diariesof - Cape Verde #4 - Excerpt by diariesof

travel inspirations

Cape Verde ISSUE #FOUR

#04 Spring 2016 | Luâ&#x201A;¬15 www.diariesofmagazine.com

volkswagen.lu

Ready for wireless and wilderness.

The new Tiguan. Access all Areas. The new Tiguan is always ready to perform online – the same as offroad. With its optional 4MOTION Active Control, it can be adjusted to different road conditions and terrain. The design also visually emphasizes its offroad character. Power is part of every detail.

WELCOME

Being morabi. Welcome to... ... Cape Verde! Here every reason is a good reason to celebrate. As we write our editorial, we reckon this would be a good moment to drink a grogue to the country where hospitality becomes morabeza. Morabeza is a Cape Verdean attitude; it is the quality of being hospitable and welcoming. It is being gentle, generous and gracious. Could it be that the word itself is the junction of amor (love) and beleza (beauty)?

Let us also celebrate the colours of the country. The green vegetation of Santo Antão, the red hibiscus in Brava, the turquoise sea in Sal, the golden sands of Boa Vista, the black lava of Fogo, the orange sunsets in Santiago and the colourful carnival in São Vicente. Each island has a colour and the Cape Verdean people have a multitude of colours in their eyes and in their scarves. And last but not least, let us celebrate the serpentine roads through the craggy mountains. The mountains where no rain falls, as well as the fertile ones, cultivated to their remotest peaks. And the sea, which in Cape Verde, shows itself in different facets: either calm or flat or with perfect waves for surfing and other wave sports. The sea is omnipresent in this country, made up of ten islands. It is also the big provider; it provides food and work and is much respected. Let the travel through Cape Verde begin promptly. Sit down, relax and enjoy the trip...

Anabela and Jorge Valente

Cover Photo From the pier in Santa Maria, Sal Photography by Anabela Valente

3 diariesof Cape Verde

Cape Verdeans are morabeza. That’s how we think of the beautiful and loving people we met along the road. Their beauty is not only external, which we hope this issue will give you an idea of, but it is also internal. We think about Valdir, the boy who played football despite having one leg; Bébé who offered us a bed to sleep in, after seeing us camping for three days; Rita and Xica, telling our Cape Verdean friends to take good care of us, foreigners; the bus driver who didn’t mind stopping the bus so we could hop out and take some shots of the landscape before continuing the trip. Their morabeza is infinite.

17:00

100%

Jil SCHMIDT

Last connection: 11.01.2015

Financial situation

Account balance

Transfers

Eurotransferts

Mails

Inbox, E-docs, Outbox

Simulators Loans

Your banking operations in just a few turns secured access

user-friendly navigation

More information on: www.bcee.lu/mobile/s-net

fast payments

CONTENTS

PORTRAITS Face to Face

100

7 diariesof Cape Verde

contents

ADVENTURE Climbing The Pico of Fogo

Votre expert en vitrage

+352 621 572 785

www.vitreriedunord.lu

VITRERIE DU NORD

CONTENTS

EXPLORE

Sea, Sun & Sal

contents 3 EDITORIAL 12 FACTS&FIGURES 14 POSTCARDS 20 CITY

Nha Cretcheu - Mindel My Love

INTERVIEW

in Coração Atlântico

32 Elida Almeida About Her Music

CITY

Nha Cretcheu - Mindel My Love

34 Mitu Monteiro A Life On The Board ADVENTURE

36 Kite-Surfing

Learning With The Champs

62 Climbing The

Pico of Fogo

EXPLORE

48 Sea, Sun & Sal 76 Rabelados: Resisting

And Struggling For One’s Beliefs

136 Boa Vista - Beachlife NATURE

86 Brava - Into The Wild 110 Sintanton

132

A Paradise For Hikers

100 PORTRAITS Face to Face

126 SOCIAL

SOS Villages Raising A Family

FOOD

Enjoying Cape Verdean Food

ESSENTIALS

Essentials of Cape Verde

132 FOOD

140

Enjoying Cape Verdean Food

140 ESSENTIALS

Essentials of Cape Verde

161 TRAVEL STORY Assisting A Goat

9 diariesof Cape Verde

30 Aury Monteiro

contr Paulino Dias Born in Cape Verde Paulino highlights that his job is to fall in love with the little things in life, among them photography and writing. Paulino has published a collection of chronicles in his book Gentes das Ilhas, 61 EstĂłrias enquanto o Sono nĂŁo Vinha. In his free time he is an economist, entrepreneur and Honorary Consul of Turkey in Cape Verde.

Tiago Salazar Born in Portugal in 1972 Tiago has worked as a journalist since 1991. As a professional traveller, he has written five travel books and teaches travel writing. He is also a tour leader in Cape Verde for The Wanderlust. For Tiago travelling is always a discovery, a pilgrimage and a personal thing. He currently lives in Amsterdam.

fb.com/paulino.dias.7

www.tiagosalazar.com

Gabriele Rumbolo is an Italian photographer and travel addict. On top of these passions he is interested in the sports aspect of his job. Five years ago he fell in love with the small archipelago of Cape Verde where he now spends every winter. He specialised in wave shooting and is lucky to be able to shoot the top riders in the world in surfing, kite-surfing, windsurfing and SUP. Follow him on fb.com/gabriele.rumbolo

Rui Daniel was born in Luxembourg in 1977. He is a piano teacher in Leiria, Portugal. When not teaching Daniel travels. He has visited 102 countries and it is his goal to get to know every country in the world. He is particularly fascinated by the less visited countries, because the people there are generally friendly and welcoming. Follow him and his adventures on fb.com/ backpackingwithruidaniel

CONTRIBUTORS

Kathrin Maurer and Silvan Baeurle both born in Switzerland, they spend most of their free time outdoors with their hiking or ski boots, trekking and climbing in the beautiful Swiss Alps. When they go abroad they also choose destinations which emphasise the wild life. They visited the leeward islands of Cape Verde and were impressed by the wonders of its nature and by the relaxed African way of life.

João Leitão is a Portuguese visual artist, a compulsive traveller and an explorer, photography enthusiast, travel blogger and tour leader. He lives and works in Morocco, but he is, above all, a citizen of the world. He has visited more than 125 countries in all seven Continents. Whenever he travels, he enjoys interacting with the local people most; getting to know their stories, culture and lifestyle, visiting historic places and living through exotic and breath-taking experiences. www.joaoleitao.com fb.com/NomadRevelations

Anabela Valente Born in Portugal in 1973, Anabela discovered her passion for travelling soon after finishing her language studies. She feels she is lucky to have been to all the continents including Antarctica, but she knows that there is so much more to be seen and experienced with all the senses. In 2015 she quit her job and is now full time editor for diariesof. www.diariesofmagazine.com fb.com/diariesoftravel

Jorge Valente Born in Luxembourg in 1979, Jorge is co-founder and photographer of diariesof. He has always been an outdoor child and nowadays still chooses to be outdoors in his free time. A motorbike aficionado, Jorge has been out on the bike even when the thermometer shows -10° C. Naturally curious, he loves to explore new places and to meet new people. www.diariesofmagazine.com fb.com/diariesoftravel

1 1 diariesof Cape Verde

ributors

Fish,

salt, pozzolan, rum, animal hides, bananas, and coffee are exported, but none of them in very large quantities. As Cape Verde is heavily dependent on imported food, its principal imports include cereals, fruit and vegetables, beverages and other foodstuffs.

Agriculture produces: bananas, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts, papaya, mango, avocado and tomatoes.

10 525k 3 Cape Verde is an archipelago that consists of 10 islands. The Barlavento (windward) islands: Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal and Boa Vista; and the Sotavento (leeward) islands: Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.

Around 525,000 people live in Cape Verde, spread over nine islands. Another half million Cape Verdeans live abroad, in a Cape Verdean diaspora that is spread throughout the world.

Cape Verde is the third largest nesting site for loggerhead turtles, and the visitor can enjoy a rare and rewarding experience watching and learning about this endangered species, between July and October, on a night time excursion.

2,829 The highest point on Cape Verde is Mount Fogo at 2,829 metres. It last erupted in 2014 and is Cape Verde’s only active volcano.

‘ May God always keep us this way, In peace, love and affection.’ ~ Cesária Évora

Cape Verdean Singer

FACTS&FIGURES

35 1974 570 71 Santa Luzia is the smallest island in the archipelago, at 35 square kms and it is uninhabited. Santiago is the biggest island, as well as the most populated, with 240,000 inhabitants who live mainly in Praia, the capital.

The prison camp of Tarrafal (camp of slow death) was established in 1936 by Portuguese dictator António Salazar and closed in 1974. A total of 32 political prisoners died there, where they were sent to be forgotten.

Cape Verde is situated 570 kilometres off the coast of Senegal. Apparently Cape Verde was named after the Senegalese Cape with the same name. When the archipelago had no name, it was referred to as the islands that stood beyond the Cape Verde (in Senegal).

The average life expectancy in Cape Verde is 71 years. Women (73) live an average of five years longer than men (68).

— ‘Walking through these islands is like giving a blind man eyes’ Darwin —

1 3 diariesof Cape Verde

facts & figures

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Extracting Sal in Maioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Island of Maio Maiense women from the Vila de Maio having a normal hard work journey, extracting and transporting salt from the salt fields. Gabriele Rumbolo

1 5 diariesof Cape Verde

POSTCARDS Send your photos with a description to jorge.valente@diariesof.lu

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fish Bucketsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Island of Santiago The fishermen of Tarrafal had a great catch. After dividing the fish into dozens of buckets, these were carried on the heads of the fishmonger women. Kathrin Maurer and Silvan Baeurle

‘Graffiti on the walls of a house’ Island of Santiago Praia, the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, offers a rich diversity of arts and crafts. From lively markets, traditional pottery and weaving products to literature and painting, magnificent street art murals can be seen, which portray the exceptional inspiration and creativity of African people.

1 7 diariesof Cape Verde

João Leitão

‘Beautiful flowers near an active volcano’ Island of Fogo Fogo, one of the most beautiful Islands of Cape Verde, stands out for the contrast between the hostile majesty of its volcano with outstanding views from its peak, and the wild and exotic flora with a wide variety of endemic species that grow all over the island. João Leitão

1 9 diariesof Cape Verde

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Children on the Beachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Island of Maio What a great breakfast view of the kids having fun at the beach of Vila de Maio. Kathrin Maurer and Silvan Baeurle

MyLove

Text by Anabela Valente Photography by Anabela Valente, Jorge Valente

2 1 diariesof Cape Verde

NhaCretcheu

The Rua de Liberdad d’Africa, perpendicular to the coast, is pretty busy. It leads from the coast to the pink People’s Palace (Palácio do Povo) which is a beautiful remnant of colonial architecture.

São Vicente

The name of the airport is written in big letters at Arrivals and reminds all passengers that São Vicente is Cesária Évora’s place. For the more distracted ones, a gigantic statue, just outside the airport, has the same effect. Sodade, sodade, petit pays je t’aime beaucoup. The Queen of Morna, also called Cise by her friends, was born in Mindelo, the capital of this island and chose to return to her home town, before she died, in 2011. We would not be romanticising much if we chose to convey that she died barefoot and smoking a cigarette while surrounded by friends in her always open-doored home.

When strolling in the streets of Mindelo by night, we heard live music coming from every street corner. Restaurants, be it the fashionable ones, packed with tourists or the more modest ones, each had a musician or a band playing live music. If it is true that music was everywhere, it is also true that we didn’t find any old singer performing barefoot. Nevertheless the musical life in Mindelo

2 3 diariesof Cape Verde The statue of Diogo Afonso, the Portuguese navigator who reached São Vicente in the XV century, has the privilege of watching over the beautiful Bay of Porto Grande in Mindelo.

is authentic, the musicians original and the city vibrates with music. By night Mindelo was rocked by the slow rhythms of the morna, while by day the population seemed to doze, still recovering from the long hot nights sitting on terraces, drinking ponche or dancing to the sounds of funaná and batuque. Slow motion action took place in the cobbled streets at the waterfront. Fishermen sat on the beach gutting the day’s catch, while female fishmongers played cards as the fish was being prepared for sale; young and old played ouril just to kill time while a crowd followed their games with interest; older women with baskets over coloured scarves on their heads sold pastéis (pastries) and donetes (a sweet

variety of doughnuts), while others sat in the shade selling cigarettes by the unit. In the background, the beautiful colonial buildings seemed to have been painted just to bring more colour to these already vibrant everyday lives. Mindelo is after all a beautiful colonial town, with lovely English and Portuguese colonial architecture. We found more action in the main market, near Estrela square, where women market traders, dressed in colourful clothes, seemed to have a different energy. They called their clients to buy their ripe tomatoes and in only a few seconds introduced them to all the other vegetables and fruits, displayed neatly on their stalls. It was the season for papayas and bananas, so these were

Fishmongers play cards to kill time while waiting for fish, being gutted by fishermen.

2 5 diariesof Cape Verde

CITY

[top] The coastal road is adorned with vibrant colours from the colonial edifices that sit along the bay. [left] The kiosk, right in the middle of the Amilcar Cabral square, is a good place to stop and sit on the terrace, with a refreshing drink to absorb the atmosphere of the square.

Women market-traders come to their stalls to sell their sweet fruits and juicy vegetables. They wear their most colourful scarves on their heads and vibrant smiles on their faces. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind a chat but their traderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get distracted from business.

2 7 diariesof Cape Verde

CITY

We found a relaxed atmosphere throughout the different islands. Everywhere on the streets people were chatting, playing cards or playing ouril. Even larger cities seemed like villages where everyone knows everyone.