Fogo, Cape Verdes`live volcano and winery
Fogo Cape Verdes the volcano island
Small and remote, with only three flights a week from Santiago
and two overnight ferries, it has a live volcano, which is its main
attraction.
The Fogo wine, produced with the help of Italians is very good
value if bought on site, in red, rose or white vatiants. But avoid
the brown potion which is unsieved, unfermented grape juice and
quite undrinkable.
Sao Filipe
This is a fine town, with grand colonial Sobrado houses neat plazas
set on a cliff hundred of metres above a black sandy beach. The
Cemiterio Velho, was the cemetery for the Portuguese population
only.It is a pretty town with a long black volcanic beach below
the main town of Sao Felipe. The town itself has much more charm
than Praia but lacks amenities beyond a few local bars.
Pico do Vulcao
On the way to Cha das Caldeiras, you pass through the natural park
of Monte Velho with large trees and vinyards. The Fogo volcano, is
the major tourist attraction, 2829m high. Cha das Caldeiras. A village
inside the crater has goats, cows and donkeys and a small restaurant
with rotten service. It takes about two hours over cobbled roads to
drive up to the volcano where the Pedro Brabo hotel and restaurant
are situated along with a few round huts and lean-tos. The trip will
cost £35 by taxi or rather more with one of the guided tours,
It is a hair-raising drive by hire car and you are likely to get lost
as there are no signposts and few maps.
You can walk up to the top of a crater a 4 hour slog, which must
be done with a guide. They will ask about £20 but will accept
£5. The crater and lava flows make for fascinating climbing
and you can boot-ski down the rubble in a mere 45 minutes.
The crater like the rest of the island are fertile and well-populated
with wine, coffee and apple cultivation. It is not easy to reach but
worth the effort. Most visitors are Germans passing through for a
couple of days on escorted tours and intent on making it to the top
in record time.
C from Birmingham went up.
"A walk up the volcano is worth the effort, start early in
the morning. Patrick a Frenchman lives in Cha de Caldera, up there
on the volcano. He is a first class chef and his restaurant food
is superb."
Dr F from Hamburg feels many day trippers miss the best of the
island
The Germans arrive in the morning and wander around the pretty
town of Sao Felipe. The next day they rise early and climb the volcano,
and the day after they take the early flight out. This is too bad
as the island has much more too offer."
Salinas De Sao Jorge
North of Sao Filipe is the island’s best beach, of volcanic
black sand. It has a disused café some fishing boats and several
grottos and reefs, ideal for snorkelling and diving. But it is usually
deserted and has a somewhat lonely feel. It is a long climb back to
the highway and a long wait at the top to get the occasional passing
aluguer back to town.
