Pedro recently wrote about our trip to Cape Verde. And I will write about the most impressive (for us) trekking we did there.
First of all, I need to say that we took 4 small guides on Cape Verde. 2 were in English and 2 were in German.
We already loved the guides from “Rother” series from our trips to other countries. It’s gold for trekking lovers. It has a lot of treks from one specific country or island. All the treks are very well pointed out, including a map, trek duration, difficulty, etc. If I would come back to Cape Verde, I would come back just for treks.
The trail
This trek is in the island of Santo Antão. We started from our base – the town of Ponta do Sol. In the morning, we passed the local grocery shop to buy water, conserves, bread and some other snacks for the trek. Since we didn’t know whether we would pass any food joint on the way, we packed up some food.
The trek was magnificent, always nearby the ocean. But not so easy, as it involves a lot of uphill and downhill. In the book, it is written that the trek will take around 4 hours and 20 min. Our initial goal was to go and come back, to do around 9 hours in total.
But I can say that when we were getting towards the end, we were exhausted. So, regarding coming back, in the end we didn’t even want to consider it.
At the end of the trek, there was one guy with a truck asking if we want a lift back. We had to negotiate the price which ended up being around 25€. It was not cheap for a 15 km ride, but as there were not a lot of choices and the prospect of going back wasn’t so charming, we agreed to pay that price.
This trek ends up a bit in the middle of nowhere, so even meeting someone with a car was a bit of luck.
The trip back brought us through another road, as cars can not circulate on the trek. But the road or so-called “road” was in such condition that we were always going on first gear and it took like an hour to drive those 15 km.
Things to consider
We ate lunch on the way, with the food we bought in the morning in the local shop. But during the trek, we stopped in one place in the village of Corvo.
However, you shouldn’t count with getting a substantial meal in these places. Because they’re located in very isolated, difficult to reach villages and you can get what at the moment they have. But it still can be a nice stopover.
Also, it’s better to start this trek early in the morning. So you can have more time to think about what to do: to come back on foot or search for a lift at the end of the trek. In any case, you’ll be able to manage daylight better and the heat at the peak of the sun.
Have you ever trekked in Cape Verde? Leave your impressions or comments bellow.
