Lined with colourful fishermen's houses, the streets of Santa Maria exude something ultra-casual. The pace is nonchalant, the gestures economical under the tropical humidity.
Day 1: take-off at 17:05 and arrival in Lisbon at 18:30. Connection to the island of Sal. Arrival at 00:10 (time difference: -3 h in summer and -2 h in winter). Transfer to Melia Tortuga Beach. The agency also offered the Morabeza hotel as an alternative.
Hotel Melia Tortuga Beach - Gentle slope over the ocean
A gentle slope, swimming pools, lively bars, lush vegetation and, at the end of a cobbled path, a beach lounge on white sand. And then the Atlantic. With big waves, but not too big, and exceptionally mild temperatures, with the ocean staying between 23 and 26 degrees all year round. All this just five minutes from the town of Santa Maria and 15 minutes from the airport. What about the rooms? With an average of 50 m2, they look more like flats. But here, in all modesty, we prefer to call them suites. For example, there are two double bedrooms, a large living room, a fully-equipped kitchen and a lovely private terrace. And, of course, air conditioning, a flat-screen TV and an internet connection. Everything is in good taste, though perhaps a little impersonal.
Urbnizaçao da Cabocan. ZDTI de Ponte Preta. Ilha de Sal - Tel: +238 242 9200.
Email: melia.tortuga@melia.com Internet: www.meliahotels.com
Hotel Morabeza - Boutique spirit
This is the historic hotel on the island of Sal, and the classiest too. Formerly the holiday home of a Belgian industrialist, the bourgeois residence has been transformed into a sumptuous hotel with 88 rooms and 33 suites. Curiously, when you enter its library-like lobby, you get the feeling you're entering a boutique hotel. Not a resort. And then one of its walls opens onto a terrace shaded by white parasols. On the sides, some very stylish dry stone buildings and in the background, the blue of the ocean.
Santa Maria. Ilha do Sal, Cabo Verde - Tel: +238 242 10 20. Email: info@hotelmorabeza.com - Internet: www.hotelmorabeza.com
Day 2: Morning at leisure. For those who wish, a stroll through the nearby town of Santa Maria. Lunch at the hotel. Excursion to discover the island of Sal. Return to the hotel, free time and dinner at the Melia.
Santa Maria - The atmosphere, the atmosphere...
Is it a city, a town or a village? No one knows... But Santa Maria, one of the largest agglomerations on the island of Sal, is above all an atmosphere, a real slowness wrapped in the mugginess of the air. You live from day to day, and tomorrow doesn't matter. In this tropical town, the jetty that juts out into the sea serves as a public square. Every morning, at the stroke of 11am, when the fishermen return from sea, the bustle is in full swing. Fish are haggled over, of course. Tourists watch from café terraces, surfers ride the waves and children play football on the beach. As night falls, the old pull out their chairs and watch life go by, while the young prefer the tired bistros and their bad booze. Later, the omnipresent music becomes louder, and young people and tourists head off to dance the zouk in one of the many nightclubs. If the island of Sal has established itself as a major centre of Cape Verdean tourism, then Santa Maria is clearly its Mecca.
The island of Sal - The moon in the sun
We've seen a lot of photos of Cape Verde. We've dreamt of its mountains overgrown with vegetation, its colonial houses, its volcanoes... But that's not it! In fact, we've forgotten that Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands, each with its own special character, and that we're on the island of Sal, a confetti measuring 30 km by 12 km. But Sal, with its 350 days of sunshine a year and its white sandy beaches, is a magnet for water sports enthusiasts. Nevertheless, the unique charm of a desert landscape, that strange feeling of being at one with the land, remains. All the more so as the volcanic sand lends a lunar air to the whole. There are a few towns, colourful houses that have remained untouched, a gentle way of life and, above all, the Pedra de Lume salt pans. A hallucinatory landscape, a hallucinatory universe.
Day 3: Tour of the island by catamaran with lunch on a beach. Alternatively, the agency had offered cookery classes for participants prone to seasickness. For all, a barbecue dinner on the beach.
Tour of the island by catamaran with lunch on a beach. Alternatively, the agency offered cookery classes for participants prone to seasickness. For all, a barbecue dinner on the beach.
Pedra de Lume - Ghost City in the middle of the Atlantic
It's as beautiful as the end of the world, a hasty departure leaving everything behind. It begins with a black, flat desert - not surprising, given that almost the entire island is like that - when the road suddenly plunges down towards the sea. And there, rusting carcasses of barges, the skeletons of gaunt factories. A real cinema set, an incongruous atmosphere of the American West when you've come for the tender colours of a saltworks. The guide, sparing no expense, leads his flock into a tunnel cut into the mountainside. And then it's dazzling, in the truest sense of the word: the saltworks are below, with all their pale pinks, pastel blues and off-whites. Without doubt the most striking of Sal's landscapes. Otherwise known as salt, the island of salt. And that's where the name comes from!
Catamaran - The sea, the waves and the trade winds
As you know, the island of Sal is the seaside island of Cape Verde par excellence. All water sports are possible and practised, especially surfing, Sal being one of the biggest spots in the world. A little less sporty, you can discover its underwater world - one of the best in the Atlantic - from a glass-bottomed boat, or tour the island in a catamaran, a large sailing boat that can accommodate up to sixty people. Boarding. The catamaran takes to the sea, pitching and rolling over and over again, kicking up gouts of water. The atmosphere on board is festive, that's what we're here for. So, as the lava-black shores give way to immaculate beaches, we have an aperitif with the local spirit. It's called grogue. It's the local pick-me-up, made from sugar cane, and it's all part of the "local spirit".man drink"As Audiard would say. Then there's lunch on a tiny island, with freshly caught fish prepared on the barbecue. Guess what's served as an after-dinner drink? Grogue! Then the boat sets off again, sailing into the wind, lulled as we are by Cesaria's songs or by the refreshing trade winds. Some sing, others fall asleep. And that's a shame, because they won't get to see the profile of Cape Verde's oldest island, dominated by the two cones of ancient volcanoes.
Day 4: Breakfast. Free time or beach games. Lunch at the hotel. Quad or buggy excursion. Free time or introduction to surfing. Dinner at the hotel. Transfer to the airport.
Gastronomy - Cachupa for ever
When it comes to gastronomy, cachupa can be found on every table, from upmarket restaurants to popular gargotes. It's a fairly hearty dish, a reminder of the hard life of yesteryear. It is based on maize, beans, manioc, sweet potatoes and vegetables, topped up with whatever you have on hand: chicken, fish, etc. Fish is a favourite in Cape Verde, especially red tuna, which can be eaten half-cooked and half-raw at the Odjo d'Agua restaurant, one of the best in Santa Maria. This is usually where groups enjoy lively barbecue dinners with their feet in the sand. Further afield, straw huts organise Cape Verdean cooking classes. De cachupa.
Restaurant Odjo d'Agua Zona do Farolinho, CP 71. Santa Maria. Tel: + 238/242 14 14 Email: reservas@odjodagua-hotel.com - Internet: www.odjodagua-hotel.com
Music - Disappointed loves and African rhythms
Music is everywhere, drifting in from a window or an open door, on the beach, in restaurants in the evening... There is something for everyone, because Cape Verdean rhythm, influenced by Africa, Brazil and Portugal, is not limited to the songs of Cesaria Evora, the archipelago's legendary star. Cesaria, as she is known here, is first and foremost the morna, imbued with nostalgia. But there is also the coladeira - lighter and very rhythmic - the funama, typically African, or the batuque, also imported from Africa by the slaves of the ebony trade. In the evenings, zouk is particularly popular with the city's young people. Foreigners are welcome to practise one or other of the dances appropriate to the music. With varying degrees of success, but it doesn't matter. You should never take yourself too seriously in Cape Verde.
Buggy - Small cars, big effects
The wind is light, the air full of the scent of the sea. The heat has not yet risen. It's early, and the buggies are winding their way through the dunes. Buggies are great fun, very safe with a roof and roll bar. Unlike a quad bike, it avoids the scorching sun and allows you to talk. The landscape changes from lava plains to sand mountains. You come across surfers in full gear, i.e. bare-chested or in XXXL t-shirts and fuo shorts. Galloping riders too. On the way, we'll stop at a salt works and try to strike up a conversation with some of the workers working barefoot in the salt. It's a fun two-hour walk, and we're sure to get some wonderful photos.
Follow me. Djadsal Moradias, bloco C TO/8, Santa Maria, Ilha do Sal. Tel: + 238 971 94 11
More
- Safety.
- Sunshine 350 days a year.
- A change of scenery with this piece of Africa, Brazil and Europe in the middle of the Atlantic.
Minus
- The length of the journey.
- A limited cultural life.
- Discovering the archipelago is difficult, as seats on inter-island flights are limited.
Water sports - Surfing is hilarious
It has to be said, this introduction to surfing is not to be taken seriously. Basically, it's all about having a good time and, incidentally, recounting false exploits on the way back. Come on! It's up to everyone to get their boards up, as a challenge to the roaring ocean. You take off as best you can, lie down on the surf, paddle hard with your arms to get past the foam. Of course, the sea is quick to call to order the pretentious person who thought he was dominating it. And it's three or four times like that, with the board on one side and the apprentice surfer on the other. The most daring will wait again for the start of a small breaker. Some of them succeeded and were applauded by the delirious crowd. We had a good laugh. We salute the hilarious spectators. Curtain.
Day 5: Take-off at 1:00 am. Arrival at Orly Ouest at 10.25am.
Practical information
Flight plan > TAP Portugal connects Europe with the Cape Verde Islands. The Portuguese airline offers a daily flight to Sal with a stopover in Lisbon from Paris Orly, but also from the provinces (Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse). These routes are all operated on Airbus A320 family aircraft in economy and business double-class configuration.
Tel: 0 820 319 320 (€0.12/min) - Internet: www.fytap.fr
Agency > Secrets du Monde - 1, villa moderne. 75014 Paris - Tel: 01 45 42 64 44 - Email: info@secretsdumonde.com - Internet: www.secretsdumonde.com
Reception > Morabitur. Edifcio Oasis Plaza. Rua Georges Vynckier. Santa Maria, Ilha do Sal. Cabo Verde. Tel: + 238 242 20 70 - Email: morabitur@morabitur.com - Internet: www.morabitur.com
Customer > A major bank.
Comments > Reward trip.
Group size > 60 people.
Duration of the operation > 5 days, 4 nights, from 29 January to 2 February.
Information > Cape Verde does not have a tourist office in Paris.
Practical guides > Petit Fûté, Olizane
