it is well worth the effort! You can sit for hours watching the waves crash into the rocks and the water pulling in and out of the small black-sanded beaches. The rough sea has been carving the sandstone cliffs for centuries forming beautiful patterns. Some natural springs seep through the rocks attracting goats who come here to drink. Especially around sunset, the place becomes magical. If you are lucky, you can also see turtles swimming below the rocks.

Location, location, location. The first European settlement in the tropics is set beautifully between the rugged coastline and the mountainous interior at a steep valley cutting inland. This former Portuguese capital of the Cabo Verde islands used to bear the name Ribeira Grande, but today it's just known as Cidade Vehla meaning "Old City". These days life move slowly, and the town is mainly inhabited by local fishermen and farmers who live among the ruins of sixteen and seventeen century Portugal. Most notable the ruined cathedral; the Pelourinho on the praça, where criminals and slaves were shackled and exposed; and Rue Banana, the ironically named first European street in the tropics – now lined with the restored houses from when the island was first colonized. More historical evidence can be found among the palm trees and the farms in the valley. Cidade Vehla is Cabo Verde's only entry on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

Set apart from most hikes on Santo Antão, which are mainly inland going between the top of the mountains and the coast in either direction, the coastal walk between Cruzinha and Ponta do Sol is something very different. Don’t expect to hike flat though. You’ll probably get the same or even more altitude difference in your legs than on the other hikes. The trail keeps going up and down along the rocky coast, sometimes going over some passes, but pretty much all the time you see the ocean and have amazing views. You pass by some beautiful black sand beaches where you can cool your feet down in the waves. The few villages you pass through are also beautiful and some have amazing agricultural terraces.

In contrast to touristy Santa Maria further south, the small town of Estragos is a chance to experience an ordinary Cabo Verdean town. Since it’s close to the airport, there is a small selection of guest houses offering a chance to stay a day or two, something that isn’t normally possible in Cabo Verde outside the tourist zones. The town is neither impressive nor has any tourist appeal, but that is exactly the charm of Estragos. Just a normal town with fruit selling ladies with goods balancing on their head, cheeky school kids and old folks sitting outside their homes.

One of the main crops on Santo Antão is suger cane. The cane sugar that is consumed on the islands is however imported from Alagoas, Brazil, because the Cabo Verdeans have a better use for their sugar cane: making Grogue. This often very locally brewed alcohol is a type of rum. When hiking through the villages of Santo Antão, you are bound to run into such a small distillery. The people will happily show you the process of distilling the sugar cane and might even let you try some grogue. First, the suger cane goes through a press to extract the sugar cane juice. The dried sugar canes are eventually used as a fuel for the distillation process.

Small enough to walk around on, Cabo Verde's smallest inhabited island rises steeply out of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus hiking here has its ups and downs that will take your breath away due to the island's mountainous nature. The views of the island's slopes, its coastline, villages and to nearby Fogo are all magnificent on clear days. On cloudy days, any hike on Brava will be a walk in the clouds while the lazily drifts past the island's mountain tops. However, at any time will the cobblestone roads, lobelia flowers and mountainside villas make for idyllic hikes; one that feels more like the 19th century than the 21st. From the main town of Vila Nova de Sintra, beautiful walks are everywhere but recommended hikes include the walks down to Vinagre, up to Nossa Senhora do Monte, and across the island to Fajã d'Agua and Tantum. Be aware that walks here a longer than they look on the map given the winding nature of the roads and paths.

The most popular hike on São Nicolau island is probably the climb to the top of its highest mountain: Monte Gordo, just over 1,300 m high. Since recent years, the area around this mountain is protected and has become a national park. There is an information center at the start of the trail in Cachaço and they even have some leaflets with a very good trail map of the national park. The climb goes up steadily to the top from where you get 360° views of the island. With clear weather, you can see several of the Barlavento islands such as São Vicente and Santo Antão.
From here you can backtrack all the way or you can choose to just hike down a little the same way, then hike around the mountain, go over some ridges and then finally hike down to finish in the town of Praia Branca, which is strangely not a beach town as you would think of its name (praia is Portuguese for beach).

Named after the royal town outside Lisbon, Nova Sintra is possibly one of the most pleasant towns in Cabo Verde. It's located among the clouds, high above the Atlantic Ocean and has the Island of Fogo in panoramic view on the horizon. The setting is fairytale-like. It's the biggest town on Cabo Verde's smallest inhabited island, and less than two thousand souls call Nova Sintra home. It has a distinct village feeling to it but has more to offer than your standard village community. Traditional Cabo Verdian live music is a given on weekends, and there is a supprisingly large range of bars and restaurants - there is even two nightclubs in town to keep visitors entertained.