From Boa Vista To Santiago: A Praia Arrangement
There’s an endearing simplicity about the names of places on the Cape Verde islands, a simplicity which somehow reflects the unhurried, uncomplicated way of life here. The island with salt pans is called, simply, Salt; the island with hills is called Good View and a town with a sandy shore is named Beach. Perhaps even more amusing, the two islands with active volcanoes are named Fire and Angry. In the native tongue, these five are, respectively, Sal, Boa Vista, Praia, Fogo and Brava: translated into English they sound hilariously basic. You can’t get much more straightforward than names like those!
Thursday morning sees the hazy cloud lift and the humidity of the last couple of days dissolve into satisfying sunshine; it’s already hot as we wander down Avenida Pescadora towards breakfast in town. The locals are awake and sitting on doorsteps, virtually each one has a cheery greeting ready as we saunter by. Bidding temporary farewells to our host Sylvia we head back to the sand castle airport to make our way to the second island, Santiago.
Having discovered only yesterday that our inter-island flight has been re-scheduled for a few hours later, we arrive, as instructed, two hours before flight time, only to find that departure is 15:30 and not 14:30 as advised. Next comes a delay due to “operational difficulties”, pushing actual departure back to 17:30. Now, we can tell you that, picturesque as a sand castle airport may be, it loses pretty much all of its charm when you’ve been staring at the walls for as long as this. In the end, the door to door journey for a 35-minute flight takes over 7 hours.
Our pocket guide book says this: “some things on Cape Verde are fundamentally different. You should leave any expectations you have about punctuality at home”. Wise words, it would seem.
Consequently it’s dusk as we meet our next host in Praia, capital city of the Cape Verde Islands, at first glance a very different place from Sal Rei. Half of the population of Cape Verde live on Santiago, and half of the population of Santiago live in Praia. The city sits on a series of sharp hills, providing regular rewarding views across the port and out to sea as well as across the city itself. Centrally located within the city is the district which is Praia’s heart, a flat topped hill where much of the city’s buzz exists and which is named, in keeping with policy, Plateau.
Within this district we find the cacophonous and colourful food market where noise and activity levels are at the extreme end of the scale, then the renowned Sucupira Market which despite its reputation for verve is of far less interest and is actually surprisingly mundane. Colourful yes, exciting no. The district of Plateau is home to a leafy square, Praça Alexandre Alberqueque, a peaceful place where locals escape the bustle of the city and unwind, sit on shady benches or wile away time in the friendly cafe. Surrounded by several attractive colonial houses, a City Hall and the cathedral, the square is something of a green haven, though beneath its pleasant atmosphere lurks a dark history.
Praia was a major centre for the trading of slaves, and this square was the epicentre of the marketing of human beings for profit; Portuguese royalty made unprecedented wealth from trading human flesh here. To this day the locals ignore the new name of this square and still call it “the pillory”, a site not only of corporal punishment but also where slaves for sale were tied to a post and savagely beaten. The greater the beating they withstood, the higher the price they fetched. Brutal.
At the foot of Plateau we find a monument to Amilcar Cabral, a Cape Verdean hero and freedom fighter held in huge regard throughout certain parts of Western Africa. Cabral, originally from Guinea-Bissau but moved by family to Cape Verde at a young age, dedicated his life to the fight for independence for those countries colonised by Portugal, including both the land of his birth and his naturalised home. After a lifetime of embattlement, Cabral was assassinated in 1973, just two years before his campaign for the independence of Cape Verde reaped success.
From here we wander through the earthy neighbourhood of Santo Antonio, down to the dark sand beach of Quebra Canela where chilled music plays in smart beach bars just yards from the gritty streets of urban Praia. On the balconies of these bars, most of the punters seem to be locals enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Even on islands such as these, inequality is starkly inescapable.
I resort to Google translate to tell Rico there’s no hot water reaching our shower. “OK, I fix it”, he says, eager to please. Two days later, we’re still waiting, and Michaela resorts to cold washing some smalls in the bathroom sink. As she does this, there’s a sudden burst followed by loud splashing sounds as water washes across the floor into the bedroom: the waste pipe below the sink has become detached and is giving the floor an unscheduled dousing. “OK I fix it”, says Rico. It lasts all of two minutes before it pops off again. He gets it right at the second attempt, bless him – and that night, as if by magic, warm water cascades from the shower for the very first time. Rico rocks. Just not very quickly.
In truth Praia is not the most enthralling of cities, there isn’t a great deal here to tempt the traveller to linger. Its real joy is in its ambience, there is a lively, bustling atmosphere here which is at its most evident during daylight hours when goods are bought and sold, drummers caress the skins of their instrument with nimble hands and elegant ladies carry anything and everything balanced on their heads as they walk through town with absolute grace. It’s vividly colourful and its people are full of chatter, and indeed its hills are pleasing on the eye, but a few days here is enough to tick the travel boxes, so to speak.
Consequently our thoughts turn to what the rest of this island may have to offer and we seek out a local rental car operator and prepare to explore. It’s time to take a shower before we head out for evening meal. The water in the shower is freezing cold. Maybe Rico doesn’t rock after all.
27 Comments
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
The joys of travel sometimes include very cold water. 😉
Monkey's Tale
There’s a square in Salvador, Brazil that is also called Pillory. The local African population chose to keep the name to remember their ancestors and show how they overcame. Love the street art! Maggie
Alison
Great title. Your travel tales are always so funny, except maybe the long delay. How annoying would that be? Apart from the cold water you seem to be enjoying it all, the beaches look beautiful, did you swim?
Phil & Michaela
Oh yes we’ve dived in the waves and splashed about. Water is pleasantly warm at this time of year, especially seeing as it’s the Atlantic.
Andrew Petcher
No, you are not selling this to me I’m afraid.
Phil & Michaela
Ah well, you know us – tell it how it is, warts n all….
Andrew Petcher
Yes, very helpful.
We are going to Sicly next week.
Phil & Michaela
Ah, familiar and favourite territory for you. Do I take it you abandoned the plans to go to India?
Andrew Petcher
India in February.
Phil & Michaela
Well….. be prepared to be knocked well out of your comfort zone….is my best advice…
wetanddustyroads
The joys of ‘hurry up and wait’ at airports 😁. The history of Praia is indeed a dark one – I did not know this of the Cape Verde Islands at all until now. The small church in the Santo Antonio district is beautiful. As for the cold shower … oh, where is the warm and humid weather when you need it!
Phil & Michaela
Oh it’s still pretty hot so it’s not so bad really
Helen Devries
Love the title!
Travels Through My Lens
Love the direct approach to naming various landmarks; using this approach your rental could have been named, Cold Water. Your photos are beautiful. I knew nothing about these islands before reading your posts; thanks for sharing!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you. We’re pretty much learning as we go, too.
Toonsarah
We enjoyed Praia – as you say, more for its atmosphere than any specific sight. I’ll be curious to see where you explorations further afield take you. We had a couple of good outings with a very good guide we hired there.
Phil & Michaela
It was a spectacular drive up the island today, that’s for sure!
Christie
Nothing simpler than naming places after their own features. This reminded me of a place we passed by several years ago, named Blue Church. Guess what, we passed by the church itself shortly after the post sign😀
Phil & Michaela
😂
WanderingCanadians
Oh gosh, that’s quite the long wait for a 35 minute flight! Love the capture of the ladies balancing those large bins on their heads.
Lookoom
Rico is the kind of character you love, good material for telling stories that ultimately tell the truth about a place.
restlessjo
If I hadn’t just read Rua d’Arte I’d be very tempted to write this place off. Sal sounded more appealing. Are these islands very windy, or am I thinking of Fuerteventura in the Canaries?
Phil & Michaela
Not particularly windy, Jo, although there’s always going to be some degree of breeze on Atlantic islands. Our first island, Boa Vista, is popular with kitesurfers and windsurfers, which tells you something, but we’ve been on windier Greek islands than we’re finding here.
grandmisadventures
Between cold showers and a 7 hour wait for such a short flight, it sounds like a rough beginning here. The town itself is so beautiful but what a terrible history. I’m surprised that not only did they keep the name of the pillory but that they kept the building at all. You would think they would want to tear that down with that kind of history.
Phil & Michaela
Ah no the building has gone – those that are now in the square are welcome replacements. Only the name has remained. Praia certainly has its high points but, as we are discovering, there are even better places on these islands.
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
Nice insight into Praia. We will only be there for one night on the ship and staying 4 nights on Sal in April. When you travel a lot there will always be a “Rico!” 😃
Phil & Michaela
Indeed so! 😂