Travel Guide to Santo Antão, A Heaven For Hikers • Indie Traveller

Santo Antão is one of the greenest islands of Cape Verde and considered by many the most scenic. I, too, completely fell in love with this island with its majestic volcanic landforms and friendly people.

At first, though, you might wonder “wait… is this it?”. When you arrive at Ponto Novo, the area around it is totally dusty, sandy, and empty. But just wait till you get to the other side of the island, where you’ll find deep green valleys, rocky coastlines, and patches of pine forest.

Some travelers go island-hopping on Cape Verde, spending a day or two on each island, though I decided to spend 90% of my trip just on Santo Antão. You can easily stay a week on Santo Antão and still have things left to do, especially if you like hiking and outdoor adventures.

Most towns are fairly close to each other, so it’s easy to hop around!

Things to do on Santo Antão

Hike until you can’t

Santo Antão is a hiker’s paradise through and through. If you despise hiking, I’d say…