Hiking Cape Verde's Mount Pico

Kyoto: Hiking from Kibune to Kurama

advertisement

Thar' she blows! On the night of April 2, 1995, Mt. Pico on Cape Verde's Fogo island blew its lid, spewing tons of lava and hurling hot molten rock down the mountainside. A cloud of dark ash, extending 1.2 miles to the sky, covered the island for days. When the cloud cleared the damage had been done. The lava flows had destroyed one village and just about everything else within its path. Miraculously there were no fatalities, but most of the island's fertile agriculture land was wiped out.

Fogo, the fourth largest island in the Cape Verde archipelago, located some 310 miles off the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, consists basically of one massive volcanic cone. Hosting a population of only 33,000, Fogo is one of the more quiet islands—when, of course, the volcano is not erupting and wreaking havoc on the local inhabitants. But, despite the island's remoteness, an increasing number of visitors have been making their way each year to climb Mount Pico's intimidating 9,312-foot peak.

To someone who has lived two years in the flatness of the Sahel, where elevation barely reaches 1,000 feet, the volcanic mountain range of Cape Verde is most welcoming. And, only one and a half hours by plane from Dakar, it makes for an easy vacation destination—that is if climbing an active volcano is your idea of an ideal way to spend your free time.

A Bird's-Eye View
From Praia, Cape Verde's capital, it's a 20-minute hop by plane via TACV, the national airline, to the neighboring island of Fogo, 31 miles to the west. On the final descent into Sao Filipe, Fogo's capital, one gets a spectacular bird's-eye view of the volcano and its awe-inspiring crater (be sure to get a seat on the right side of the plane). From here you really get a sense of the damage the eruption has done to the island, as well as the challenges that await the ambitious hiker.

Before heading to the mountain it's worthwhile spending part of the day walking around the sleepy village of Sao Filipe. Built on a cliff overlooking the sea, the city was settled in the 15th century by the Portuguese as a trading outpost. Today you can still see the old colonial mansions, or sobrados, that once housed the island's wealthy settlers.

Historically, Fogo was once known for its vineyards and wine production, and served as a popular destination in the 1800s for whaling ships from New England to recruit crews. It's also nice to walk along the city's cobblestone streets and bathe on its fine, black volcanic sandy beaches. From Sao Filipe you can see the neighboring island of Brava, the smallest of Cape Verde's inhabited islands, only 10 miles to the west by ferry. Brava was first settled in 1680, when a major volcanic eruption on Fogo forced a number of families to seek refuge there. Like Fogo it is also mountainous and is supposed to offer some of the country's best hiking possibilities.

Transportation is limited on Fogo so most travelers hire alugers (pickup-truck taxis) to take them to the base of the volcano cone to start their climbs. But for a more challenging route, head for the coastal town of Mosteiros on the northern tip of the island. From there it's a steep and painful 2.5-mile hike from sea level straight up the northern face of the mountain before it plateaus at the Cha das Caldeiras (Plain of Craters). Despite the difficulty of the trail, you are rewarded along the way with the only green scenery that the island has to offer, the coffee plantations that grow out of the mountainside's crevices, and at the top, the pine and eucalyptus forest of Mount Velha. Camping is allowed (and free) at Mount Velha, but make sure you get a permit from the Department of Agriculture in Sao Filipe before starting out.