Photo: Getty Images
- Pearls in the Atlantic
- Sal Island
- São Vicente Island
- Santo Antão island
Pearls in the Atlantic
Even her name is poetry: "the islands over the wind". This refers to those Cape Verde Islands, which are facing the stable Passat winds. This includes the most popular island of Sal. The breeze makes even the most hot time tolerable. We wanted to explore the many faces of Cape Verde and chose Sals beaches to swim, Santo Antão's green mountains to hike, and São Vicente's capital, Mindelo, to enjoy the colonial charm.
Sal Island
Under the sun of the bathing paradise of Santa Maria, you quickly get used to the Cape Verdean way of life: do not worry, everything has its time. What brings the German Pünktlichkeits- lovers first on the palm, is soon pure pleasure .
We are lying on a sand dune, reminiscent of the Sahara. Only a camel caravan is missing. We squint in the sun and think: You are right - an hour more or less, what does it matter? This is the point at which pure luck spreads and the grubby weather is far away at home.
São Vicente Island
Quirlig it goes to our next destination Mindelo. Around 75, 000 of the 78, 000 islanders live in this city. Here clearly beats the pulse of São Vicente. At the market, we can not get enough of one another: the silver shimmer of all the fresh fish is almost dazzling. Colorful fruits and vegetables, sweets and tobacco are next to it. He was certainly a coveted commodity among the pirates, who had this island in their hands for a long time.
Merchants with colorful headscarves chatter in a good mood. Not in Portuguese, the language of the former rulers, but in the vernacular Crioulo with its soft, singing sound. The pretty tower next to the market looks familiar to us. No wonder, it is an exact, if smaller, replica of the Tower of Belém, which stands in Lisbon in the mouth of the Tejo.
Santo Antão island
After all the hustle and bustle, silence may return to admire a breathtaking landscape: Ribeira do Paul on Santo Antão is the greenest place in Cape Verde, of overabundant fertility. Huge breadfruit and mango trees, palm trees and sugarcane as far as the eye can see. The valley winds its way down to the ocean.
We follow him on a well-worn mule track. The deep green ferns are almost as tall as we are. Quick our faces are wet on the way through the damp cloud forest. But the air smells refreshing. This is due to the eucalyptus trees and the cypress trees. Red flowers and dry, covered with colorful lichen stones alternate. We stop on a huge boulder to soak up the impressions.
Cape Verde info
location
The total of 15 islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean at the height of Senegal. While dry desert landscapes and white sandy beaches predominate on the eastern islands, such as Sal, there are green mountains and volcanoes in the west (eg Santo Antão and São Vicente).
climate
With temperatures between 21 and 29 degrees from January to December, the Cape Verde Islands are the perfect year-round destination. The water is just as warm. Attention: From August to September there are heavy tropical rains.
