Ilha do Fogo


Trips	Trekking	Volcano	Transfer	Food	Internet

Casa Braquinho offers wide-band Internet access. It also offers a service of international callings via .

The delicious cuisine of Casa Branquinho is one of the main remarks of the guesthouse. The typical local dishes of Fogo Island are a delight in this modest restaurant.

Cachupa is the national Caboverdian dish, a stew made of chicken, beef, pork, beans, corn, sweet potato, cabbage, pumpkin... You can taste it in Casa Branquinho’s dinning-room every morning, as many Caboverdians do.

Cachupa Rica (Neusa’s recipe)

Ingredients

500 g of chicken, 500 g of boiled beef and a piece of pork.
A chorizo, a blood sausagge, 150g of pork fat and 100g of lard.
Two onions, three cloves of garlic and a bay leaf.
Beans, corn, four cabbage leaves, 300g of sweet potato, 200g of pumpkin and 300g of green banana.
Parsley, salt, piripiri (spicy Caboverdian sauce), a litre of water and flour.

Cooking

Put the beans and the corn to soak the previous day.
Boil separately: the beans and the corn, the meat and the pork fat, the cabbage leaves, the pumpkin and the sliced banana.
In a casserole, put the lard, the onions and the smashed cloves of garlic, the bay leaf and parsley.
When the onions are lightly fried, add meat in pieces without bones and the vegetables. Dress it with piripiri and add the water in which you boiled the meat and fresh water, to avoid the soup to be very heavy.
Finally, cook over a low heat.

Apart from the ascension to the volcano there are many other interesting routes to get to know the different landscapes of the island. Casa Branquinho organizes the transportation, accommodation booking in other parts of the island and the services of a mountain guide. For the more independent travelers, Lino is a fantastic logistic support to the realization of own trekking adventures.

La Bordeira is a gigantic ancient crater that surrounds the modern volcano and the village of Cha das Caldeiras. Inside it, we can make a long trip at the foot of the vertical walls of the crater and enjoy a volcanic scenery with various types of endemic plants and vineyards where grows the grape that gives fame to the Fogo wine.

The ascension to Pico Pequenho allows knowing the volcano that emerged in 1995. It is a short ascension that ends next to the slope of the volcano. From Pico Pequenho you can see lava streams from different ages. In its western side, close to the track that takes to Cha das Caldeiras, there can be seen the most recent lavas (from the Nineties). Their odd shapes are one of the most outstanding geological curiosities of Fogo.

The descent to Mosteiros passes through the most fertile area of the island. Leaving Cha das Caldeiras in northern direction the track leaves Bordeira and goes into Monte Velha. Volcanic ashes are left back. Then, the way is lined with exuberant vegetation up to the sea shore. With a 1.700 m slope of continuous descent, it is convinient to walk with nice weather as in this area raining makes the terrain very slippery.

The ascention to Pico do Fogo is probably the greatest challenge for the traveler. Lino provides the whole equipment needed to get to Cha das Cladeiras, where we can sleep before starting the route. It is important to go out early in the morning to avoid the heat. Lino can also contact a proffessional local guide if we prefer to go with him. In Fogo, mountain guides have special training.

In Cha das Caldeiras the volcanic landscape dominates all, with Pico do Fogo as the highest and best exponent of this particular geology. The archipelago of Cabo Verde has a volcanic origin, and Fogo island is the place where this origin brights best.

With a 2.829 m height, Pico do Fogo is the top of Cabo Verde, and the second highest height of the Atlantic, after Teide mountain, in the Canary Islands, another volcano with whom it has great similarities.

During our ascension to Pico do Fogo, the view of Cha das Caldeiras is astonishing. We can observe lava streams and volcanic cones that with the first light of the day create an uncomparable landscape.

Lino takes you from Fogo airport, located in the surroundings of the capital Sao Felipe, where domestic flights arrive coming from other islands of Cabo Verde.

There he gets his guests with their luggage and takes them to Casa Branquinho, where Neusa is waiting.

Casa Branquinho organizes trips to know all the spots of Fogo. Lino knows the island like the back of his hand and usually suggests alternative trips in which, apart from getting to know the scenery, you can know the uniqueness of its flora and fauna. Not to forget that, besides its attractive geological landscapes, this island is home to many species of endemic plants. It is also easy to see the passarinha, a colourful bird that is only visible in some islands of Cabo Verde. An authentic Caboverdian symbol.

Saiao (http://www.caboverde.com/nature/plant-00.htm)

An unforgettable trip is the ascension to Cha das Caldeiras from Sao Filipe. In this journey, great contrasts in the landscapes appear as we ascend, and the traveler goes into a marvelous pot, La Bordeira, until arriving to Cha das Caldeiras. This small village is located at the heart of the island and at the foot of the volcano.

Another good option is to get to the secluded beach of Salina, the best place in the island to have a bath next to volcanic coladas sculptured by the sea. This trip can be extended to Mosteiros walking through scarped slopes covered in tropical vegetation. While in Cha das Caldeiras the black lavas are dominant, in the way to Mosteiros the green covers all.

While traveling the oriental side of the island, from Bombardeiro to Achada Grande, you can see lavas from different periods, observe the different tonalities of the terrain and identify the diverse eruptions that the volcano has had. Recent lava formations, from last century, and others from prehistoric ages, are alternated in a vertiginous fall to the ocean.