Ilha da where..?
So where is Ilha do Sol? Well, it’s an island that forms part of the Cabo Verde (pronounced Kabu Verdi) chain of islands, just off the bulge of western Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
Landing in the middle of the night we were shocked and taken aback at the sight of heavily armed guards – it was at a time when the world was a peaceful place. The airport a small forlorn building, its offices and shops firmly closed to late night travellers felt cold and unwelcoming. Tired, thirsty and dusty, we pondered for a moment, what we had gotten ourselves into. Soldiering on, passports checked and baggage collected we gratefully climbed into the waiting mini-bus, happy for the small respite the breeze from the open windows offered from the oppressive heat. Off we trundled down a dark, unlit “highway” flanked by salt pans on either side. Surrounded by pitch black darkness lit only faintly by dripping diamond-like stars and a positively luminescent moon, we drove for what seemed miles in silent trepidation.
Too late to do anything but get the kids into bed once we got to the hotel, we stood silently on the balcony of our room and stared out into the darkness. What had let ourselves in for!
Nothing could have prepared us for the absolute beauty and wonder we awoke to! The softest blue sky dipping gently into the azure-green-blue sea, dazzled by the bright rays of the fat bulbous yellow sun, its rays skipping lightly over the white powdery soft sand. Local children jumping off the pier, shrieking with delight with each one trying to jump higher and further than the next. The soft hum of locals talking, the smell of freshly baked bread and strong coffee wafting on the air. It was straight out of a movie, I tell you!
Have you ever heard of Ladies Fingers? No? Neither had I. Long, skinny, rubbery, alien finger-like looking specimens, native to the island and since we were dinner guests of the hotel owner, we politely kept eating as they kept coming and they kept coming! No, I haven’t had one since if you must know! As I write, I’m transported back to a sublime moment in a hole-in-the-wall “restaurant”. I can smell freshly caught yellowtail sizzling in a pan on an outdoor camping stove, as we sit on up-turned cool drink crates, the air thick with the noise of laughing, chattering locals, the joy of nibbling on freshly baked bread rolls, like candy floss on the inside, thick crunchy crust on the outside. We drove 4-wheelers up and down the endless sand dunes, we watched breathlessly as young locals dove into the sea from the end of the pier over and over again - so what you say? There were big, fat mean looking sharks circling endlessly mere metres away, that's what! Legend has it that Ilha do Sal sharks are too well fed naturally to bother themselves with mere mortals...hmmm! We choked on a sip of 100% Russian vodka, we occasionally lifted our heads off the sun bed long enough to watch crazy windsurfer’s flying up and down the coast at breakneck speeds (world class training area apparently). We read no newspapers, we heard no news, we returned suntanned, relaxed and were happy. We stayed a week and wished we could have stayed for ever.
To quote age old words of wisdom, “never judge a book by its cover”. You just never know what fabulous surprises that off-the-wall, off-the- beaten track holidays may bring you!