Return To Boa Vista: Playing Crusoe, Eating Tuna And Exploring The Island
And so we’re back in the little fisherman’s cottage in Sal Rei, back where our Cape Verde time began, to conclude not only this trip but also our travel adventures for 2023. Boa Vista is the desert of Cape Verde, an island of sand dunes and no natural water supply, so different from the sister islands which have their verdant valleys, green mountains and plentiful supply of fresh fruit. An island where it hardly ever rains and where digging out the sand drifts is a constant challenge.
Sal Rei is a great little village, rustic and just a little rough, home to those locals still dependent on fishing for a living and tucked invisibly away from the resort hotels which are apparently isolated somewhere along the coast.
“I want to go over there”, says Michaela, eyeing the uninhabited islet which sits just off Sal Rei, “it looks interesting”. Well, we can see what looks like a deserted beach, something which resembles the remains of a castle, and a lighthouse. So, always needing to find ways to please the lady, I offer one of the fishermen 20 euros to take us over and return to fetch us home some three hours later. By the way his eyes light up, that’s obviously a better deal than spending his Saturday chasing tuna and wahoo. In fact he’s so pleased that he doesn’t leave the islet at all but instead spends the three hours snoozing in the bottom of his boat and occasionally casting a half-hearted line into the water.
The small islet is a dry, scrub-dune chunk of land with, as we suspected, pretty much nothing else on it apart from lizards, and a cat. Yes, a cat, though how exactly Tom came to be the island’s only domesticated inhabitant is a mystery we’ll never resolve. The castle, it turns out, was a fort, built by the Lisbon-appointed Mayor of Cape Verde to protect something which was of such great value to the fatherland that the town is named after it; Sal Rei translates as “royal salt”. The state, and the mayor, needed to keep those pesky thieving pirate hands off their precious commodity which was in such abundance here, and positioned a number of cannons on the island pointing fairly and squarely on to the only route in. Maybe the cat is the incumbent Mayor and knows how to handle a cannon or two. Who knows.
At times we are the only people on the beach, then another fisherman with another 20-euro opportunity might drop off a handful of other souls. After an hour or so there’s another brief interruption as what is clearly some kind of guided excursion arrives, probably, we think, from one of the resort hotels. Why do we think this? Because in the midst of this rustic world of traditional fishermen in rickety boats, these guys are in an inflatable dinghy and are, incongruously and amusingly, all wearing matching bright orange life jackets. Ah bless their little souls we think, as they disappear across the water after their allocated twenty minutes on the Robinson Crusoe island.
Talking of incongruous sights, the airline which carries passengers between the islands of Cape Verde, Bestfly, has something to contend with that we’ve never seen before on our travels: cool boxes – or what our American friends would call ice boxes, or coolers. But these aren’t taken as hand luggage, oh no – just about every Cape Verdean who is flying between islands puts a cool box in the hold, having first wrapped copious quantities of duck tape around it in order to secure the lid, and hands it in along with his/her suitcase. What is that all about?? Cool boxes as hold luggage? What? Why? Do they really all contain food?
And speaking of food, we thought we might tire of fish, and of tuna in particular, during this three-week sojourn, but it’s just so delicious, so fresh and juicy, and served in so many different ways, that it’s the meal that just keeps on giving. Never mind tiring of it, we’re going to miss it when we’re gone. But “gone” is what we’re going to be, in just a few days’ time.
Sylvia, our incredibly helpful and proactive host, will be “gone” even sooner than we are. She’s heading out of Cape Verde the day before us – Sylvia is German and is going home to Braunschweig, saying she needs a break from the laid back lethargy out here on the islands. It’s not hard to picture that someone who is used to German efficiency might quickly lose patience with what is after all a very different culture and attitude to life, out here in the islands where everything moves at a much slower pace. She gives us one last helping hand before she goes though, and organises a trip around the island to see what else Boa Vista has to offer.
The trip is a day riding in the back of a pick up truck along with our fellow trippers – a couple from Paris – Sylvia herself, and our driver for the day, who bears a name which sounds like a Formula 1 driver or a Brazilian footballer: Nilson Gomes. We’re soon off, leaving Sal Rei behind and heading first to the former capital Rabil with its quaint old church where children attending Sunday school are drawing pictures of burning candles.
Our day on the truck shows in full glory just what a spectacular island Boa Vista is: we eat tamarind and almond fallen from the trees, marvel at the barren fields of volcanic rock, then wander out on to a natural salt pan where the pink and white crystals rise up to ground level from the earth below.
We pass through various forms of desert, from the grass-tufted dunes we saw when we first arrived, to scrubland dotted with small spiky shrubs, then a stretch of land where the ground is covered in a bright red creeping plant, until, suddenly and unexpectedly, we may as well be in the depths of the Sahara. Huge rolling dunes beautifully sculpted by prevailing winds, sand so soft that it moves like liquid when disturbed, amazing pure scenes of desert yet with definite boundaries where sand ends and scrub begins. It’s as if the Saharan winds follow one specific path, leaving in their wake a wide but clearly defined swathe of pure desert.
Just when we think that things cannot possibly get better, we reach the coastline, and hit the longest, most alluring, completely deserted beaches we have seen anywhere: mile upon mile of gold-white sand caressed by the blue Atlantic yet with not a soul in sight. It is absolutely an undiscovered paradise – but then, “undiscovered” is not altogether surprising as there are no roads to these beaches, we’ve been in the pick-up on dirt tracks for well over an hour before we make the first of them.
Unbelievably there is another breathtaking treat in store on Sylvia and Nilson’s itinerary. The massive rolling Sahara-like dunes were one thing, the amazing beaches another – and then, just beyond Praia Varandinha, those two things come together, giant, sculpted dunes sweeping in glorious peaks and valleys right to the water’s edge. It’s a fabulous, mesmerising sight: a point where the desert sands meet the rolling sea in a marriage designed in heaven. I’m not sure we’ve seen anything quite like this before.
Nilson Gomes knows his island well: he stops where we can see huge turtles feeding in the waters below the cliffs, and a place where a sea eagle has made its nest. It’s been an amazing, spectacular few hours. We end the day on Sylvia’s rooftop terrace, sipping beer and watching the orange glows of the sunset behind the islet we’d visited on Saturday, chatting about our wonderful world and, ultimately, wishing each other a safe journey home.
We still have one day left to soak up Sal Rei’s sunshine and be absorbed by its character and daily life. Although our time is not quite complete, today has been a fitting finale to our three weeks on these appealing, disparate islands. Three islands, each one so different from the others.
The tiny waitress at Te Manche flashes her sweetest smile as we ponder the menu. I look up at Michaela.
I think I’m going to have the grilled tuna.
39 Comments
Heyjude
Boa Vista does look nice and if you like huge sand dunes by the coast you really do need to get over to Namibia.
Phil & Michaela
Interesting, Jude, because mainland Africa is on our 2024 radar and Namibia is on the possibles list.
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Your photos are spectacular – those beaches are amazing, not even any seaweed.
I’ve also seen the sand dunes in Namibia. It’s so amazing to see the sand reaching the ocean like that. We do indeed live in a wonderful world.
Phil & Michaela
We sure do. We just stood and stared at those sand formations by the sea. Amazing sight.
restlessjo
Boa Vista sums it up pretty well!
Phil & Michaela
It so does!
Alison
As you say a wonderful day to end your trip. Absolutely stunning, some of those photos bring to mind the sand dunes of Fuerteventura
Phil & Michaela
Was a good day seeing the island, and what a spectacular place huh
Alison
You always find the best places
Terrie
What excellent writing no and photography. A fitting end. Bring some salt back! Travel well and safely home.
Love, the Yanks
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Yankee Doodle. Not looking forward to feeling the Kent cold….
Gilda Baxter
Having Sylvia and Nielson to show you some hidden gems was a good move. Nothing like local knowledge to discover something exciting. Beautiful photos.
Phil & Michaela
Thanks Gilda, yes it was a really good way to see those hidden places
Monkey's Tale
The golden sanding meeting the blue water is stunning. What a great way to end your Cape Verde trip. Maggie
Phil & Michaela
It was so beautiful we just stood and stared for a while!
Toonsarah
The trip to the islet sounds fun, but why no photo of the resident cat – was he camera shy?! And Sal Rei looks lovely too, especially the back streets. But the island tour is what really sells this island to me – those rolling dunes (with or without sea!), the salt pans, the almonds and tamarinds … Nelson indeed sounds like a man who knows his island and knows what visitors will want to see!
Phil & Michaela
Ah well, that cat was so unused to humans that as soon as I made those kissing sounds that we all make to say “come here kitty”, from about 50 yards away, it shot off at lightning speed across the scrub. And yes Boa Vista really is spectacular and interesting, so glad we did that tour.
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
Great looking beaches. Unless we missed a post did you not spend time on Sal?
Phil & Michaela
No we didn’t visit Sal, just Boa Vista, Santiago and Fogo.
grandmisadventures
What a great end to a great trip and a great year of adventures for you. I love the sand dunes and sea coming together- so different from any other beach 🙂
Phil & Michaela
It is very beautiful!
Lookoom
The story of the cool box reminds me of when I left Easter Island, the father of the owner of the cabana where I stayed had spent the night at sea to fill his cool box, taking the same morning flight as me to visit his other son on the mainland.
Travels Through My Lens
Seems like a lovely end to your vacation. I imagine it will be difficult to leave the warmth and sunshine for cold England.
Phil & Michaela
It’s horrible so far and we’ve only been here 9 hours…!
Andrew Petcher
Love those white sands.
Where to next?
Phil & Michaela
Brazil…..
Christie
That is quite an unique sight, where the dunes meet the sea. And such a nice treat, to have all the beach only for yourself!
Phil & Michaela
It was fabulous, really. Such an unusual and beautiful sight.
Jenny
I always love dunes and sea sculptured sand so I would have been impressed too. I’m certainly impressed by your photos – really remarkable. The orange life jackets sound rather quaint but not a bad thing to have some tourists – catering for them will help them make a living without having to go away. It sounds as if they have just the right amount.
Phil & Michaela
Yes that’s true. Thank you again for commenting and for becoming our latest new follower, always very much appreciated.
leightontravels
What a dream end to the trip. The dunes and the sea… perfection. I’ll have the grilled tuna too.
Phil & Michaela
Stunning thing to see!
WanderingCanadians
Looks like you guys were having a lot of fun in the sand dunes! The coastal views are gorgeous. It’s been raining nearly every day this past week and the idea of being on a beach with warm weather and sunshine sounds lovely.
Phil & Michaela
I know the feeling!
rkrontheroad
Amazing dunes, and I would love to join you for the grilled tuna. Living inland, I am always romanced by fresh seafood. That little side street looks very inviting.
Phil & Michaela
We loved staying in Sal Rei, especially in the fishermen’s quarter where we really felt part of the community quite quickly. It’s a lovely place, really our cup of tea…for now, though as we said, things may be changing.
rkrontheroad
How nice to feel accepted by the community. That’s something few travelers achieve in such a short time.
Annie Berger
Michaela really outdid herself this time with her magical photos showing the shifting sands on the day tour! Made me want to jump on the next flight to Cape Verde!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you, Annie – definitely a spectacular island!