vango

West of the city is Mount Cara rising 489 meters (1604 feet) above the Atlantic. Cara means face and it is said that the face of George Washington may be seen in a reclining position formed by the top of the mountain.

We drove to the top of Monte Verde, the tallest point on the island, 725 meters (2,379 ft), which is covered with communication towers. The road was winding with sharp hairpin turns. At one point we came upon the Cape Verdean military on maneuvers. They were practicing rappelling down the side of this mountain. Most young people must serve but they really don't have enemies nor do they have much an invading army would want. From the top we can see the entire end of the island and the beach we would visit later. One of group had the wind take his hat a blow it to the edge. A tour guide climbed down and retrieved it. He said it was because he was “a good mountain guide.” I attributed it to being a good mountain goat. He had a good laugh about that.



Down the mountain we travel along the north beach and stop for a shot of liqueur made from honey and sugarcane. From there we traveled inland past small farms. There were lots of fences made of rocks. It was sobering to consider that every one of the thousands of rocks were moved by hand. There were a lot of abandon properties and defunct windmills. It is a hard life on the islands. Most of the drinking water is provided by a desalination plant.