Fogo & Brava Islands, Cape Verde
Today was a day of contrasts. Lush, productive green hillsides led to a lunar landscape. A short trip to a nearby island led to isolation, sea birds, and swimming. And it ended with the beginning of our at sea crossing to Brazil.
Early this morning we set off in mini-vans on the island of Fogo, which has been volcanically active throughout all of history and last erupted in 1995. We slowly wove our way up through unusually lush terrain, with hillside terraces filled with corn, beans, and fruit trees. Old lava flows trickled down the hills, and villages were built in and amongst the jagged basalt. As we neared the top, the vegetation decreased as we passed more recent lava flows. We rounded one sharp corner and we suddenly had reached a totally different world. Perfect cinder cones towered overhead, and the surface around us was devoid of vegetation. Everywhere one looked was geologically recent lava flows, and a completely alien landscape for most of us.
We passed slowly around this 9000 foot cone and arrived at the village of Cha das Caldeiras, where we were warmly greeted. A spread of cheeses, breads, and local wine was laid out for us while a musical group played some local tunes. Outside, numerous children stared at us weird invaders to their world. Luckily, Felicia brought along a Polaroid camera, and was soon every child's favorite person as she gave them gift photos of themselves. Surely, a treat to see so many smiling faces.
We descended back through the greenery and back to the ship, where we then sailed across to the neighboring island of Brava. We found a perfect spot in a sheltered cove without a single sign of humanity, and set off to explore. Zodiac explorations yielded nesting brown boobies, while kayakers discovered the solitude and red-billed tropicbirds in courtship flight overhead. Perhaps the most different experience from the morning's hot and dry conditions was simply floating around in the warm water off of the kayak platform. As the sun was setting, we all returned on board as the National Geographic Endeavour set sail south towards Brazil.
Today was a day of contrasts. Lush, productive green hillsides led to a lunar landscape. A short trip to a nearby island led to isolation, sea birds, and swimming. And it ended with the beginning of our at sea crossing to Brazil.
Early this morning we set off in mini-vans on the island of Fogo, which has been volcanically active throughout all of history and last erupted in 1995. We slowly wove our way up through unusually lush terrain, with hillside terraces filled with corn, beans, and fruit trees. Old lava flows trickled down the hills, and villages were built in and amongst the jagged basalt. As we neared the top, the vegetation decreased as we passed more recent lava flows. We rounded one sharp corner and we suddenly had reached a totally different world. Perfect cinder cones towered overhead, and the surface around us was devoid of vegetation. Everywhere one looked was geologically recent lava flows, and a completely alien landscape for most of us.
We passed slowly around this 9000 foot cone and arrived at the village of Cha das Caldeiras, where we were warmly greeted. A spread of cheeses, breads, and local wine was laid out for us while a musical group played some local tunes. Outside, numerous children stared at us weird invaders to their world. Luckily, Felicia brought along a Polaroid camera, and was soon every child's favorite person as she gave them gift photos of themselves. Surely, a treat to see so many smiling faces.
We descended back through the greenery and back to the ship, where we then sailed across to the neighboring island of Brava. We found a perfect spot in a sheltered cove without a single sign of humanity, and set off to explore. Zodiac explorations yielded nesting brown boobies, while kayakers discovered the solitude and red-billed tropicbirds in courtship flight overhead. Perhaps the most different experience from the morning's hot and dry conditions was simply floating around in the warm water off of the kayak platform. As the sun was setting, we all returned on board as the National Geographic Endeavour set sail south towards Brazil.
