Cape Verde is a Great Place for a Road Trip

The school kids waved and shouted goodbyes to their friends in the street. A woman selling fruit threw a bunch of bananas into Nicole’s lap. Nicole, with her full figure, was assumed to be expecting, and hence the local women’s constant attempts to feed her.

“Snack for the road,” a boy sitting in front of me translated into Portuguese.

A few minutes later, with much honking, and waving, and shouting, we set off for Chã.

Chã das Caldeiras, on the island of Fogo,  is a place where tourists usually travel in air-conditioned mini-buses on their Cape Verde holidays, or in hired taxis. On charter day trips from Sal, with their cultured guides, they make the trek to the villages at the base of the volcano.

Anna Etmanska took a road trip in Cape Verde and wrote about it on GoNOMAD a while back. The title “Fogo Means Fire: A Cape Verdean Road Trip,” alludes to the volcanoes that the island is famous for.

“They sample the local wine, buy a few lava-stone tchotchkes from the blond, barefoot kids that swarm the foreigners, and then head back to their fancy beach resorts in Santa Maria. Satisfied, and with a knowledgeable air of superiority, they explain to their friends and family, what a mysterious, odd, and surprising place Cape Verde is.”

Some times this group of islands is great for late deal holidays, so check with your travel agent–you just might get a great package deal to these lovely warm islands this winter!