Oct 10, 2019
São Miguel
My flight from Toronto arrived at Ponta Delgada at 6:30 am and the flight from Ponta Delgada to Praia in Cape Verde departs at 8:30 am the next day - perfect for a day trip of the island. I tried to arrange an All in One tour (including both Sete Cidades and Furnas) with Azores on Travel in advance but they didn't have enough people for that tour on this particular day unfortunately. They managed to take me to Sete Cidades for a half day tour and provided taxi service from Sete Cidades to Furnas - not a bad idea.
The tour started at 9 am. Before heading for Sete Cidades, we visited a pineapple plantation, perhaps standard practice of the tours here. On the way to Sete Cidades, we stopped a few times for views. For Sete Cidades, we visited both the Inferno viewpoint (need to hike 10 minutes) and Vista do Rei (King's View) - the former offers better scenery.
After Sete Cidades, I was transferred by car to Furnas. I spent a couple hours in town and did the very typical activities - had Cozido das Furnas (meat stew) at Miroma Restaurante, checked out Caldeira Grande a few hundred meters to the east of Miroma Restaurante, and visited Terra Nostra with some hiking and bathing in their famous pool. The last two buses back to Porta Delgada leave from Furnas at 4:20 pm (south route) and 5:10 pm (north route) respectively. I managed to take the 4:20 pm one and was able to have a walk around central Ponta Delgada in the early evening (sunset in the Azores is late).
Dinner at Restaurante Adega Regional with barracuda fish was pretty good. However, their card reading machine didn't work so I ended up paying cash.
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| View from the Inferno Viewpoint |
Oct 11, 2019
Cidade Velha
The 5 hour flight from Ponta Delgada to Praia, capital of Cape Verde, went pretty smooth. Visa on arrival was straightforward, though in addition to the visa fee, they also asked me to pay an airport fee so I paid totally 5,900 CVE by credit card (they did issue a receipt). After changing some CVE at the airport, I grabbed a taxi to take me to central Praia where I left my bag at Hotel Santa Maria (no charge) - I had a couple of hours to spend before my flight to São Vicente Island in the evening. Walking randomly around central Praia, I didn't see any obvious restaurants. So I followed the map and found a Pão Quente fast food restaurant. One lady there speaks limited English and I managed to order a sandwich and soup for lunch - not bad.
After lunch, I walked to the messy aluguer (minibus) depot. Folks there easily located an aluguer bound for Cidade Velha for me. The aluguer departed shortly and only took less than 30 minutes to reach Cidade Velha. There are 3 highlights at this UNESCO site: the Pelourinho at the town square, the ruins of the cathedral near the main road and the fortress (500 CVE entrance fee) uphills - some good exercise.
After seeing Cidade Velha, I got back to Praia and had a quick look at the beach (after all, the city is named after it) before getting my bag back at Hotel Santa Maria. The flight to São Vicente Island departed on time at 6 pm and arrived one hour later. Taxi to Mindelo (1,000 CVE) was smooth. Many restaurants in Mindelo offer live music at night (especially on weekends), including the restaurant at my hotel - it started around 9 pm and lasted for about 2 hours.
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| The Pelourinho |
Oct 12, 2019
Santo Antão
A highlight of a trip to Cape Verde is definitely Santo Antão. Due to limited time, I could only do a day trip from Mindelo. To save time, I arranged a private car hire with driver in advance for 80 euro for a day. It started at 8 am at the ferry terminal in Porto Novo. The driver took me to the Cova and a viewpoint over the Paúl Village first through the mountain road, then dropped me at Corda - for my 2 hour hike downhill to Coculi. The hike was pretty easy and pleasant, with terraces and mountain views around. When I reached Coculi, the driver was already waiting there. He then took me to Ponta do Sol and Fontainhas (it's now possible to drive to Fontainhas through a narrow road). Fontainhas is a remote charming village deep in the mountain. To my surprise, I met one person there who speaks good English. On the way from Fontainhas back to Ponta do Sol, there are good views over Ponta do Sol. After lunch at Riviera Grande, we went to Xoxo and admired the national park there briefly. In the afternoon, we spent some time at Paúl Valley (through the coastal road). The tour (car hire) ended just before 4 pm, enough for me to take the 5 pm ferry back to Mindelo.
I had my Cachupa (national dish of Cape Verde) at the no-frills Chave D'Ouro in central Mindelo - it took 45 minutes for the dish to get served and it was delicious.
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| Paúl Valley |
Oct 13, 2019
Sal
The one hour flight from São Vicente Island to Sal Island arrived around noon. I decided to stay in the capital Espargos (rather than the more popular Santa Maria) since I got a very early flight the next day. One of the sights on Sal Island is the Blue Eye at Buracona which can only be seen around noon on a clear day. So I asked a taxi driver at the airport to take me directly to Buracona then Espargos. He charged 3,000 CVE (outrageous to me but I had no choice).
The Blue Eye is actually a quite interesting natural phenomenon and I'm glad I saw it. Espargos looks more like a village than a capital and there are only a few hotels there - most of them cannot be booked online. This gave me an excuse to use the old-fashioned way of walking into a hotel to check in. Honestly I quite miss this "old way".
After a relaxing lunch at a restaurant at the town square, I grabbed a taxi to another major site on the island - Salinas de Pedra de Lume (1,000 CVE return). The salt lake is good to see (the island is named after it) though I didn't swim in the lake.
Back to Espargos, I took the frequent aluguer to touristy Santa Maria. Santa Maria has world-class beaches and it looks no different from other resort towns I've been to. After spending some time at the main beach, I walked in the desert towards the northeast direction and reached Igrejinha Beach. Igrejinha Beach is described by guidebooks as the most beautiful beach on Sal. To me it's just a remote little beach - nothing special. Getting to Igrejinha Beach itself is more interesting!
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| The Blue Eye |
Oct 14, 2019
São Tomé (Interior)
The 5 hour flight from Sal to São Tomé was about one hour late. Immigration at São Tomé Airport was relatively smooth, though the officer did ask some questions (yellow fever certificate was also asked but they still let me in even if I didn't have one). There are no currency exchange facilities at the airport but euro is widely accepted in this country. A taxi to town cost 10 euro (if you need to change some dobras - the local currency, taxi driver can take you to an area in town where individual money changers operate - they are legitimate).
São Tomé looks much poorer than Cape Verde, though to tourists the costs are similar. At the taxi depot in central São Tomé City, I located a shared taxi to Trindade. It should be a less than 20 minute journey normally. However, the car broke down about 2 kilometers before Trindade. The driver tried to fix it without success. I then walked uphill to Trindade and hired a motorcycle to do a little tour of the interior for 300 dobras (Monte Cafe, the botanical garden at Bom Sucesso and São Nicolau Waterfall). Monte Cafe used to be the largest coffee plantation on São Tomé and is now a museum (English language tours are available for 75 dobras - it can start anytime and lasts about 20 minutes). The road from Monte Cafe to the botanical garden and the waterfall is not so good so sitting in the back of a motorcycle is no fun but bearable to me. When we reached the botanical garden, there was nobody there. So I walked around the garden in the rain. It was good. Actually the whole forest in the interior looks like a huge botanical Garden to me - it's so fresh and green! The last site, São Nicolau Waterfall, is also good. It rains a lot on São Tomé, that makes the waterfall and the trees more spectacular. I'm glad I did the half day "tour" to the interior, despite of the discomfort on a motorcycle and no rain jacket (my bad).
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| Monte Cafe is said to have the longest balcony in Africa |
Oct 15, 2019
São Tomé (South)
Most highlights on São Tomé Island are in the south. There is a typical day trip route usually by private car hire (perhaps around 80-100 euro with driver). I decided to try public transportation and the adventure started shortly after 8 am at the taxi depot in central São Tomé City.
My first destination was Roça Água-Izé, one of the "Big Five" plantations in the Portuguese era. By asking around, I easily located a shared taxi passing Água-Izé (25 dobras). It took about 30 minutes to reach Água-Izé village and Roça Água-Izé (most notable building being the old hospital of the plantation) is a short distance uphills. Another site, Boca do Inferno, is a pleasant 20 minute walk from Água-Izé, passing beautiful Praia Izé. There are few tourists on São Tomé and many beaches here are empty, including Praia Izé. After checking out Boca do Inferno, I walked to the main road and stopped a passing-by shared taxi. I thought it was going all the way to Porto Alegre. However, it terminated at a village shortly after. I tried to tell the driver that my destination was Porto Alegre and he seemed to understand and stopped a shared taxi heading for Sao Joao dos Angolares. In Sao Joao dos Angolares, I tried to find a shared taxi to Porto Alegre but it seemed not possible. The only way to get to Porto Alegre from Sao Joao dos Angolares is to use a motorcycle for the 30 km journey. No fun but no other choice either. I ended up hiring a motorcycle to take me to Praia Jalé for 250 dobras one-way. Most of the road is not good but again it's bearable to me. A good thing is that with the motorcycle I can stop to take photos of Pico Cão Grande - a landmark on São Tomé. It took more than one hour by motorcycle to get to Porto Alegre then Praia Jalé and I was a little bit tired. However, the beauty of Praia Jalé made the trip worth it. Best of all - there was nobody there and I had the whole beach to myself!
After enjoying Praia Jalé, I asked the motorcycle guy to take me back to Porto Alegre for another 50 dobras. I planned to have lunch there then take shared taxi back to São Tomé City, as I was told in Sao Joao dos Angolares that there is direct shared taxi from Porto Alegre to São Tomé City. After lunch, I walked to the town center trying to find a taxi but was told that shared taxis don't operate in the afternoon and the only way is to get a motorcycle to Sao Joao dos Angolares first then get a shared taxi from there. Motorcycles normally charge 250 dobras one-way. I ended up using the same motorcycle guy back for 200 dobras (he had to get back anyway). In Sao Joao dos Angolares, I easily grabbed a shared taxi back to São Tomé City in a little bit over one hour (40 debras).
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| Praia Jalé |
Overview
The Azores is in the middle of the Atlantic. The main transportation hub, São Miguel Island, is luckily also a major tourist destination. Traveling on the island is quite straightforward. Both Cape Verde and São Tomé were Portuguese colonies and got independence in 1975. They have similarities but are also quite different. There are more tourists in Cape Verde and facilities are adequate. Almost all the people I spoke to speak some English. Sal is the most touristy island and prices are usually quoted in euro. To independent travelers and hikers, Santo Antão is definitely the highlight. The country is dry at least during the days when I visited (even on Santo Antão). São Tomé is a few degrees cooler and it rains a lot. Perhaps because of that, the whole island is very green (even greener than Santo Antão). However, roads are not good in many parts of the island. Even in the capital, there is no lightening on most streets at night. But the country is extremely safe, though you do get lots of attention from the locals, especially in rural areas. Some points of interest are out of the reach of shared taxis. Motorcycles are always available for hire. For more comfort hiring a car (with or without driver) may not be a bad idea.
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