Sal (Cape Verde)

Welcome to paradise!

This is how we were greeted at the airport of Sal Island on a Monday around noon, three hours behind continental Europe.

With the hotel wristband, we have 'all-inclusive' within this enormous resort. Our building block number 7, like the others, surrounds the main amphitheater where the central pools are located. Only the most alert manage to grab a towel and hammock here. No matter where you look, you will see palm trees of all sizes every few meters, in very well-maintained vegetation. And beautiful banana trees with still green fruit at every corner.
The beach is 300m away, exiting the resort via a dirt path, where at every turn, locals tanned by the sun try to sell you something. There isn't much to sell on Sal Island: Cape Verde t-shirts, handmade bracelets, typical souvenirs, or more easily: activities and excursions.

The city is an hour’s walk along the fine, white sand of the beach, or a bit over 20 minutes if you take the well-paved road that follows the line of large hotels. Santa Maria also lives off tourism, with shops and local establishments wherever you look, simple houses with bright colors, the motto of the archipelago is: 'no stress', and they even offered me some appropriate herbs. The population is predominantly Creole, and everyone is very polite. The vendors do what they can to entice you into buying something; there is hardly any begging.

The girls are having a great time staring at their phones for hours, lying in a hammock by the pool. In the first days, they haven’t even touched the water despite the scorching sun at 28 degrees. They also haven’t approached the bar where drinks and cocktails are served, even though you only have to ask. There usually isn't much of a line, but the motto of 'no stress' doesn’t help impatient butlers like me. They have bathed in the sea, which is almost as warm as the heavily chlorinated pool water but with treacherous waves that swallow anyone who dares try to catch a wave.

The 'all-inclusive' is very convenient; drinks and cocktails from the tap are available almost all day, pork or chicken, the stew is very well made, several types of fish that are generally too fried, a lot of legumes and salad accompaniments, assorted fruits and ice creams. In short, an abundant buffet but often somewhat improvised: the Andalusian gazpacho tasted like powdered tomato soup on the first day, and the octopus salad with vinaigrette contains lots of sweet pickles that don't fit. Every day that passes, the texture of the salads changes more than their contents.
All the fruit comes pre-cut; lots of pineapple, watermelon, oranges, pears, but curiously, the best tasting fruit by far is the melon.

Guests are recognized by their wristbands, red for adults, and blue for kids. This makes it clear whether cocktails are served with alcohol or access to the disco is allowed. A lot of Portuguese is heard, not only from the locals; then comes English, Dutch, German, and of course, at the end, Spaniards also appear. According to what I'm told, the most crowded place is the Meliá hotel downtown.

The island is small and arid; at first glance, it seems that apart from beaches and salt production, it doesn’t offer much else. However, many activities are offered, and you can buy them officially or for a little less through local intermediaries who offer all kinds of tours on your way to the beach. There are two very special must-do activities:

1. Swimming with sharks: In a small stretch of coast where the water reaches up to the knees, the abundant baby sharks swim fearlessly among the legs of the tourists.
2. Nocturnal turtle watching: During the summer period (very practical for tourism), the turtles return after about 20 years to lay eggs at their birthplace. They avoid tourist beaches with lights and noise, which is why the excursion to these pristine beaches is by jeep, turning off the lights for the last stretch. There are many groups of tourists loitering with strict orders not to separate, not to speak loudly, not to use lights or camera flashes, plus everyone was instructed to wear dark and non-reflective clothing. Every so often, a large turtle comes out of the sea, looks for a spot in the sand, digs a good hole, lays up to a hundred eggs, and finally covers them up and returns to the sea. The guides place an infrared light behind the egg-laying, so all the tourists pile behind the turtle to see the slow dropping of eggs that look like ping-pong balls.

One week in paradise. The truth is that the experience is quite close, thanks to the fantastic weather, very pleasant service, and all the options for movement or relaxation. If it weren't for the mosquitoes in the room at night... Will we return? I don’t rule out visiting some of the other islands later.