Five on a Desert Island: A Visit to Sal, Cape Verde

Approximately two months ago, I didn't have a clue what Cape Verde was or where in the world it was located. A colleague of my husband's mentioned it as a possible vacation spot and we started researching. This finally led us to our winter vacation on one of the Cape Verde Islands - just off the coast of Africa.

Sal island wasn't our first choice (it's the most touristy) and neither was the hotel (all inclusive Melia Dunas Resort) but given that we booked days before we traveled and that we have young children, we played it safe by choosing an island that has activities all our boys could enjoy, and this was the only resort that had space on short notice. Christmas holidays are the high season for Cape Verde vacations.

The airport was very small. We landed, got our visas and left the airport in a total of 20mins (of course we were lucky to be second in line at the visa/immigration line). 

The taxis were a cool and relaxed blue and yellow color that I liked. The taxi driver charged us 20 euros for the drive to Melia Dunas - we were later told the rate was supposed to be 15 (nightly rate).

After our arrival, our trip was a mix of us exploring the hotel, restaurants and surrounding the beach and our being quite sick with flu-like symptoms. We did really enjoy our island tour and the boys found water slides in one of the hotel pools. So all in all we had quite a bit of fun despite being there 5 days in total, 3 of which someone was feeling very unwell.

Our Highlights in Pictures

HOTEL FUN:

The Melia Dunas Resort beach - rocky but that meant some cool tide pools.

Bird on the beach

Wave breakers making a man-made 'bay' was great for swimming.

Black sand characteristic of the Island.

We all greatly appreciated the live music played nightly at the hotel on our way to dinner.
The electric cello was one of the favorites. We couldn't guess what it was.

The cultural displays were very interesting as well.
Here the men were standing perfectly still and this impressed the boys. They'd only ever seen this before in Madrid, Spain.

Water slide pool. So much fun for the boys.

 SANTA MARIA AND THE PIER:

Cretcheu - a restaurant on the Santa Maria Pier

Cretcheu had quite a nice view and great lobster

Beach view from upper floor Cretcheu

The beach as seen from close to the Santa Maria beach

We found this ice cream store in Santa Maria. Delicious and made right here in Cape Verde. They had an outlet at Melia Dunas resort too but we discovered they charged half a euro more per scoop there.

Cape Verdian escudos - very colorful money.

We explored Santa Maria a little on foot. I liked this door. I think it's a bar in there.

A close up of the main door.

It was interesting to walk along the pier and see all the fish brought in fresh every day.

THE ISLAND TOUR:

This was easily one of the highlights. Although we were told it would be from 9:30 - 2pm, we only got back at 5:30. It was a full but fun day.

We passed Kite Beach on our way. We didn't stop there but this is supposed where kitesurfers would be.

First stop was Murdeira. We just looked at the sea and the boys threw rocks into it.
The guide didn't tell us much but one of my maps showed this to be a great spot for whales
and turtles - maybe in season?

A little climbing in Murdeira too

Sea urchins in a small tide pool - Murdeira.

So many sea urchins!

Next stop was Palmeira - a fishing town. No fishing today because of the weather.

Souvenir shop in Palmeira. Shark jaws and blowfish.

Souvenir store in Palmeira.

We saw some goats on our way out of Palmeira. That explains the goat cheese
the island seems to be somewhat known for.

Close to the Blue Eye but not quite there, I think this was meant to be a swimming spot.
The weather didn't cooperate though and the fact that the man who was fishing there had
just caught a vicious looking eel would not inspire me to swim there regardless
 of the weather!

Sadly the place was lined with broken glass - so much so that it looked like a mosaic.

At the blue eye (Buracona), normally a swimming spot, but too rough today, much to the boys' disappointment

Island spider near the blue eye. We were told they were harmless but I'm not certain. There were many of them and we could see the egg sacs on the webs.

Island cricket. High and, like the spider, colored like the sand for an effective camouflage.

There was hardly any sunshine so we did not get a spectacular view of the blue eye.
 This is the little but we did get, which is better than just staring into a dark hole I suppose.

Close to the blue eye was this hill/mountain. They didn't know it's name or if anyone hikes there.

Espargos wall art.

Streets of Espargos.

Driving through Espargos.

A shipwreck near the Bay of Prada (where the sharks are).

Walking to the sharks.

Bay of Prada - Lemon sharks!

Amazing to see the lemon sharks coming and going so close.

Some cool marine life - like this starfish, on our way to and from the sharks. 

And this sea snail of some sort.

Salt Lakes

Walking to the salt lakes for a dip.

It feels just like the dead sea. You are super buoyant and float even vertically.
You can carry a little one and still float! Fun and great for your skin.

Some quick tips for traveling to Sal:

** Bring medication. We got sick and it was great to not have to figure out where to get medicines and what to get.

** Plan well (better than us anyway): Tours are great for exploring the island. We would have loved a fishing tour, some boat tours and to get my older son on a quad tour. The island tour was the highlight of our trip. Not having a preset plan made it very difficult, especially since it was so busy. I read about a lady called Blinky who has great reviews for Sal Island tours. I would contact her if we went again: blinkywalestenerife@yahoo.co.uk 

** Choose your timing. I'm sure if it was less busy and whale/turtle viewing were in season we would have had an even more amazing time.

** Taxis from the airport to Snata Maria are currently 10 euro by day and 15 by night. Taxis from Melia Dunas to Santa Maria are 3 euros. It helps to know the rates beforehand.

**  I found this guide after we arrived but I still made use of the map while on our island tour. Would have been great to look through it quickly before going and learn a few words to communicate with:

Insider's guide to Sal, Cape Verde

** Island tour: 

@Your back eventually hurts in the back of a 4x4, and you get a lot of sun. Use sunscreen and something padded for your back, or switch around and sit inside some of the time.

@Bring water shoes or crocs for rocky beaches but mostly for the shark viewing. We had some but those who didn't had to pay 2 euros to rent shoes I would be afraid to put my feet. Some weren't even water shoes - just random crocs and canvas shoes.