🇬🇧 I’m embarking with this serie "STOP" in stories of a few stopovers. I won’t do them in order, just out of desire and to dust off some old memories.
🇬🇧 Cape Verde has 10 main islands, one of which is uninhabited: Santa Luzia. This island is located in the north of the archipelago, in the part of the 'Barlavento' islands, the windward islands. Santa Luzai is an arid, desert island which are certainly the reasons why no permanent settlement has been built there. A few livestock heads were brought there in the past, but the different periods of drought have been right. The scenery is volcanic like almost everywhere in Cape Verde. High earthy slopes run south, while to the north the cliffs are more rocky.
🇬🇧 Santa Luzia is a protected area since recently. If the administration has written the first lines of its protection, the implementation is much more evasive. Let’s say that for now, the isolation of the island and the danger of navigation for traditional fishing boats to reach it, are the best natural protection of Santa Luzia. But the boats are modernizing, the minds too, and we must prepare for more boat visits to this island in future years.
🇬🇧 Santa Luzia is a remarkable nesting site for loggerhead turtles. Every year, hundreds of nests are counted and thousands of baby turtles reach the sea. Generally speaking, Cape Verde is essential for the reproduction of loggerhead turtles. The waters around Santa Luzia are full of fish, but sea conditions pose problems for craft boats to get there. Only a few fishermen try the adventure. One also observes humpback whales during the season between February and April, species of dolphins, and many species of sharks.
🇬🇧 In the air, nature is also present. Like what, when the islands are deserted by humans, they are colonized by animals! Many species of birds take refuge on this arid stone. Notably the shearwater from Cape Verde, but also other more common marine birds including the brown booby or even the straw in tail. Several NGOs and other organizations take turns counting birds and preserving them. We stopped there several times, notably to rest during our navigations between the islands of San Nicolau and San Vicente. Navigation is often made difficult by the effects of the venturi wind, strong currents and sometimes very violent gusts in the lee of the islands. A cargo ship stranded in the eastern part of the island is there to remind the sometimes violent conditions of the local weather. Few boats therefore make it this far. But those who succeed are rewarded with sublime landscapes and the sweet feeling of solitude. Each time, we were impressed by the tranquility and isolation of the place. There is nothing here, only nature, the sometimes strong elements, and an incredible light that in the evening and the morning coming, give this island all the justification for its name.
