FOGO

 29th - 31st Oct 2024

The Island of Fogo. Pico Volcano in the shaded area to the east. 

The small circular island of Fogo is about 30 miles west of Santiago and famed for its volcano (Pico do Fogo at 9,281ft above sea level). The island is about 20 miles in diameter. I found that the boat journeys from Santiago only went on three days a week and even then unreliable due to possibly rough seas. So I bit the bullet and paid for the more expensive air trip. The flight in a turbo-prop ATR 72-500 (I used to fly them) left Praia (Nelson Mandela airport) at 4.40 pm for the 20 minute flight to the airstrip SE of Sāo Felipe (the main town on the island). 

The 'relatively' cheapo hotel I had booked was near the seafront at the southern end of the town. I arrived there, by (remarkably cheap!) taxi, at about 5.30pm and shown to my room. Not bad on first look; clean and with a decent bed, bathroom, air-con and WiFi. I was given the keys to the place by a young girl on the desk (who spoke little English) and was told, I think, she knocked off at 7.00pm. There would be no staff after that until the next morning. I decided to go out and have a wander around town. Armed with a useless map, I got lost and couldn't find any attractive hostelry. St. Felipe is on a hill and is a maze of unnamed cobbled streets which involves much climbing/descending. The place looked rather deserted. After finding one semi- deserted (apart from one man eating supper) bar I treated myself to a glass of wine. Going back to the hotel I, not surprisingly, got lost again. I found it eventually by rough 'dead reckoning' navigation and back in my room I discovered that there was only one dim ceiling light (no bedside light), no drinking water (and it was hot and I was thirsty), no glass or mug and no soap/shower gel etc. Not a great start. I managed to get some bottled water and soap from the 'receptionist' the next morning. They did provide a basic breakfast on an upstairs terrace (coffee and fruit mainly). 

The next day I decided to further explore the town. By good fortune I met a delightful Dutch couple on my way to not sure where. She was employed as a marine engineer involved in a team removing a wrecked cargo ship which had run aground near the port four years ago. He was staying with her for the duration. Anyway, they knew the town and helpfully guided me to where shops and other useful facilities were located including, as it turned out, a most  efficient tourist office.

Left: A statue in a small unnamed square of an unnamed 'jockey' which was erected to celebrate some festival in 2022. The plaque was a bit vague and this island has few, if any, horses and no 'equitation' of note.

Right: The plaque on the base. Your guess is as good as mine. There is an Italian ice-cream shop nearby.

I wandered. Again I found no particular interesting venues. The bars and cafés tended to be small and hidden away inside rather gloomy rooms. Certainly no attractive outside eating/drinking areas that I found. The shops were small and no decent 'supermarkets'. Social gatherings in any form at bars and cafés did not seem to be part of the local culture.

Left: A little bit of colour at the same square marking the town of Sāo Felipe.

Right: I found a larger bar/restaurant and hotel, The 'Colonial', in what may be described as the town centre. It had a large covered inside area and many comfortable seats with cushions. It was the best I had discovered so far. I was there subsequently on a couple of occasions and, again, it was barely occupied apart from the occasional western 'tourists', perhaps residents. On the second occasion I met the Dutch couple again who were stayng there.

I began to wonder where the locals like to gather and socialise. I have learnt from my 'host' that they do not have the money to go out and prefer to stay at home. Except perhaps at weekends when they might go to beaches with picnics. Indeed, especially during the evening, the locals tend to sit in their doorways or on low walls outside and chat, with children playing in the street.

I called in at the aforementioned tourist office (left) to try to arrange a trip to the famous volcano area the next day. Some guided tours, according to the internet, are very expensive and all I wanted was a lift up there to the 'Chã das Caldeira', a drive around the area and back home. A charming lady in the office, Paulina, fixed it for me to be picked up at my hotel by a taxi the next morning and to follow my vague plan. It would cost CVE 8000 Escudos (about £65) for the approx 5 hour round trip. More to follow about that in the next blog.

Paulina also told me that that evening there was to be a 'free entry' pop concert in the square in front of the office, starting at 8.00pm. I thought I would go, and so after a drink in the Colonial Bar, I arrived at the square at about that time. Many rows of chairs were arranged in front of the stage and bandstand and some people had drifted in and sat down. I sat on a bench seat to one side. There was an elaborate arrangement of floodlights and large TV style cameras on gantries.

By 9.15pm all the chairs had been occupied, there were chairs on the stage with musical instruments in place. Technicians were rushing around doing what I don't know. By 9.30pm a larger crowd had gathered, many standing at the back of the square. Still no sign of any music starting. At 9.45 the musicians, eight of them on guitars, drums, saxophone and an electric keyboard plus a female singer arrived and sat down. From then on various technicians gave speeches (of course I couldn't understand a word) followed by prolonged applause and they gave a display with a couple of small drones which were being used to film the occasion. At about 10.00pm a lady took to the stage and gave a long speech. More speeches and much applause followed for reasons I couldn't fathom. At 10.20pm the same lady introduced a singer called 'Niner' or somesuch. Niner, a glamourous lady in a tight green dress, started to give a speech but her microphone failed. The whole procedure was repeated. More technicians rushed about. Then a couple of local drummers appeared on the bandstand and rattled off a drumroll. They did this at least three times with intervening speeches by the same lady and technicians. Still no sign of action by the band. You may find this a bit tedious to read, but not half as tedious I had found it having been sitting watching and waiting for 2.5 hours! I suppose I felt I had to stay. Eventually, at about 10.40pm the band started playing and Niner sang....not a particularly rousing song in my opinion. It was getting on for 11.00pm and I had had enough. I had to fight my way out through the now large crowd standing at the back and, having got lost yet again, eventually got back to my hotel. Phew!! So that is one occasion when the majority of locals gather en-masse, and I suppose they do the same on feast days and festivals. Perhaps because these events are free?

Right: The bandstand and stage when the music finally started.

OK, tomorrow I will be off to the Chā das Caldeira (cauldron), designated as a National Park, which is the vast crater from inside which many volcanic eruptions have occurred; the most recent, and destructive, occurred in 2014.

Knowing my luck I might trigger another one.