Our third and final “wild” island was Brava Island. I couldn’t decide which was my favorite between Fogo and Brava, but either way, I wanted to stay with them for at least a week. I loved that all three islands are so different! It was like a new discovery every day.
We took a one-hour ferry from Fogo at 12 noon and arrived at noon. After picking up our luggage, we meet a driver who takes us through the narrow streets to our hotel. The port town is very small, just one road, and behind it is this dramatic view of green hills. We were driving to a hilltop village. Back at our hotel, we checked in for a short rest. The hotel overlooks the blue and Nova Sintra village. My friend was feeling a little sick, so the guide, Mauricio, and I walked into town with the sea on our left. Unfortunately, it was a religious holiday and it was impossible to find an open restaurant. We finally got lucky and I think the last spot is the only one open. Thankfully, it was delicious, so delicious we ended up eating here the whole time. I serve the meat with rice and a nice sauce. Yum!
Cape Verde – Brava
We wandered around the small town for a while. Unlike the very colorful San Felipe, Nova Sintra has themed colors and is just as beautiful but different. The buildings are white with red paint. That was very good. The main plaza is named after the island’s legendary musician, Eugenio Tavares, and is surrounded by a variety of football art, including a musical instrument. It was a beautiful and well planned plaza. We stopped at the mausoleum of our guide’s uncle, who restored it from an ancient tomb. It was beautiful and I think it will be beautiful when it’s over. Rooftop view of the entire city. We went back to the hotel to get some rest, and a few hours later went back to the same restaurant for dinner and a beer. A very ordinary evening.
In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel before heading out. First, my friend took us to the town square where he was able to photograph the square and the beautiful church. Due to the light rain, the driver who picked us up today seemed unnecessarily nervous, according to Mauricio. So, we went with him and our guide agreed to pick us up in his uncle’s car, which was probably more convenient. The roads were good. We went to the west side of the island, where we had a nice view of the ocean and a trail up the hill. An old, abandoned village where farming used to be. We went and got to where Mauricio said we would start the hike, mostly downhill.
The view from here was amazing! Through the clouds of heaven. We were able to see a small village called Faja de Agua with a natural bay. We walked down the hill and then passed through a small village where we were working on a few small boats. We were accompanied most of the way by an adorable dog and seemed happy and well taken care of. I loved the small, old houses perched on the green hills in the background. Soon we reached our destination: the natural pool. We were told they were warm, thought they might be hot springs, but it’s actually rocks and wave pools. We were alone for about 10 minutes and then joined a group of noisy French tourists at our hotel. So, we took off and headed slightly downhill towards an abandoned airfield that had been used a few times before it was deemed too dangerous.
We climbed the pass and stopped near the village of Cova de Joana, where we enjoyed some beautiful walks along the coast – I think one of them was the trail we were supposed to do that day, but I didn’t remember my day. The next day, my friend and guide took a longer route. There is a lot of hiking on this island and I wanted to stay here for at least 4 days. It was so peaceful!
The next morning we headed back to Pria and stopped again at Fogo. So, we arrived in Praia around 7pm, where we were picked up by our driver, Eric, who took us to dinner. The beach restaurant was nice and it was almost full moon. We were hungry after a long day of hiking so we got pizza. We were supposed to stay another night in the north of the island, but our flight was a few hours away. Bama’s next time.
