2001 circuit around the Cape Verde islands - the last stop - Maio island

Not to talk about the last stop in my 2001 circuit around the Cape Verde islands would be a "crime" ..., a crime almost similar to the one committed in the 16th century, when the English commandeered the salt production because the Portuguese never had much interest in it as an island (then used  as a grazing ground for cattle and goats, which soon ate its fragile vegetation leaving very little to sell but salt and lime).

The island guides  refer to it as "the forgotten island" or the one "tourists  are least likely to go" ...  (though it may have changed since I last visited it) but it was a bustling one from the late 16th century through to the 19th century, exporting 11,000 tons of salt in good years, until the principal market for salt was switched to Brazil.

An extraordinary lake of salt still stretches for 5 kilometres north of the town and a smaler one close to the village, still referred to as vila do Porto Inglês (village of the English Port).

I flew in from Praia  on a 20 minute  TACV flight and soon found myself in the backpart of a public van going into the centre of the town. The "Spencer's" with rooms to rent right behind the church was my only reference. As I sat outside its front door, two more "guests" joined in and it wasn't but one hour later that someone came around with the keys to actually let us select the rooms (first to arrive would have the right to choose first).

The Spanish couple I had met the day before outside the Spencer's and I rented a car with a guide driver and virtually visited the island, which can easily be seen in one day  The island is flat, a desolate brown-like desert, whose landscape is unexpectedely broken by specks of colour, such as the ones visible in the fertile valley planted with crops and palm trees in the east ...

... and the colourful houses one stumbles onto almost everywhere ..., though a lot more noticeable in the little village of Barreiro, as they line the single street that runs along it.

The fresh baked rolls and the cheese still encased in their molds were still sold from door to door, which  vaguely reminded me of my childhood and the clear distinct "calls" of those who came to the door to sell their goods day after day.

Maio had this peaceful and calm atmosphere that people need from time to time ... and though it could be easily identified as typical of a languishing-like existence it was not ... it rather corresponded to  a rhythm of life in which  urgency played no role.


Many beaches were hidden from the main roads, though many could be reached by walking  just a few kilometres ... some were practically wild but all of them were magnificient  ... and had this undescribable  turquoise water ... that made you want to  touch it as if to confirm what your eyes could not believe ...

Swimming in the calm sea of the village beach by late evening seemed to be common practice ... mostly among the very few tourists who were on the island ... and as part of the surrounding atmosphere it was also common to see couples strolling around or admiring the sunset beauty.

I left the island four days later and vowed to go back some day ... which I haven't (yet) ...