Kite Life

HEADING TO CABO VERDE, by Paulo Parracho

Cabo Verde is an archipelago of ten volcanic islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean, about a few hundred kilometres from the coast of Senegal, Western Africa. Most of the islands are mountainous and green. Some of the islands are very dry, windy and flat and the people live peacefully on fishing and farming and in the past few years tourism had really started to grow, especially on the Isle of Sal. Compared to the rest of Western Africa, the life standard is quite reasonable but can be tough for some Cape Verdians. The minimum (unofficial) wage is about E 200 a month for a 48 hour work week and the cost of living is about 75% of the mid-European countries. Santiago is the main island, but due to the geographical situation (flat), the Isle of Sal has the international airport. For instance, from London, England you will spend approximately five hours by aircraft to get there. The official language is Portuguese, but the dialect is Creol. Some people speak English but most people speak French and Italian. The weather is comfortable all year long with the winter season (November-March) averaging between 20-27 degrees Celsius and in the night you might need a sweater. The winter is windy, the trade winds from the Sahara will blow almost every day from 15-27 knots. In the summer the temperature is high for European standards, lets say over 30 degrees with hot nights. The wind will drop 50% in the summer. There is hardly any rain in Cabo Verde, just a few drops in the year. In the winter the swell will attack mostly the west part of the islands with sometimes monstrous waves. In the summer the waves are traditionally calmer. So the kitesurf season is from mid September until May but the best months are January, February and March. Check the Island of Sal for details of the spots and what riding ability you need to hit the different launches in Cabo Verde.

Ilha do Sal: “The island looks like Mars…but on Mars the experts believe life is possible” - once told as a joke as airliner descended for landing on the Isle of Sal. Ok, there is not much green on the island, but the Jurassic Park scenery with its volcanoes rising out of the desert, rough lava coastlines and sandy white beaches stretching out for miles gives the island a beauty of its own, you might fall in love! The island is not so big, its almost 30 kilometers long 12 kilometers wide, you will spend only 20 minutes in the car from the airport to your hotel. Also all four kite spots are not more than three kilometers apart from each other. Espargos is the main city but you will probably not spend much time there. The tourism, kitesurfing and most of the nightlife happens in Santa Maria, in the south of the island. Santa Maria is a friendly village with a very scenic center, a fishing peer, a long white sandy beach where the large hotels are located. You will find all you need here as a tourist, also as a non kitesurfer (so you can bring your partner). The Santa Maria nights are long and full of life with a lot of restaurants, a cinema and discotheques which close only early in the morning. It is possible to rent an apartment or small house directly on the beach so you can wake up and experience your morning kite session while your (girl)friend has a nice time on the beach or swimming pool. In St. Maria village there are 2 spots for kitesurfing, Albatross and at the large hotels. Check the area guide for details.

Albatros: The wind here is side-off, sometimes sideshore from the left so the water is really flat. Because of the flat character of the land the winds are quite constant. Sometimes when the swell is more south, there is a point break really clean over a length of approx. 500 meters and not too high. If the swell is there, it’s really a great place to learn waveriding without any danger. If anything happens, the wind- and kitesurf centres are well organized and are equipped with a rescue Zodiac, the costs for a rescue will be about E 35. The beach is OK and there is enough place to launch your kite. It is located near fine hotels and pensions and walk able from the center of Santa Maria.

Salinas (KiteBeach): For most of the kite surfers Kite Beach is the best place to go kitesurfing on the island. Somebody… we don’t know who… named this beach Shark Beach, however there has never been a shark seen here and for sure there has never been an attack. So don’t let this name keep you from hitting these waves rolling over the reef parallel to the beach. The only animal you might encounter is a friendly (but huge) turtle. Kite Beach is about 5 minutes driving from the center of Santa Maria, it’s a spectacular ride through the desert. If you don’t have a rental, ask for a pick-up to get you there for about 6 Euro. The wind is side on to cross on (from the left) and most of the time not really gusty. There is a coral reef about one hundred meter from the coast which creates a nice wave for jumping or waveriding. The wave is not dangerous and there are no crazy currents so it’s a great place to learn, get better or just have a good session. It’s never too crowded because the beach is so long.

Santa Maria West: At the west side of the village, at the sandy beach with the large hotels is the other spot. This is where Cabo Verde Kite center is located with Rod as your host. The wind is side shore from the left and there can be a nice shorebreak. Usually there is a lot of kitesurfing going on and it is a great place to learn kitesurfing. The kite center is within walking distance of your hotel. If you walk for about 1 km southwards towards the shipwreck, you will find another spot called Ponta Sino. The winds are more onshore due to the curve of the bay and the waves can be tricky. Don’t go there as a rookie!

Ponta Preta: When the ocean swell is westerly, the surfers in St. Maria wake up and nervously start arranging their gear on their cars, you will see locals walking the streets with surfboards under their arms…. the town changes. For some geographical reason on the ocean bottom the swell at Ponta Preta is pumped up higher and releases it’s energy on this point break with a spectacular, world famous result. Breathless… is what you will be gazing at when a set of waves comes in. Its starts to break a few hundred meters out off the black rocks and rolls clean and hollow over a length of 300 meter untill it hits the white sandy beach in the form of a killer shorebreak. This is the spot where the Kite Wave Masters is held, it’s the backyard of Josh Angulo, 2003 PWA World Champion. It is possible you will see Bjorn Dunckerbeck and many other international (former) wind- kite- and surf champions. This place has a great insane atmosphere. The wind is mostly cross offshore or dead off and sometimes sideshore from the right. This, combined with the huge waves which can easily reach 5 meters and breaking sometimes just before 10 meters from razor sharp rocks stops most kite surfers from going out. Ponta Preta is not a place to learn kiting nor a place to learn waveriding because the smallest mistake can cost you your kite, board or worse. Only try this place if you feel comfortable in over (double) head high waves with sometimes gusty winds… and a lot of co-wave users like (wind)surfers, body-boarders… respect the line up. Don’t lose your board because the rocks will eat it and don’t lose the kite or somebody in Brazil will find it. By the way….when the ocean swell is less than 2 meters Ponta Preta is as flat as ice.

How to get to Sal A lot of tour operators have arrangements with airline companies and hotels. From Europe Cabo Verde Airlines an TAP Portugal fly frequently to the island. The cost of a return flight will be a minimum of E 500. Check the internet databases for the TAP flights or call a travel agent for the flights on Cabo Verde Airlines because they are not listed in some databases. Once arrived on Ilha do Sal it is easy to get to Santa Maria. Probably you will be picked up by your hotel but if you aren’t just ask for a taxi. You will pay E 7 in the day and E 10 in the night for the ride. Soultriping Cabo Verde,

Where to stay in Sal The stay in Santa Maria does not have to be expensive and you have the choice between a luxury hotel directly on the beach (all-inclusive if you want), or you can take a simple room with bathroom for about E 35 a night. Where to rent a car If you prefer to have you own car (a pickup can drive you with all your gear to the spots for not more then E 10 return), you have the choice to rent through Hertz RentaCar, AVIS or a few small companys. The car you rent will have to be a 4×4. If you rent for minimal 1 week the prices for a big jeep will be around E 60 for 1 day. A smaller jeep (Like Daihatsu Terios) will be about E45. Hertz RentaCar is located at the Crioula Hotel. With Hertz email reservation and service is proven OK.

If there is no wind Lets say something very weird happens…. there is no wind. Almost impossible but if this happens you will need a different workout. Visit the Fitness Santa Maria . They have all you need for: Weight-training (machines, dumbells, barbells and free weights) Boxing or, Thaibox Gymnastics Bikes, Rowing machine African drums It is located just in the center so ask somebody… you can’t miss it. A daily session will be about E 6.50. It is open daily from 08:00 a.m. untill 10:00 p.m. However between 01:00 p.m. and 03:00 p.m. all shops and the fitness is also closed. Sunday it opens at 10:00 a.m. and closes at 01:00 p.m.

HAVE A NICE STAY!

Notes on a Small Island …
… Bruno and Mat’s trip to Cape Verde.

Flights (Astraeus)
Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan, noted that the life of the English 
peasant was nasty, brutish and short.  Nigel Barley, the 20th Century 
English anthropologist, noted that international air travel was 
nasty, brutish and long.  Astraeus is designed to carry the one, via 
the other.  So here we are…
Astraeus charges 20 pounds to take your kiteboard bag one way.  So 
that’s an extra 40 pounds.  But on the plus side, one you’ve paid 
them, they don’t care how much your luggage weighs (mine was more 
than twice over the limit).
Tip: go to Maplin and buy an airline audio to 3.5mm stereo jack 
adapter - so you can plug your iPod headphones into the airliner 
audio system, just in case Astraeus ever show a movie you want to 
watch. It’s bound to happen eventually, and then you’ll be ready.
According to Astraeus, the flight takes “approximately” five hours.  
In fact, it takes six hours.  Which is, of course, approximately 
five.  But it all sorts itself out because, although the pilot told 
us that Cape Verde was in the same time zone as the UK, a steward 
correctly pointed out that Cape Verde is one hour behind.  Glad the 
pilot had satnav.

Transfers
The official account has it that the Cape Verde island of Sal has an 
airport.  A more descriptive account might be that the island of Sal 
is an airport.  The island is short, the runway is long (so was the 
visa queue, but I digress.  We queued for a visa, only to be told 
that we had one.  Cool.)
But you still need to get to the hotel.  The Morabeza has a minibus, 
which operates a strict policy:  they’ll take you, if they feel like 
it.  We were lucky on the way in to the resort, but had to get a 
pickup truck taxi on our return.  Three of us kitesurfers took that 
return taxi, which cost a total of 20 Euros - not a lot of money, but 
you’d better have the cash.
Hotel (Morabeza)
The Morabeza hotel is a slightly schizophrenic place: the public 
spaces are elegant and well-kept, whereas the rooms suggest a youth 
hostel that has fallen on hard times.  Mosquitos exist here.  Or 
rather thrive.  The Cape Verde 1000 Escudos banknote in fact features  
a locust, which suggests that insect plagues are not generally unknown.
We had a little electric / chemical anti-mosquito device bough at 
Gatwick airport, which seems to have the same effect on mosquitos as 
big waves have on kitesurfers: they look on it as a challenge, rather 
than a threat.  Use plenty of Jungle Formula.

The South Beach (Santa Maria Beach)
The hotel is set on a beautiful sandy beach, but … DON’T KITESURF 
HERE.
Just believe me.  Oh, okay, I’ll explain why…
* Wind - The prevailing wind is cross-shore, and slightly off.  So as 
well as being dangerous, it’s extremely gusty and / or variable.  You 
can just about get away with a bow kite with lots of depower range, 
but a C kite will get most people into trouble.  Forget it, there’s 
much better in store.
* People - Way too many!  I nearly crushed three people when I got 
lofted while launching a kite (see gusty, above).  Landing a kite 
here is also hard because, although there are spaces amongst the 
sunbathers, they’re never where you need them.
* Security - I had my camera stolen out of my kit bag on the first 
day.  That means someone rooted through my big black kit bag in order 
to find a small black camera bag at the bottom, covered in other stuff.
The only plus side of the south beach was the ample (I choose my 
words carefully) presence of very fit, bikinied young women. But 
Sharks Bay is what matters …. surely …
The East Beach (Sharks Bay)

THIS IS PROBABLY THE FINEST SPOT WE’VE EVER KITESURFED
Hard to find.  Get a taxi - go to the Morabeza reception, and you’ll 
get a 4WD pickup, with room for your gear and the capability to off-
road across lots of sand.  The taxi will come back for you at a 
prescribed time.  Pay the driver at the end of the return trip.
You now have a dream of how you always wanted Shoreham beach to be.  
Let’s get specific here:
*          soft sand
*          gently rolling, structured waves - not the big chop that
            pretends to be waves at Shoreham
*          cross-on or onshore wind
*          warm water - no wetsuit needed at all
*          hazy bright sunshine
*          oh, why the bloody hell did I come back to England?
If you can look after yourself on the water, and want to progress to 
waves, this has to be the place to go.
We had winds of 16 to 25 kts every day.  Couldn’t have been better.  
We were told that later in the winter, the winds would get stronger.  
That could be a problem for some.  The only thing that slowed me down 
was gut rot (see Eating, below).
Whatever Cape Verde’s limitations (of which there are some), this 
beach makes up for them.
The Kitesurf Centre (Surf Zone)
Unless you are getting lessons, don’t bother going here.  The South 
Beach has two kitesurf centres: Surf Zone is allied to WaveRiders, 
and is nearest to the Morabeza hotel.  The other is a short way east 
along the beach, and is more friendly and better equipped.   (The 
other is also a Club Natalie Simone like the Menaville in Safaga - 
why isn’t WaveRiders working with them?)
For the experienced kitesurfer, the only function of Surf Zone would 
be to store your stuff.  But this doesn’t make sense, because - if 
you are going to Sharks Bay every day - then Surf Zone is a major 
detour on your route from hotel room to taxi. So keep your gear in or 
outside your own hotel room and not at Surf Zone - it’ll dry better, 
and you’ll save on the Surf Zone storage fees.
Surf Zone has no cafe of its own or meeting place for kitesurfers, 
and has  no facility to wash or dry kites.  It can only store gear in 
big locked boxes where it can’t dry.  We got the introductory talk 
from its staff whose main points were:

*          don’t leave valuables on the Sharks Bay beach (RUBBISH!
            everything is safe in Sharks Bay, it’s the South Beach that’s the problem.)
*          we close at 5:30 sharp because, well, we want to
*          we did say 5:30, right?
*          please remember the bit about 5:30, we seriously don’t want to work longer than we have to
            They told us that there was a rescue boat that charge something like 
            15 Euros per rescue.  But I never saw it.  Fuck off.
Eating
The trip was B&B only.  That makes it more expensive than you’d 
think, because food prices on Sal are, well, European.  And the 
breakfast is not going to keep you going for long.  Lunch and supper 
at the Morabeza are good if unremarkable.
The star eatery has to be Restaurant Tipico - a big yellow unmissable 
shack on the beach, near the hotel.  No food ’till 8pm, but it’s 
worth the wait.  Plus a Creole band which, once the brass section has 
gone off for the evening, makes some interesting sounds - I never 
realised the full potential of a rusty iron L beam and a table knife 
until I came here.  Plus a dancer who would restore a faith in 
humanity in the suicidally depressed.  I personally blame Restraunt 
Tipico for a disorder that still prevents me venturing too far from 
the nearest toilet. but hey, it was worth it.
Getting About
Don’t.  The town of Santa Maria is a sad place, with neither the 
energy of Africa nor the colour of the Caribbean.  We talked to 
people who hired a car and travelled round the island (this probably 
took them about an hour).  They reported that the rest of the island 
was much the same.  Shark’s Bay is best reached by pickup taxi, and 
that’s the only place to head.

Getting About