Fogo, Cape Verde Islands

I’ve heard of the Cape Verde Islands before, but I’m not sure when or where.  About the only time it’s mentioned in the U.S. is on the Weather Channel, during the Atlantic hurricane season, because often the storms originate around these islands before heading westward across the ocean. 

I didn’t know Cape Verde is an independent nation, an archipelago of volcanic islands with a population of around half a million.

I didn’t know so many explorers stopped here on their voyages.  Most of the names you read about in the history of Atlantic and world exploration visited here.  That’s because the Canary Current flows south past the Iberian Peninsula to near here, and then you can either continue south along the coast of Africa or you can ride the equatorial currents west.

I didn’t know this was a major port of call for the slave trade, with ships then heading to the Americas.

I didn’t know there was a French doctor who lived on the islands over a hundred years ago, who was practically a one-man population explosion.  Apparently the doctor had a unique practice.  Go to see him with a cold, and if you were a young girl, leave with a baby on the way.  A hundred or so children later, there was suddenly a significant number of blonde, blue-eyed Cape Verdeans.  Today, five generations later, you can still spot the blue-eyed kids.

While Catholicism, and therefore monogamy, is prevalent, it’s still very common for a man to have one wife and many mistresses.  The local guide we spoke with was one of his father’s 38 children, 8 by his mother.  Another guide was one of 24.  While some work on the family farm or business, others get a chance at higher education.  Still others emigrate and work abroad, mostly in New England.  Those who go overseas send back money, clothing and supplies to their families.  Houses are often built is phases, depending on how much money is sent back each year.   Clothing is frequently second hand, so you see a lot of Nike, Reebok, etc.  The largest sources of income in the Cape Verdean economy are foreign aid and money sent from ex-pat’s.

We were on the island of Fogo, the newest of the islands, and still a very active volcano.  The highest point of the older volcano is nearly 3000 meters above sea level. There is a huge caldera, below the peak, that is 8 km across.  The ride from the harbor into the caldera was about an hour and a half mostly over rough cobblestones (laid by slaves) alternating with surprisingly smooth sections of new road.

Passing through villages, what’s most notable is the color of the houses, the small patches of home gardens and laundry drying on clotheslines.  While there were not many people around as we headed up to the caldera, everyone seemed to be outside as we were heading back down late in the afternoon.  People sat on stoops, gathered in groups around cars and motorcycles, and watched from sidewalk bars.  Kids pushed each other, babies were bathed, peoples carried goods on their heads and dogs roamed the streets and rooftops.  Of course there were games of soccer.  It reminded me of a mix between the Caribbean and Africa.

In the caldera itself, there was a mishmash of lava flows, not only ranging in age but types of lava.  We saw deposits of smooth and jagged lava, ash and huge boulders.  You could clearly see the difference between the most recent flows, which were in 1951, 1995 and 2014.  Even though the most recent eruption was only 16 months ago, the village in the caldera is already being rebuilt.  Some new structures were being built on top of old ones, while in a few cases people were painstakingly chipping away at lava encasing their house.  There’s already a new modest hotel in the caldera, built right on top of the 2014 flow.  I guess there’s no time to waste when you don’t know when you’re business is going to next be run over.  The hotel had a tile floor that was still so hot you couldn’t hold your hand against it for very long.  Probably wouldn’t have been comfortable in bare feet either, but at least you don’t have to worry about installing heating for a few years.

With a little fertilizer added, the volcanic ash is very rich for growing certain crops, particularly wine grapes and coffee.  The small winery is already back up and running, so of course we were given an opportunity to taste some.

Now we’re on our last leg at sea.  Three full days, and then we reach Madeira on the morning of the 16th.  Three more days to enjoy the rhythm of the ship.  We have a day and a half of activity planned in Madeira before flying to Hamburg, and then Prague.  These next stops will be wonderful.

But I think if the ship were turning round and sailing all the way back to Ushuaia, I would be tempted to do it.