Santo Antão, Cape Verde
After two days at sea we arrived today in a new country and, arguably, a new continent. Geologically, none of the archipelagoes we have visited are part of either Europe or Africa. The islands we see are the products of volcanic activity, the peaks of massive volcanoes rising 6,000 metres or more from the seabed of the Atlantic Ocean. In this respect, the islands of Cape Verde are much like the archipelagoes of Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The archipelago of Cape Verde lies about 300 miles from the coast of West Africa, farther from Africa than the Canary Islands which at their closest point are only about 60 miles from the coast of Morocco. But the Canary Islands are politically part of Spain and also part of the European Union (EU) with all of the advantages that confers. Conversely, while Cape Verde was once politically part of Portugal, the islands achieved independence from Portugal (which later joined the EU) in 1975. As a result, Cape Verde does not receive the same high levels of financial support available to the islands we have visited so far on this voyage and is distinctly non-European.
Our first landfall in Cape Verde was Santo Antão - an island of two halves. On the dry, leeward side we found a safe anchorage and a small harbour where we could go ashore by Zodiac. Here the landscape was a stark one of bare, volcanic rocks, with little sign of life away from the small town. Unlike the highways with bridges and tunnels of Madeira or the Canary Islands we travelled on narrow cobbled roads, hand-built with painstaking labour. The road twisted and turned and edged along impossibly narrow ridges, providing awesome views as we climbed into the clouds and the landscape changed from bare volcanic rocks, to a greener, wooded and cultivated one. This is a land where people are clearly still making a living from subsistence agriculture - terraces built into the steep hillsides were crowded with all manner of crops rather than the monocultures of bananas in the Canary Islands and Madeira.
Today provided a marked contrast to our experiences thus far and demonstrated the diversity of the Atlantic islands we have the chance to visit during this voyage. Tomorrow the island of Fogo will no doubt bring some more surprises.
After two days at sea we arrived today in a new country and, arguably, a new continent. Geologically, none of the archipelagoes we have visited are part of either Europe or Africa. The islands we see are the products of volcanic activity, the peaks of massive volcanoes rising 6,000 metres or more from the seabed of the Atlantic Ocean. In this respect, the islands of Cape Verde are much like the archipelagoes of Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The archipelago of Cape Verde lies about 300 miles from the coast of West Africa, farther from Africa than the Canary Islands which at their closest point are only about 60 miles from the coast of Morocco. But the Canary Islands are politically part of Spain and also part of the European Union (EU) with all of the advantages that confers. Conversely, while Cape Verde was once politically part of Portugal, the islands achieved independence from Portugal (which later joined the EU) in 1975. As a result, Cape Verde does not receive the same high levels of financial support available to the islands we have visited so far on this voyage and is distinctly non-European.
Our first landfall in Cape Verde was Santo Antão - an island of two halves. On the dry, leeward side we found a safe anchorage and a small harbour where we could go ashore by Zodiac. Here the landscape was a stark one of bare, volcanic rocks, with little sign of life away from the small town. Unlike the highways with bridges and tunnels of Madeira or the Canary Islands we travelled on narrow cobbled roads, hand-built with painstaking labour. The road twisted and turned and edged along impossibly narrow ridges, providing awesome views as we climbed into the clouds and the landscape changed from bare volcanic rocks, to a greener, wooded and cultivated one. This is a land where people are clearly still making a living from subsistence agriculture - terraces built into the steep hillsides were crowded with all manner of crops rather than the monocultures of bananas in the Canary Islands and Madeira.
Today provided a marked contrast to our experiences thus far and demonstrated the diversity of the Atlantic islands we have the chance to visit during this voyage. Tomorrow the island of Fogo will no doubt bring some more surprises.
