São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Volcanic Arid Wonder of Soncente


Atlantic vs East Coast
Praia Grande coves, between Baía das Gatas and the volcanoes above the village of Calhau.
Clube Beira-Mar by the sea
Headquarters of FC Beira-Mar do Calhau, the club in the village of Calhau served by a rough and peeled field.
Dry skies, inhospitable land
Glimpse of São Vicente under a mist that only very rarely produces rain.
Incursion into Praia Grande
Hikers walk at the end of Praia Grande closest to the village of Calhau.
an unexpected relationship
Bush invades the modern road that passes by the village of Calhau.
miraculous city
The houses of Mindelo arranged around the Bay of Porto Grande, with Monte Cara in the background.
color fishing
Fishing boats bring more life to Baía das Gatas.
Dunes and some Asphalt
Atlantic Dunes in the east of São Vicente
rough coastline
Plateaus and craggy peaks rip the east coast of São Vicente right down to the edge of the Atlantic.
geological cutouts
The peninsula on which Baía das Gatas is located, seen from the top of Monte Verde
End of another day
Sun sets behind Monte Cara and orange the Porto Grande Bay and its marina.
A return to São Vicente reveals an aridity as dazzling as it is inhospitable. Those who visit it are surprised by the grandeur and geological eccentricity of the fourth smallest island in Cape Verde.

The "Canal Sea” approaches the anchorage.

The waves soften as the islet of Farol gains volume.

It stands out from the imposing cliffs between ocher and brown, which flank the bay of Porto Grande, almost on the northwest threshold of Cape Verde.

In such a way that it reveals the white staircase that climbs to the top. The acrobatic houses of Mindelo are unveiled along the extensive base of Monte Verde, as if trying to conquer its summit.

At the time the boat docks, the sun falls behind Monte Cara. It illuminates and yellows the city with an astral morabeza that is both soft and ephemeral.

Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde, Porto Grande Marina

Sun sets behind Monte Cara and orange the Porto Grande Bay and its marina.

Once on land, with night beginning, we found ourselves eager to discover what was beyond the huge iron walls that seemed to contain the capital.

We decided to discover it before dedicating ourselves to the Mindelo.

The new day dawned sunny and somewhat windy as is supposed in the cooler and dry season of Cape Verde.

We took the rental car on Avenida Marginal and, soon, the Mindelo-Calhau road, a long irregular sidewalk, made of basalt stones, as volcanic as its final destination.

We continue upstream of the dry Julião stream, through a savannah with dry, shallow hay, dotted with thorny bushes.

A Breathtaking Return to São Vicente

Gradually, we enter the heart of the island and point to the capricious east coast.

Calhau won't be long. Admire its multicolored houses at the foot of the two black volcanoes that reinforce the smallness of the homes.

The open surroundings appear to us in style Western, like nowhere ghosts swept by sand and dust, full of ground-floor buildings abandoned to the waterhole and the Alisios.

Clube Beira-Mar, São Vicente Island, Cape Verde

Headquarters of FC Beira-Mar do Calhau, the club in the village of Calhau served by a rough and peeled field.

One of these structures is joined by an overturned goal and a whole rough soccer field in front of it. A sign identifies them: FC Beira Mar do Calhau.

The seat is black and yellow, the exact colors of Sport Clube Beira-Mar de Aveiro. In the distance, towards the rest of Cape Verde's west coast and the African continent, we can still see the island of Santa Luzia, clearly offside.

We take the road that is named Baía das Gatas-Calhau there.

The Calhau is already behind when we notice that a bush like a tree hugs the steel rail.

It invades the edge and sways in the wind on the asphalt, as if to claim the supremacy of the adventurous plant world.

São Vicente, Cape Verde, bush on the road

Bush invades the modern road that passes by the village of Calhau.

From Praia Grande to Baía das Gatas

Still without seeing a soul, we entered the open area of ​​Praia Grande.

A succession of lofty plateaus of long-cooled lava give way to the coast.

Successive sands extend from the tidal limit of the Atlantic, up the slopes.

Praia Grande, east of São Vicente, Cape Verde

Hikers walk at the end of Praia Grande closest to the village of Calhau.

The road that undulates between these same slopes and the ocean crosses the sands and the dunes.

It leads us to a last cove closed by new linear houses.

We consulted the map. We confirmed that it was the Baía das Gatas that we had already heard so much about. It was the excuse that we didn't need to visit and refresh ourselves with icy Strelas.

Far from the date of the famous local festival and without the crowds from Mindelo and other parts of Cape Verde, those places lacked life. Color abounded. Especially on assorted fishermen's boats.

Sao Vicente, Baía das Gatas, Cape Verde boats

Fishing boats bring more life to Baía das Gatas.

So we ended up sitting down to lunch on an airy terrace, seduced by the genuine reception of the owner: “If you want food from here, you'll have to wait at least half an hour.

Here we make everything fresh and on time.” let us know, for sure already tired of the rush of the small tours that passed by. "No, there is no cachus! But there is fried chicken."

We have nothing to complain about.

We sat between French, Dutch and English. Since landing in Mindelo, we have not seen any sign of compatriots.

We savored the beers and the strangeness of that corner of the island that the company made more foreign.

The Picturesque and Bathing Corner of Salamansa

After the small feast, we proceed to Salamansa, the fishing village that followed, located in the bay before the capital because of the fresh water, rare in most parts of São Vicente, as in the rest of the archipelago. We entered what appeared to be the main street.

A group of women and children share the fountain of the village, armed with jerricans plastics. As the containers fill, they exchange jokes and spontaneous jokes to which they respond with easy laughs.

Across the road, another, older woman, had just laid out the blue outfit of the local football club under the gaze of a small clan of men, some players, other former players and supporters who, motivated by our interest , rushed to praise the value of their team.

We passed the beach in front of the village. There, king sports are different. Several native teenagers and a young Dutchman who ended up staying run an informal water sports center.

At the same time, they perfect their surfing and kitesurf.

Upon returning from the sea, some of them volunteer for a short photographic production. Cristiano, Kenny Marlon and Vladimir display, in stylish poses, their boards and physiques.

Confident, Jaírson doesn't need props to reach the same plan.

Ascension to the Ceiling of São Vicente

We were about to close the way back to the road we had been driving since early in the morning. At the same time, we had approached the access to the island's zenith (750 m), the Monte Verde overlooking that we admired when the ferry arrived from Santo Antão.

View from Pico Verde to Praia Grande, São Vicente, Cape Verde

Plateaus and craggy peaks rip the east coast of São Vicente right to the edge of the Atlantic

We ascend to its panoramic summit. Slowly, slowly, the altitude trapped us with majestic views of Praia Grande.

And forward, far away, from Santo Antão, from the Bay of Porto Grande, from the Mindelo that filled it and the barren but stunning hills and valleys between the plateau that supported us and the São Vicente Channel.

The Alisios punished those heights and Cape Verde in general, from the Brava island a Santo Antão. In such a way that, when we reached the edge of the precipice, we could barely balance ourselves.

Despite the distance, we realized that the “Canal Sea” returned to dock at the port. The day ended in a flash and the lights took over the houses.

Cidade Velha, Cape Verde

Cidade Velha: the Ancient of the Tropico-Colonial Cities

It was the first settlement founded by Europeans below the Tropic of Cancer. In crucial times for Portuguese expansion to Africa and South America and for the slave trade that accompanied it, Cidade Velha became a poignant but unavoidable legacy of Cape Verdean origins.

island of salt, Cape Verde

The Salt of the Island of Sal

At the approach of the XNUMXth century, Sal remained lacking in drinking water and practically uninhabited. Until the extraction and export of the abundant salt there encouraged a progressive population. Today, salt and salt pans add another flavor to the most visited island in Cape Verde.
Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde

Boa Vista Island: Atlantic waves, Dunas do Sara

Boa Vista is not only the Cape Verdean island closest to the African coast and its vast desert. After a few hours of discovery, it convinces us that it is a piece of the Sahara adrift in the North Atlantic.
Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde

Santa Maria and the Atlantic Blessing of Sal

Santa Maria was founded in the first half of the XNUMXth century, as a salt export warehouse. Today, thanks to the providence of Santa Maria, Sal Ilha is worth much more than the raw material.
Santo Antão, Cape Verde

Up and Down the Estrada da Corda

Santo Antão is the westernmost of the Cape Verde Islands. There lies an Atlantic and rugged threshold of Africa, a majestic insular domain that we begin by unraveling from one end to the other of its dazzling Estrada da Corda.
Fogo Island, Cape Verde

Around the Fogo Island

Time and the laws of geomorphology dictated that the volcano-island of Fogo rounded off like no other in Cape Verde. Discovering this exuberant Macaronesian archipelago, we circled around it against the clock. We are dazzled in the same direction.
São Nicolau, Cape Verde

São Nicolau: Pilgrimage to Terra di Sodade

Forced matches like those that inspired the famous morna “soda” made the pain of having to leave the islands of Cape Verde very strong. Discovering saninclau, between enchantment and wonder, we pursue the genesis of song and melancholy.
Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Island Cape Verde

A "French" Clan at the Mercy of Fire

In 1870, a Count born in Grenoble on his way to Brazilian exile, made a stopover in Cape Verde where native beauties tied him to the island of Fogo. Two of his children settled in the middle of the volcano's crater and continued to raise offspring there. Not even the destruction caused by the recent eruptions deters the prolific Montrond from the “county” they founded in Chã das Caldeiras.    
Príncipe, São Tomé and Principe

Journey to the Noble Retreat of Príncipe Island

150 km of solitude north of the matriarch São Tomé, the island of Príncipe rises from the deep Atlantic against an abrupt and volcanic mountain-covered jungle setting. Long enclosed in its sweeping tropical nature and a contained but moving Luso-colonial past, this small African island still houses more stories to tell than visitors to listen to.
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Miracle of São Vicente

São Vicente has always been arid and inhospitable to match. The challenging colonization of the island subjected the settlers to successive hardships. Until, finally, its providential deep-water bay enabled Mindelo, the most cosmopolitan city and the cultural capital of Cape Verde.
Esteros del Iberá, Pantanal Argentina, Alligator
Safari
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Thorong La, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, photo for posterity
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 13th - High camp a Thorong La to Muktinath, Nepal

At the height of the Annapurnas Circuit

At 5416m of altitude, the Thorong La Gorge is the great challenge and the main cause of anxiety on the itinerary. After having killed 2014 climbers in October 29, crossing it safely generates a relief worthy of double celebration.
Architecture & Design
napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s – Old-Fashioned Car Tour

In a city rebuilt in Art Deco and with an atmosphere of the "crazy years" and beyond, the adequate means of transportation are the elegant classic automobiles of that era. In Napier, they are everywhere.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Adventure
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
Tiredness in shades of green
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, Travel Korea, Color Maneuvers
Cities
Alone, South Korea

A Glimpse of Medieval Korea

Gyeongbokgung Palace stands guarded by guardians in silken robes. Together they form a symbol of South Korean identity. Without waiting for it, we ended up finding ourselves in the imperial era of these Asian places.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Meal
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Tombola, street bingo-Campeche, Mexico
Culture
Campeche, Mexico

200 Years of Playing with Luck

At the end of the XNUMXth century, the peasants surrendered to a game introduced to cool the fever of cash cards. Today, played almost only for Abuelites, a lottery little more than a fun place.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Cambodia, Angkor, Ta Phrom
Traveling
Ho Chi Minh a of Angkor, Cambodia

The Crooked Path to Angkor

From Vietnam onwards, Cambodia's crumbling roads and minefields take us back to the years of Khmer Rouge terror. We survive and are rewarded with the vision of the greatest religious temple
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Ethnic
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Portfolio, Got2Globe, Best Images, Photography, Images, Cleopatra, Dioscorides, Delos, Greece
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

The Earthly and the Celestial

Women at Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan, India.
History
Jaisalmer, India

The Life Withstanding in the Golden Fort of Jaisalmer

The Jaisalmer fortress was erected from 1156 onwards by order of Rawal Jaisal, ruler of a powerful clan from the now Indian reaches of the Thar Desert. More than eight centuries later, despite continued pressure from tourism, they share the vast and intricate interior of the last of India's inhabited forts, almost four thousand descendants of the original inhabitants.
Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
Islands
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Entrance to Dunhuang Sand City, China
Nature
Dunhuang, China

An Oasis in the China of the Sands

Thousands of kilometers west of Beijing, the Great Wall has its western end and the China and other. An unexpected splash of vegetable green breaks up the arid expanse all around. Announces Dunhuang, formerly crucial outpost on the Silk Road, today an intriguing city at the base of Asia's largest sand dunes.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Argentinean flag on the Perito Moreno-Argentina lake-glacier
Natural Parks
Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

The Resisting Glacier

Warming is supposedly global, but not everywhere. In Patagonia, some rivers of ice resist. From time to time, the advance of the Perito Moreno causes landslides that bring Argentina to a halt.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
UNESCO World Heritage
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
Correspondence verification
Characters
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Bather, The Baths, Devil's Bay (The Baths) National Park, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beaches
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Virgin Gorda's Divine “Caribbaths”

Discovering the Virgin Islands, we disembark on a tropical and seductive seaside dotted with huge granite boulders. The Baths seem straight out of the Seychelles but they are one of the most exuberant marine scenery in the Caribbean.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Religion
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
Serra do Mar train, Paraná, airy view
On Rails
Curitiba a Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

Down Paraná, on Board the Train Serra do Mar

For more than two centuries, only a winding and narrow road connected Curitiba to the coast. Until, in 1885, a French company opened a 110 km railway. We walked along it to Morretes, the final station for passengers today. 40km from the original coastal terminus of Paranaguá.
Society
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Fruit sellers, Swarm, Mozambique
Daily life
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Sheep and hikers in Mykines, Faroe Islands
Wildlife
Mykines, Faroe Islands

In the Faeroes FarWest

Mykines establishes the western threshold of the Faroe archipelago. It housed 179 people but the harshness of the retreat got the better of it. Today, only nine souls survive there. When we visit it, we find the island given over to its thousand sheep and the restless colonies of puffins.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.