Santo Antão

Santo Antão — overview

Santo Antão is Cape Verde's hiking capital and its most dramatic landscape — a mountainous island of terraced valleys, sugar-cane plantations and vertiginous ridges plunging into the Atlantic. Ribeira Grande on the north coast is the best base, with trails threading to Paul Valley, Ponta do Sol and the ridge-line Cova crater. Ribeira da Torre, Fontainhas and the paths from Cha de Igreja offer some of the most beautiful day hikes in West Africa. There are no beach resorts here — people come for the landscapes, the rum-distilleries (grogue) and the hospitality of mountain villages.

Highlights

• Paul Valley — terraced fields, rum distilleries, lush scenery
• Cova crater and the descent to Paul
• Fontainhas cliff village (often voted most beautiful)
• Ponta do Sol port town and seafood
• Sugar-cane grogue distilleries in Ribeira do Paul

Frequently asked questions