Explore Sal Island
Quiet beaches, steady winds, chilled bars. Welcome to Cape Verde’s easy-going paradise. ARTICLESBOOKS & MORETHE OCEAN, SAND & SUN
“Paradise is when your mind is in a perfect state,” says Frederick Lenz, and that’s what Cabo Verde offers you — it’s both a colourful and a happy place if you only discover its vibrant energy, natural beauty and great culture. The more you get to know it, the more fascinating it gets. Explore the Island of Sal through our website, and see if you fall in love with what Sal can offer you.
New Articles
What’s the Time in Cape Verde Now? Life in UTC-01:00
Check the time in Cape Verde now: The clocks on the archipelago read one hour behind Greenwich Mean Time. Cape Verde Time(CVT) is fixed at UTC−1.
Buggy Adventures on Sal Island: All You Need to Know
The volcanic landscape of Sal Island transforms into an adventure playground when viewed from the driver’s seat of an off-road buggy.
Kitesurfing on Sal Island: All You Need To Know
Sal has become a world-class kitesurfing destination, blessed with consistent trade winds, warm temperatures, and a laid-back atmosphere.
Understanding Cape Verde
An essential step towards truly understanding a country’s culture is diving into its history. Events from the past profoundly shape local customs, behaviours, and the community’s character. To see Cabo Verde beyond its image as a sun-soaked tourist paradise, you first need to get familiar with its past — learning Caboverdian history is your starting point. From there, the authentic beauty and richness of local life become genuinely visible. Explore our pages to discover more about genuine Cape Verdean culture, away from tourist clichés.
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Flying Fish: Crazy and Beautiful Sea Gliders of the Sky
Flying fish don’t truly fly like birds. Instead, they glide on extended fins. With a swipe of a tail, they launch themselves out of the water at over 60 km/h.
Cape Verde: The Practical Guide with Essential Insights
Cape Verde: Nestled 600 km off the West African coast lie ten volcanic islands united in history, culture, and climate — yet each with its own character.
Murdeira Bay: Beautiful Reef and Rock Pools
Murdeira Bay, situated on the southwest coast of Sal, is a nature reserve known for its rich underwater sea life and a small coral reef.
Iago Sparrow: Endemic and Easy to Spot on Sal
These cute little birds you observe on the streets and in the crowns of trees are far cousins of European sparrows and – contrary to popular belief – didn’t migrate to the islands from far away. These little guys are Iago sparrows (Passer iagoensis) and are endemic to Cape Verde. That’s why they are often called Cabo Verde sparrows by professional and hobby ornithologists. Iago sparrows occur on all islands of the archipelago besides of Fogo, and on most of them it is quite common.
Jagacida Beans & Rice: The Great Taste and Simple Recipe
Jagacida is a flavorful Cape Verdean dish of rice and beans that showcases the blend of Portuguese and West African influences in the islands’ cuisine.
Morna: Listen to the Traditional Music of Cape Verde
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The Remembrance, Resistance and Revolution
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Sal Low-Cost: How to Have a Great Stay on Low Budget
Sal’s reputation as an expensive island can be a challenge for budget travellers, but strategic choices enable meaningful experiences without financial strain.
Yellow Desert Hyacinth: the Strange and Beautiful Alien
Cistanche phelypaea is a desert plant with stout, flowering stems bearing bright yellow flowers. It can grow up to even 30-50 cm above the ground. Because of its looks, Cistanche phelypaea is commonly called a yellow desert broomrape, but some people call it also a desert hyacinth.
Have You Seen This Beautiful Crimson-Speckled Flunkey?
The crimson-speckled flunkey (Utetheisa pulchella), first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, is a widespread moth that occurs naturally in northern and central parts of Africa, the Mediterranean, Near East and Central Asia. However, it can travel far north with plumes of warm air during the summer or autumn and is observed sporadically even in England (less than 100-200 records in the last century).
Cape Verdean Beer: Strela and the Islands’ New Craft Wave
A cold Cape Verdean beer bottle lands on the table, its green glass beaded with condensation. On Sal or Santiago, that bottle is almost certainly Strela…
The Grogue: From Sugar Cane to the Beautiful Culture
The sugarcane used to make grogue arrived with the Portuguese in the 15th century. It took root in the archipelago and evolved into something distinct.
Cape Verdean Pastel de Atum: Easy Cooking Recipe and Video
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Shell Cemetery Beach: The Great Hidden Gem of Santa Maria
Known as Shell Cemetery Beach, this stretch of coast offers a landscape at once alien and visceral, where seashells reshape our sense of place and time.
The Madwoman of Serrano: Beautiful Story by Dina Salústio
The Madwoman of Serrano is a magical tale that explores rural ideals and urban ambition, underpinned by an examination of female empowerment.
The Great Gym Built From Rubbish by Alcindo (Video)
In the CNN’s Great Big Story Alcindo Soares says that he grew up in Cape Verde, dreaming of the day when he would become a professional athlete. Because – like many other Cape Verdeans – he had no money to go to an indoor gym, Alcindo improvised, using garbage washed up on the shores of Sal Island to build his exercise equipment. With his background in construction, he was able to assemble the outdoor gym with ease. Thanks to his astonishing work, many people can now enjoy training for free in one of the island’s most beautiful places – on the sandy beach, just a few steps from the ocean, with a chill breeze and sun over their heads. “The fact that a gym like this exists in Santa Maria no only for me, but for the people here, is very important,” Alcindo says.
Strange Sculpture on Rua 15 de Agosto in Santa Maria
On 15 Agosto Street in Santa Maria, we find an interesting curiosity, a sculpture described as a Stone Artifact. Its information plate also has a quote: “From here I see the beach of the President, and you?” in four languages, and the name of the sculptor underneath, Giovanni Mandole Jr. The artwork is dated 12.09.2015. And it’s all we know about it so far. The mighty internet and the power of asking people locally gave us no trace of any other information about the meaning of this fascinating “artefact”.
Cape Verdean Blues: Beautiful Book by Shauna Barbosa
Cape Verdean Blues, grounded in bodily experience and the phenomenology of femininity, offers a nuanced understanding of Cape Verdean identity.