Santo Antão, Mountainous island in Barlavento archipelago, Cape Verde
Santo Antão is the northwesternmost island of Cape Verde, featuring steep mountains and deep valleys carved into its terrain. The climate shifts across different parts of the island, creating distinct zones from coastal areas to high peaks.
A navigator named Diogo Afonso discovered the island in the early 1460s, and settlements soon formed near Ribeira Grande. These early communities set the foundation for the villages that grew over the following centuries.
The villages here keep alive old ways of making grogue, a sugarcane spirit tied to farming and daily life in the valleys. Walking through the settlements, you notice how this craft remains part of how people work and trade with their neighbors.
A ferry connects the island to São Vicente in about one hour, with multiple daily departures. Good shoes are needed for hiking the mountainous terrain, and weather at higher elevations can be cool and windy.
The island is home to about 50 plant species found nowhere else in the world, thriving in its mountainous zones. Some of these plants are rare and fragile, making the natural landscape here particularly precious.
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