Santo Antão
The peaks and ravines of Santo Antão, one of the windward islands of the Cape Verde archipelago, must rank as one of the world's most dramatic landscapes. After a beach landing by Zodiac at Porto Novo that aroused the curiosity of more than just the local fishermen, we used a fleet of minivans to negotiate the narrow mountain road that leads over to the island's capital, Ribeira Grande. In places the road runs precariously along a ridge with a sheer drop of several thousand feet to either side. Weather conditions could hardly have been better. Even at the highest altitudes we continued to have good visibility, marveling at small farmsteads clinging onto high ledges with their carefully tended terraces of maize and gazing down at villages in the fertile valleys below with their lush green banana plantations surrounded by mango and papaya trees. Cape Verde abounds in endemic birds, so the ornithologists amongst us were more excited than usual: would we see the Egyptian vultures reputed to hover above the hairpin bends in the road? Since each bend in the road provided a superlative view, several stops were made along the way with cameras and binoculars much in evidence.
A number of options had been offered, with the greater part of the group following a descending trail in a leisurely but demanding walk of some two hours duration culminating in a picnic buffet in the luxuriant valley of Paúl. For those who continued in the local transportation, there was an opportunity to enjoy the national dish of cachupa at a local restaurant, a hearty dish of maize, beans, cassava, sweet potato, manioc, bread fruit, citronella and cabbage stewed with home-smoked pork and herbs. In case this repast was insufficient, an enormous baked fish was brought in from the kitchen with bowls of rice and potatoes. Desserts included fresh papaya, coconut flan with caramel, and goat's cheese with papaya marmalade. Watching the island recede in twilight, the lights of hillside villages winking at us as we sailed for Fogo, we all found that we had much to digest from a memorable day.
The peaks and ravines of Santo Antão, one of the windward islands of the Cape Verde archipelago, must rank as one of the world's most dramatic landscapes. After a beach landing by Zodiac at Porto Novo that aroused the curiosity of more than just the local fishermen, we used a fleet of minivans to negotiate the narrow mountain road that leads over to the island's capital, Ribeira Grande. In places the road runs precariously along a ridge with a sheer drop of several thousand feet to either side. Weather conditions could hardly have been better. Even at the highest altitudes we continued to have good visibility, marveling at small farmsteads clinging onto high ledges with their carefully tended terraces of maize and gazing down at villages in the fertile valleys below with their lush green banana plantations surrounded by mango and papaya trees. Cape Verde abounds in endemic birds, so the ornithologists amongst us were more excited than usual: would we see the Egyptian vultures reputed to hover above the hairpin bends in the road? Since each bend in the road provided a superlative view, several stops were made along the way with cameras and binoculars much in evidence.
A number of options had been offered, with the greater part of the group following a descending trail in a leisurely but demanding walk of some two hours duration culminating in a picnic buffet in the luxuriant valley of Paúl. For those who continued in the local transportation, there was an opportunity to enjoy the national dish of cachupa at a local restaurant, a hearty dish of maize, beans, cassava, sweet potato, manioc, bread fruit, citronella and cabbage stewed with home-smoked pork and herbs. In case this repast was insufficient, an enormous baked fish was brought in from the kitchen with bowls of rice and potatoes. Desserts included fresh papaya, coconut flan with caramel, and goat's cheese with papaya marmalade. Watching the island recede in twilight, the lights of hillside villages winking at us as we sailed for Fogo, we all found that we had much to digest from a memorable day.
