Turtley tropical
Cape Verde has a Caribbean feel in Africa and supercute shells on the beach
David Attenborough eat your heart out. I am standing on the edge of the beach of the Dune of Sal in Santa Maria in the Cape Verde islands. And we are all cooing as if the cutest ever newborn is being paraded.
Eight tiny loggerhead turtles, barely a day old, are taking their first steps since being rescued by the Project Biodiversity team.
The group, supported by TUI’S Turtle Aid Programme, has set up a flat sandy area with hundreds of nests filled with turtle eggs. Each one is numbered. To ensure they hatch and can make it down to the sea, they have been moved away from areas of the beach that suffer from light pollution or where eggs would have been damaged.
Even the little ones that are not strong enough are placed into buckets and released into the water at night to give them the best chance of survival.
You can also do some good here by sponsoring a turtle or a nest for as little as 10 euros. You get a certificate and an email with photos of your turtle after it hatches. As souvenirs go, it certainly beats a key ring.
This stunning volcanic island chain is made up of 10 islands and five islets, 310 miles off the coast of West Africa.
They could be likened to the Caribbean thanks to the year-round sunshine and golden sands.
But they also offers visitors the rare chance to get up close to these rare turtles. The archipelago is home to the third largest loggerhead turtle nesting population in the world and second in the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Verde has often been referred to as the African Caribbean but in reality, it is only really now that it has the quality of hotel, activities and restaurants to rival Barbados and Jamaica. And as I sat in the Ola Brazil beach cafe, sand at my feet, sipping on a caipirinha cocktail that tasted as good as ones I’ve drunk on the shores in Rio, I felt certain I had discovered a new holiday destination that is going to become massively popular in the coming years. With just a six-hour flight and twohour time difference, there is no jet lag. Although there are palm trees and pastel-coloured homes, what you’ll
also find here is a blend of mountains, beaches and peaceful seaside villages, set among a melting pot of African, Brazilian and Portuguese cultures.
The 18-mile long island of Sal, with its red deserts and salt pans, is also home to unusual wildlife. You can paddle with baby lemon sharks and deep sea dive with tropical fish.
Depending on how lazy or adventurous you are, the Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort can be a base to explore or a paradise to relax in without going very far.
Opened late in 2017, it offers a glorious vacation spot in the colourful town of Santa Maria.
Make the most of its oversized swimming pool at the heart of the hotel and the Eforea Spa, which does fantastic post-flight massages, including the signature Cabo Verde Earth Reconnecting Journey.
It also has four restaurants, including the excellent Magellan, plus bars, watersports and a fitness centre. So it’s difficult to tear yourself away.
In terms of other activity nearby, there is a hotel casino that gives someone the chance to win €10,000 three times a week if you can just get lucky on roulette.
You still won’t believe your luck, sinking your toes in the pristine white-sand beaches and strolling to places such as the extinct Pedra de Lume volcano, surrounded by white and pink salt pans.
We joined a tour with guide, Manuel. Swimming in the medicinal salt waters is a bit like taking a dip on a giant industrial estate that has been built on Mars.
There’s still old mining equipment scattered around and the old cable car frame, so it’s not the most glamorous of locations but the salt is good for your skin, so they say.
Other highlights of the day tour included Shark Bay, to see those lemon sharks, which swim around your feet and only eat fish, thankfully. And we also took in the Buracona Lagoon, a natural phenomena like no other. When the sun hits the water in a particular way, it lights up the surface like a blue eye. Eerie, but beautiful.
That night we dined at the appropriately named Lobstar restaurant in Santa Maria, working our way through seafood platters followed by homemade sorbet served in champagne flutes.
The following morning I decided to tackle something a little more strenuous.
The Atlantic Star Nautical Centre focuses on all things watersports, in particular kite surfing and waterskiing. I tried my hand at the latter, but given the amount of times I fell over, it was obvious I was not a natural.
The centre also offers a Scuba Diving Day, which aims to introduce people to the wonders of diving, including a theory session
before diving into the Hilton pool, followed by an open water dive. However it’s kite surfing that’s the big draw, thanks to the perfect wind conditions here.
It comes as no surprise then that three world champions hail from the island.
The local mantra of Cape Verde, and the phrase they live by, is “No Stress”.
And we could all do with discovering a bit of that.