November 18th to 23rd 2002
Somewhere along the south coast of Sao Nicolau...
- Do you think it's there ? I don't see the bay we were told about, just a small beach with a couple palm trees... No, that can't be it.
- I don't see much either, it doesn't look inhabited. I think I see an abandonned village on the left. But the GPS does says we're at the right place.
- Ok, let's go take a look. Worse come to worse, we go to Tarrafal. We'll get there before sunset.
Steering north, we came closer to the coast. Some details became clear. On the rocks a blond guy was looking at us.
- It's nicolas !
Nicolas is a French young man who has moved here to live on fishing. We met his parents a year ago in La Gomera. So we were in Carrisal after all.
- You can use my mooring if you want. It's a 25 kilo anchor.
- Great ! Thank you !
The bay was indeed small with shoals on either side. We put an additional anchor on the back. Now we were safely anchored and didn't worry about the rocks around us.
The small village of Carrisal is difficult to reach by land as the unique overland route crumbles during the rainy season. I guess it's feasible by donkey...
There is a tuna-canning factory on the shore, but for some obscure reasons, it has stopped operating a few years ago. This factory used to be the main source of income for most people of Carrisal. Since the close-down, they have to work hard for a small income. Agriculture and fishing are the main activities.
After a day of snorkelling and fishing, we went to José's bar to have a "ponch" with Nicolas' parents who had arrived in the morning. The bar was full, there were at least ten people. Outside, children were fighting to look inside through the windows. We spoke of electrical repairs and fittings, medical care, distribution of clothes and food and so on. Nicolas' parents have quite a program during their annual visit.
At sunset, the generating set was turned on to provide light to the village for the evening. The party could go on !
The earth is dry here, but there is enough water to grow some vegetables near the river bed which is at the dryest this time of year. A thin trickle is collected with care through pipes that run down the "ribeira". We met Joao working on a small piece of land. He was getting rid of all the stones with a home-made tool before planting sweet potatoes. This takes a few days work and is done every year.
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Novemer 23rd - December 4th 2002
Why are there so many towns called 'Tarrafal' in Cape Verde ?
Tarrafal of Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal of Santiago, Tarrafal of Santo Antao, Tarrafal of Fogo...
Well, here's why : it comes from a bush that grows everywhere in Cape Verde. It is also called "Tamargueira", "Tamaréa"...
However, each Tarrafal town is different from the others. This one is known for its medicinal black sand beach. It has the usual small grocery stores, a few bars and restaurants and even an Internet place, where as usual, one finds all the boat people writing home and checking weather forecasts.
The first time we went ashore with the dinghy we were met on the beach by a whole bunch of sceaming and jumping kids.
-Me !Me! Me!
-Don't choose him ! He's too small !
It didn't take us long to understand that we had to chose one of them to watch over our dinghy. All right. We picked one up at random. The others dispersed while our "guard" sat on the dinghy like a king on his throne. It costed us the fortune of 20 escudos, about 25 cents of Euro.
The anchorage was quiet for a few days, and then, northeasterly squalls began to funnel down the ravines, making it impossible to get ashore on oars and uncertain with an engine. People in their cockpits were looking at other people on their boats exchanging resigned signs. Here and there, dinghies were overturned by the wind. Not good when there is an outboard on it and when the oars are taken away by the current. You can't fetch them since your outboard is in the water and out of order... Before it happened to us, we tied a bucket of water at the front of the dinguy which, with the weight prevented it from overturning.
 
For those who like to walk, this island is great. Our best trip was the one we didn't finish...
On our first trip around the island, we noticed a track zigzaging up a hillside. It looked good. We decided to climb it the next day. Bottle of water and sandwiches in the backpack, off we go ! The plan was to go up the track, back down on the other side to the village of Covoada, up again on the next mountain and finally down again toward Ribeira da Prata. Our guide showed the tracks on a map and said it's a day trip. After walking only ten minutes we had already realised that it looked easier that it really was. A painful memory of the climbing of the 'Teide' in Tenerife came to my mind. But we couldn't weaken. We were walking among a group of children who cover this track every day to go to school. Theyr were much faster than us and kept waiting for us with a compassionate look. When I caught up with them, completely out of breath, I told them I was going to die. They thought it was funny. Fortunately, I was responsible for taking the pictures. So, more often than usual, I pretexted a nice view to stop and take a picture.
  After an hour or so, we finally reached the top. Releif, joy and...horror ! What did we see on the other side ? The same thing, but worse !
For the glory only, we began to walk down. You might be surprised to learn that going down such a steep slope is not easier than going up. It's less tiring in general, but it's hard on the toes and the calves. As a matter of fact, that's what hurt the most the next day. The valley around Covoada is grogeous, but really, settle here, so far from everything ! Such an idea !
Without stopping, we went on and began to clim the other side. When it gets too steep, the trick is to zigzag. You look stupid, but it's easier. On the way, we came across a pair of legs carrying a huge bundle of hay. It was so big that we couldn't see the person undernieth. But her dog warned her that we were there and she put down her load. To our surprise an old lady greeted us, smiling with her toothless mouth. She explained that the hay was for her pig, and told us other things we didn't quite understand.
The climbing went on for another half-hour. It was tough but the view got greater and greater as we got higher. The best view was that from the very top. Boy was it worth it !!! Surrounded by very dramatic mountains, Ribeira lied down in a valley, with the sea shining down at the bottom. The final goal of our trip didn't seem too far now, and it was downhill. The problem was that we never found the track ! We looked around for an hour, and always ended on top of a cliff. We had to yield to the facts : it was already 4pm, the only choice was to return from where we came, hoping to get to the road before night and that an aluger will pass by to take us back to Tarrafal...
No need to relate what we went through on the way back, I'm sure you can imagine it very well. This is when we realised that either we don't do enough exercise, or we're getting old !
When crossing Covoada the old lady saw us. When Ludo told her that we hadn't found the track, she laughed and said "I told you!"
Hoooo, that's what she had been saying when we first met. Oups.
You probably hate us for making such a huuuge web page, but we have so many nice pictures of Sao Nicolau that we can't keep them for ourselves. I'll stop writing for now, which will relieve me, since writing in English is a lot of work for me...
Let's let the images talk for themselves. Besides it's time I take a break and have a ponch !
North coast
Capeverdian houses
Landscapes
Stoned stracks
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