Tag: Sal

Travelling to Cape Verde

Firstly we travelled to Sal in Cape Verde from Manchester Airport. The night before our flight we stayed at the Clayton Hotel which is a short walk away from the terminals, arriving at the airport on the morning of the flight was easy. Due to the hustle and bustle of the airport and a lot of queueing we tend to book in to the Executive lounges as not is this less hassle it can also be cheaper than spending in the restaurants and bars of the airport. When we arrived in Cape Verde (Sal) and boarded our coach we had to wait some time on the coach for all passengers to arrive.

Accommodation

Finally we arrived at our destination The Melia Dunas Resort which is approximately 20 minutes from the airport. As we had upgraded to a premier room it was a larger room than a lot of hotel rooms we had stayed in. The rooms were decorated in neutral colours and to a relatively good standard for the cost of the hotel. The rooms were cleaned well daily with fresh towels provided.

We booked through Tui and paid £700 each which we thought was good value. Tui put this hotel has a 4 star plus but the official rating is 5 star. The location of the room was also good as it was what we felt was the centre of both the Melia Dunas and the Sol Dunas. The Sol Dunas is the sister hotel to the Melia. You can use facilities in both hotels which makes it a big resort to wonder around.

Pool Scene

There are 5 pools in total 2 in the Melia Dunas and 3 in the Sol Dunas and a small aqua park.  If staying in the Melia you can use any of the pools. There was never any worry about getting a sun lounger as there were plenty to go around. All the pools have their own bar so you do not have to go far for a drink. The restaurants are also very close to the pools therefore you dont even have to go far for lunch. Beach towels are provided around the pool and can be changed daily.

Bars

There is also a beach bar which both hotels can use. However the Melia did have a beach bar that only the Melia guests could use. This was our favorite bar both during the day and early evening.  The staff were very friendly and attentive. Before you finished your drinks they would ask if you were staying for another drink and what would you like. 

I would strongly recommend that you ensure you have insect repellent on especially on an evening as the first night there I did not put any repellent on and I was bit either by mosquitoes or sand fly’s so many times I needed to go to a pharmacy. 

Dinning

The Melia had a buffet restaurant and  3 A la Carte restaurants Italian, Indian, seafood and Grill. You have to book the A  la Carte restaurants in advance but this is easy to do. In the Manhattan bar there is the booking in electronic system which shows you times and dates of availability for each restaurant. Fortunately we managed to book in each of them on more than one occasion.  

On one occasion we ate breakfast at the buffet restaurant which had a good choice of food but it felt like eating at a cheap café as opposed to a restaurant. Following this we then ate breakfast each day at the Italian restaurant which was opening during the day for meals. This was both a buffet and waiter/waitress service. This was much more of a pleasant experience. Also we ate there and the seafood restaurant on a lunch time which again also offered buffet and waiter service.

The lunchtime  menu’s were not extensive but enough to try different things each day.  There was sandwiches, burritos, pizza, burgers, salads etc all cooked to order. There was also a BBQ everyday serving chicken, sausage, burger etc. The drinks were also nice and cold whether this was a soft drink or an alcoholic drink.  The wine was better than a lot of wines we have experienced on some all inclusive hotels. 

Evening Entertainment

Unfortunately we did not see many of the shows at this hotel as they were on the Sol Dunas site and started at 9pm. We often had not finished dinner until this time.  We did see lion king one night which was performed by the animation team. It was mainly aimed at children which was nice to see them all enjoying it and getting involved. The animation team worked hard both day and night and were always smiling. 

Santa Maria

The hotel offered a shuttle bus to the town of Santa Maria just 5 minutes drive. It is a lovely little place with a lovely beach and plenty of bars and restaurants. It even has its own Irish Bar (The Dubliner). The Dubliner has a Weather Forecast Stone which is so funny. We took a photo of it and it makes us laugh every time we look at it.

The drinks in the Dubliner are good too. We went to watch football one day but they had a technical issue so we had to go to another bar. We decided to walk to Santa Maria on one occasion and it is a lot further by beach than road and took us 2 and ½ hours. It was a lovely walk though as it was a nice sunny day. A return taxi cost 3 euro’s.

Haggling

The locals do hassle you a bit to come in to their shops but fortunately not too much unlike other countries. We were aware to haggle when buying anything. We admired a piece of artwork in a shop. The store owner asked for 300 euro’s in the end we paid 35. The art work was very large and on a wooden frame. They removed it from the wooden frame and rolled it up for us to take home. We have had some nice comments about this art work which is now in our living room. Not everyone’s taste but we love it. 

Island Tour

 

After a walk in to Santa Maria we booked an island tour whilst in Santa Maria (25 euro’s each) from a local tour operator. The following day we were picked up at our hotel at 8.30am in an open back jeep which seemed like a good idea at the time. We then went to pick up  other guests from other hotels.

Our first stop was a salt farm which was not much to look at to be honest.. Children ran out of their houses and followed the jeep.

The next stop was sleeping lion mountain which you saw in the distance and did actually look like a sleeping lion. As the weather was a bit hazy the photo’s were not very clear unfortunately.

Local School

We stopped off at a supermarket to buy fruit, sweets etc for a school. When we were driving to the school we passed little shanti towns. The children at the school were of various ages. They all seemed happy and well cared for. We were not allowed to give them the food directly but had to put them in a donations box. We were also not allowed to take photo’s in the school.  As the children only spoke Portuguese we could not communicate with them. The children did seem happy to see us and were very smiley.

The Blue Eye

Our next stop was the Blue Eye. The blue eye also known has Buracona. Basically the Blue Eye is a pool formed by the ocean in to lava rock. The pool is quite small and when the sun shines on it it turns a lovely turquoise colour. On good days people do swim here but as it was windy it was far too dangerous to swim. Also there is a little gift shop here selling souvenirs’, drinks and snacks. The Blue Eye was a bit disappointing as it was a lot smaller than expected, but there isn’t a lot of things to do or see in Sal especially on excursions.

Lunch

As it was approaching lunch the guide took us to a buffet restaurant in a small village. The food was quite basic with fish, chicken, rice, stew, potato’s, chips and bread. Once you had chosen what you wanted to eat it was weighed. Surprisingly you paid by weight for your food. Although we had experienced this method of paying in Brazil we did not expect it in Cape Verde even though it also has a Portuguese influence We found this expensive for the poor quality food but did not mind paying as we felt it helped the locals out as it is a very poor country.

Communication Tower

The next place of interest we were taking to was the area where all the communication to the island is based air traffic, mobile  and tv masts. Monte Currai is the hill in the capital city of Espargos where the communication centre is based. Undoubtedly you get an amazing view of Sal from here.

Also the tour guide was very informative  as we walked round to see different views of Sal. Along with a lot of interesting facts he informed us that the Portuguese government have provided a lot of money to build more social housing for the poorer people of Cape Verde. The guide pointing out various areas of social housing which could be seen from Monte Currai hill.

Lemon Sharks

There were a lot of tourists where we went to view the sharks. The guides advised us that we could go in the water as it was safe to do so. The water was extremely cold therefore took a bit of time to actually walk in to the sea. Surprisingly the sharks could be clearly seen in the distance. Should you walk close to them they would swim away. The Lemon Sharks are very timid creatures.

Salt Lake

Our final destination was the salt lake (Pedra de Lume).  There is a lot of history surrounding the salt lakes and mines in Salt lakes and mines of Pedra de Lume. It is estimated that they go back to the 18th century. It was a great experience trying to swim in the salt lake which was virtually impossible due to the amount of salt. Most people who were in the Salt Lake just laid back and floated.. It was a very strange feeling as it felt more like being weightless as apposed to being in water.

We enjoyed this out of the whole island trip. There is not that much to see and do in Sal but we felt that this trip was well worth doing. The tour guide was amazing and informative. A bit of advice if taking the  trip in a jeep either stay inside the jeep or ensure you have warm dark clothing on.  The island is very windy all year round therefore at the back of the jeep it was cold and windy with sand blowing  up into the back of the jeep. We arrived back at our hotel looking  very windswept and my (Debbie) white denim jacket looked  a shade of beige. 

Summary

Sal is a lovely place to visit for a holiday. You can get some nice weather in Cape Verde depending on the time of year but where it is situated it is often very windy. There isn’t a lot to see or do outside of your hotel. Although Santa Maria does have plenty of shops, restaurants and bars. On the sight seeing from there isnt much to see especially if you are wanting to do this as an excursion. The hotel was lovely with food, dinks and services. Would we go back to Sal probably not as we have seen and done all we needed.

Images

Things to do

• Visit Pedra de Lume Salt Mines
• Visit the Blue Eye
• Go in the sea with Lemon Sharks
• Visit Santa Maria
• Go to the Dubliner Bar in Santa Maria
• Visit a School and take gifts of food
• Go snorkeling

Top tips

• Take beach towel pegs as the islands are renowned for being windy.
• Take jacket etc for evening depending on what time of year you visit.
• Sal offers the most to do with regards to the islands.
• A trip to Santa Maria is recommended and most hotels are close by with many offering a free shuttle.
• Be prepared to haggle. We bought art work that they originally asked for 300 euro’s but only paid 35 euro’s.
• Ensure you take mosquito spray. I (Debbie) was bitten so much on one night whilst in the bar near the beach. Not sure if it was actually mosquito’s or sand flies but they had a good feast on my legs. 
• The excursion was good value for money and worth doing.
• Take water shoes if going to the salt lake.
• Check out weather below for best time to visit.
• Check out other places in Africa we have visited Agadir , Tunisia, Sharm El Sheikh, Cairo , Hurghada

Weather

 

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	24	24	25	25	25	26	27	28	29	28	27	26
Low Temp	19	18	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	23	22	20
Rainfall	2	3	1	1	1	1	11	53	77	53	9	1
Number of days	3	3	4	3	4	4	5	6	7	4	4	2