I just finished 7 days of hiking across Santo Antão and I thought maybe some of this information would be useful as I know I had to sift through a lot of information to plan my trip.

This was mid July 2026.

My biggest mistake (for me) was booking my flights, then planning the hikes as initially I'd just planned to stay in Paul Valley and Ribeira Grande and do day hikes, but then after I'd booked my flights, 🙄, changed my mind!

ATMs: I'd read that they were only in Porto Novo and Ponta do Sol, but there is also one in Cha de Morte. It looked like there was one in Ribeira Grande but cannot confirm as I did not withdraw money there - but did in Cha de Morte.

I left my bigger bag at accommodation in Mindelo and only took a day pack with one pair of clothes to hike in and one pair to sleep in, a swimsuit, small toiletries/first aid kit. I was able to wash my hiking clothes each night and they were dry by morning.

Aa a solo female hiker, I never felt unsafe. I knew this was low hiking season but for the most part, there wasn't anyone on the trails - no exaggeration! I didn't see a soul - not a single person, dog, goat on my way up to Pico da Cruz from Porto Novo. Only saw people as I entered the villages in the Paul Valley.

As I hiked up the crater, saw some people coming down, but no one going up. There was a small group of young guys walking down through xoxo valley on the second day behind me.

Ponta do Sol - Cruzhina there were people, but the 3 days after that - not a single person (outside of the villages) until I got to Tarrafal.

Day 1:

7am ferry Mindelo - Porto Novo. Grabbed something to eat, and went to the ATM. Started walking the very long, dry, dusty uphill to Pico da Cruz then down to Paul Valley accommodation Casa Cavoquino (accepts card). The most expensive night of my trip but very nice and convenient for my first day of walking.

Using alltrails map SAL 14, Pico da Cruz to Porto Novo, then switched to SAL 3, Pico da Cruz - Pe de Eucalipto, cut off at Cha de Padre to my accommodation.

Day 2:

Using alltrails map Cratera da Cova and walked along road a short while to connect with SAC 8, Pedra Rachada - Rabo Curto - Lombo de Pico - xoxo. Walked along road to Ribeira Grande, Ponta do Sol. You could get an aluguer also along the road.

Stayed at Hotel Miranda & Miranda in Ponta do Sol (accepts card)

Day 3:

Ponta do Sol - Cruzinha  (the suggested time on mapy & alltrails is not accurate as it says 8 hours).

I do not think think it would take anyone with a reasonable walking pace this long. As you are approaching Cruzinha, there are two beaches. Go for a swim! Stayed at Questel BronQ (accepts card)

***the next stage is where I wished I'd planned better and had an extra day as I needed to get to Alto Mira III - Cha d'Orgueiro if I was going to make it down to the west side.

In hindsight, since arriving in Cruzinha early, I could have kept going to Ribeira Alta (watch the tide times right out of Cruzinha) that afternoon to break up the 35km SAP 7, SAP 6, SAP 5 (alltrails). I've done 30km plus days before but I think this would have been too much. I guess I could have pushed on to Ribeira Cruz, but that would have still put me a day late.

I'm disappointed (mainly with myself) as I know there are some good trails here.***

However, not all was lost as:

Day 4:

Deciding that I just needed to get to Alto Mira III, and it was a Sunday, I ended up forking out for a taxi to Ribeira Grande, where I very quickly met another tourist to share a ride to Porto Novo, then got a ride to Alto Mira III. I arrived around noon.

Although it was mid-day heat, I decided I had enough time to walk (part of) the opposite way I intended and walked down to Branquinho. This is (most of) SAP 5- alltrails. In a way this was nicer as it was mostly downhill. At the end was gorgeous beach and had a swim.

Because I'd started my hike mid day, I needed to find a way back and after my swim and beach time it was 5pm.The plan was to walk up and over to Ribeira Cruz, but I ended up gritting a ride (not an official taxi, but just found someone and paid them) to drive me back to my accommodation.

Stayed at Casa Manuel & Elvira. I was the only one at the accommodation. Cash only

Day 5:

Used alltrails maps Rota de Nho Muchim which connects with Rota de Flagelados.

**ATM in Cha de Morte! **

Stayed at Casa Luciano. Again, only person in the accommodation & village (think Casa Luciano might be the only one!)

Basic, but has electricity, just had a bucket to wash with. I'd asked the owner/manager at Casa Manuel & Elvira the day before to call ahead for me as I didn't have the contact details and he did, but when I got there, I wasn't sure if they received the message. Anyway, they cooked up a great dinner and breakfast and provided me with water. The accommodation was fine and had electricity - just no running water.

Grandma (or mum?) insisted on packing extra biscuits for the day's hike ahead ❤️

**again, my poor flight planning did not allow me the time to hike up and down Topo da Coroa. I would have probably stayed in Cha de Feijoal two nights or Casa Luciano to do this, but there are other ways to add it on to a longer day**

Day 6:

Casa Luciano to Monte Trigo using alltrails map SAP 2 Monte Trigo - Morrinho de Egua. While I knew the general direction, there are a lot of goat trails up here in the plateau, that if you're not paying attention and not following your map, you could go off course.

Stayed at Osvaldo Santos (search up and book by WhatsApp). Again, only person at the accommodation and from what I saw, only tourist in the village.

I was glad I'd charged up my powerbanks the night before as there was an electricity outage all night in Monte Trigo, although there was wifi for a brief time in the evening.

Day 7:

Monte Trigo to Tarrafal - one path down the coast. Don't really need a map as it's very straightforward.

Stayed at Pousada Cantino de Preta (cash).

The only aluguer out to Porto Novo leaves at 6 am.

This was a great hike! Couldn't believe how quiet it was. Even in low season I expected to see people sporadically or once in a while. I'm kicking myself for not adding in an extra couple or few extra days as it was just poor planning on my part.

But I still got to mostly traverse the island in 7 days. If I did it again, I'd probably add an extra couple of nights in Paul Valley to do some extra hikes, add a night (probably in Ribeira Alta) in between Cruzinha and Alto Mira and then add in a night to go up topo da coroa.

There are several sign posts around (not entirely accurate) along with the red/white (like on all the GR routes) line markers occasionally, but if doing this solo, you definitely need to download it the gpx files ahead of time. I used both mapy.cz as well as alltrails.

I did end up getting the wrong esim. I thought Roafly would be best for Santo antao and it was fine for the main towns /Paul etc, but I had no service after Cha de Morte to Tarrafal.

If your thinking of doing a cross island traverse, do it! There are so many other ways and trails to add on to make it shorter, longer. I suspect Santo Antão tourism will only increase and glad I had the opportunity to do it now.

I got a job offer to go and work in cabo verde is the salary considered good? Please need some tips

Ahhh São Vicente, you’re so prettyyyy 🇨🇻✨

📍 Explore Cabo Verde with Splorà Tours
🌐 www.sploratours.com
📩 [email protected]

#capeverde #capoverde #caboverde #visitcapeverde #westafrica

ola galera! i am traveling to sao vicente august 7 to august 13 - looking for any recommendations as a solo female traveler! eu tbm falo português (: quero muito conhecer o país, a cultura, e o povo - se alguém tá aí em são vicente e querer juntar, só me manda mensagem

Hi, I’m 18F, and I’m half Cape Verdean and half Angolan. Although some people may see that as simply being “African and African,” the distinction is very important to me. I’m still learning about both sides of my identity, and I care deeply about staying connected to both cultures.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts but later moved to Florida. Since moving, I haven’t personally met many Cape Verdean or Angolan people around my age. I know they probably exist here, but I haven’t encountered them at school or in my social circles.

Growing up, I spoke Cape Verdean Creole and the type of European Portuguese spoken by my Angolan family. Unfortunately, I was sometimes made fun of for my accent and the languages I spoke. A lot of that teasing came from Haitian students around me. I became so embarrassed that I stopped speaking my languages, and over time, I lost much of my ability to speak them. I regret that deeply and am now trying to reconnect with that part of myself.

There is also a Haitian guy I have known since I was around 13. We dated before, and we are currently considering getting back together. I love and care about him, but I’ve started feeling conflicted about our cultural differences.

I want to be clear that I don’t believe there is anything wrong with being Haitian or dating a Haitian person. My concern is that I already feel like I’m struggling to preserve two cultures, and I’m afraid that adding another culture could make it harder for my future children to feel fully connected to any of them. He also isn’t very connected to his Haitian heritage and doesn’t speak Haitian Creole, so I worry that the responsibility of teaching our children about all three cultures would mostly
fall on me.

I know that saying I’m worried about “mixing my bloodline” sounds ignorant or offensive. I don’t want this to come across as believing that one ethnicity is better than another. What I’m really afraid of is cultural loss. Being Cape Verdean and Angolan already feels rare where I live, and I worry that my family’s traditions, languages and history will gradually disappear.
On my Angolan side, I’m the oldest cousin. On my Cape Verdean side, I’m the third oldest. I’m also one of the only grandchildren who made an effort to learn Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole and stay involved in the culture. Some of my cousins barely acknowledge their Cape Verdean side, so I often feel like I’m responsible for keeping that connection alive.

Part of me thinks I should only date someone who is Cape Verdean, Angolan or at least very committed to preserving culture. Another part of me knows that choosing a partner based mainly on ethnicity may be unfair and that dating within a smaller community doesn’t automatically guarantee cultural connection.
Has anyone else from a mixed or less-represented background experienced this fear?

How do you preserve your culture while dating or having children with someone from a different background? Am I approaching this in an unhealthy way?

The voting is open for the best goal of the WC. Link here on FIFA Website. Nu bai ❤️🇨🇻❤️

Thinking of staying at this hotel however concerned with recent deaths. Is it safe or is it a rare occurrence?

Also do not give me any woke “do not stay at all inclusive”. I do not care.

Hey r/CapeVerde,

I make AI-assisted music as a hobby project called "Epical Horizons," where each song weaves together three musical traditions from different places, tied together by a shared theme rather than a shared geography.

This one's theme is being far from home and still carrying pride in where you're from. The Cape Verde verse (Morna style) — is inspired by something I actually witnessed on a visit there: a man showing us his small house from a crater's edge, far below, with more pride in his eyes than any mansion could carry. That moment is what the whole song is really built around; the spoken bridge in the middle is directly about it. The other two verses (Namibia, Seychelles) carry the same theme from a different angle, which is why they're in the same song rather than three separate ones.

A quick note on process, since I think it matters: I spent real time researching the language (Kriolu) and cultural context rather than guessing, trying to get the sodade and morabeza in there with some actual understanding of what those words carry, not just as pretty sounds.

To be upfront: I'm not chasing streams or profit here. This is genuinely about learning and connecting with places and cultures that mean something to me, and I'd rather get it right than get it big. If anything about the Morna section or the Kriolu feels off to people who actually know it, I'd genuinely want to hear that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlW8I1AIDCk

Hi everyone,

I'll be visiting Santiago from Europe soon and was wondering if there are any items that people generally appreciate receiving from abroad.

I'd just like to bring things that people genuinely find useful or appreciate receiving from abroad, rather than guessing.

I'd especially appreciate hearing from people who live in Cape Verde or have family there.

Thanks!

After watching Cape Verde’s game against Spain and Argentina in the World Cup, I was inspired to draw Vozinha. He is a role model to me as a small artist to continue to work hard to pursue my passion even if I haven’t received much recognition yet. My Instagram of less than 80 ppl is art account if you would like to check out what I draw!

Hi! I am thinking on making a video on youtube about Cape Verde for tourists, talking about places to visit and where to stay. Its a comprehensive video mentioning many things that I think will be useful to tourists and to us capeverdeans.

If you want to help me, I would be thankful if yall sent me pictures and videos of places, locations and cultural events to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) . if your files are too big or too many, you can send me through the site transfernow.net . We are expecting a record breaking increase in tourism flow to Cape Verde, but it would be best if it was done the correct way, right?

When you send me the videos/photos, you should add your name or anything so i can credit you and it would be best if the main focus of the media is places, buildings or events.

Thank you!

Cabo Verde Riba La!!!

Hi everyone! 👋
I’ll be visiting Cape Verde this October and I’m really looking forward to exploring your beautiful country.
I’d love to hear your recommendations:
What are the must-see places?
What activities or hidden gems shouldn’t I miss?
Any great local restaurants, beaches, hikes, or nightlife?
Also, if anyone is friendly, speaks English, and would be up for showing me around or joining me for a coffee, a hike, or an activity while I’m there, I’d be happy to meet new people. Always nice to experience a place with locals!
Thanks in advance, and I can’t wait to visit!

Ciao, ho comprato i voli per sal diretti da Milano. Dal 17 al 24 Settembre, volevo visitare l'isola di Sal, San Vincente e una capatina a Santo Antao, secondo voi è possibile? E' un itinerario un po' troppo ambizioso?

Poi ho cercato i voli interni. Non riesco a prenotare tramite capo verde airlines, ho trovato un'altra compagnia "CVsky", è affidabile? esiste veramente?

Arrivando a SAL alle 16 è possibile prendere il volo per VXE delle 18? Ho paura di aver problemi con il volo intercontinentale e non riuscire a prendere la coincidenza. Cosa mi cosigliate?

Com'è il meteo a settembre?

Grazie mille per l'aiuto di tutti. Spero di avere una fantastica vacanza

My dear caboverdianos all over the world, what are some of the most important literature books from your country? Which one do you think is the most popular, or well read, or most influential book written on, or about, the islands?

I'm a brazilian brother in academia researching about our beautiful portuguese-written literature in the aims of making atlantic ties and inscribing our importance into world literature.

Any comments you have, especially those personal are very dear to me, so please, share with me your impressions. Any books you feel that identify with you, or any books that you had to read in school, any books you thought were boring but kept on being cited. Books in any language are welcome.

Hello, how was your experience with taxi drivers in Sal/Santa Maria? Are they friendly or are there many scammers?

held this Spain superteam to a 0-0 and stretched Argentina till extratime, all of this while having a population of 500K

That's it.

I want to visit Brava and check it out and work remotely, I want to know if starlink is common/if the internet is going to be fast enough to stay there for a week.

Any advice appreciated!

Draw with a top 2 team and barely losing to a top 4 team, only 1 loss through the tournament.

If Argentina wins, Cabo Verde moves to 3rd arguably, only falling barely to the top 2.