Accommodation: hotel. Free meal. Transfer: 10 minutes.
Arrival at Mindelo airport on the island of São Vicente. Transfer to the centre of Mindelo, the cultural and musical capital of the island, with traces of Brazil, Africa and Portugal. Free afternoon and evening.
Note: depending on the dates, the outward international flight may take place in Praia (Santiago Island) instead of Mindelo. In this case you will have a domestic flight to Mindelo.

Positive elevation: 100 m. Negative gradient: 950 metres. 4-hour walk.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1 hour by boat + 45 min by car. In the morning, we'll travel to the island of Santo Antão, the island where the terrain is the most rugged and spectacular, then transfer along the beautiful Corde road to the Cova crater, situated on the central ridges and flanked by pine trees and mimosas. A beautiful downhill walk to the crater, the bottom of which is covered in a mosaic of crops, before entering the landscapes of the small Paul valley, with its lush vegetation, where banana trees, sugar cane, yams and pine trees coexist. We walk along a paved path, punctuated by villages: the little houses with old roofs, the flowing water, the grog traps (in operation from January to June) punctuate our walk. We continue on to Passagem, an old Portuguese park where people came to relax and swim. Lunch at Chez Sandro.

Positive elevation gain: 700 m. Negative gradient: 700 metres. 5 hour walk.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 45 minutes.
Transfer along a spectacular paved veranda road to the small, colourful village of Fontainhas, nestled in the heart of small cultivated terraces. A pleasant balcony walk over the sea to the school in the village of Forminguinhas, along an extraordinary path carved into the basalt and ash of the walls overlooking the ocean. We then walk up a small valley cultivated with banana trees and yams to the abandoned village of Aranhas. After the picnic, continue the walk to Cruzinha, a fishing village nestled between the cliffs and the sea, and then return to Ponta do Sol.

Positive altitude difference: 900 metres. Negative drop: 300 metres. 4h30 walk.
Accommodation: guest house. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1h30.
We start the day with a visit to a cooperative where, depending on the season, women from neighbouring villages produce sweet papaya, guava and liqueurs. An agricultural region dotted with lively villages, terraces with tropical crops from bananas to coffee, cassava and cabbage! Country houses, terraces and gorges, surrounded by minerals and grandiose mountain cirques, punctuate the walk in the João Afonso valley. Continue on to the village of Corda, which gave its name to the famous winding road, to reach the summits with their forests of mimosas, pines and eucalyptus. Then we cross fields of lava and slag to reach the vast high-altitude cirque of Ribeira das Patas, in the arid centre of the island. We'll settle down for the night in a homestay, with a magnificent panorama of the canyons and mountain cirques.

Positive altitude difference: 500 m. Negative drop: 500 m (+ 100 m). 4h (+ 1h) walk.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1h30.
Walk at the foot of the centre of Santo Antão, in a mineral valley torn by the deep Ribeira das Patas stream. We gain altitude towards the ridges dominated by basaltic rocks. We descend into the agricultural valley of Alto Mira, where we pass by terraces of sugar cane and banana plantations. The road winds between oases of vegetation and dykes, these impressive lava sheets that can reach a height of several metres. Transfer to the isolated village of Tarrafal de Monte Trigo, through grandiose lunar landscapes. If you wish, you can disembark with a view of the village and access Tarrafal on foot by mule track.
The bay of Tarrafal, with its fishing village sheltered from the trade winds, is a haven of peace that has retained its charm, even though it is far from modern! We came for the authenticity and tranquillity of the place, its superb beach of fine black sand, its calm waters (turtles and whales in June and October, plenty of fish on the seabed) and the excellence of the seafood.

Positive elevation: 500 m. Negative gradient: 500 metres. 3h30 walk.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 45 minutes by small boat.
Via a balcony coastal path, we reach the isolated village of Monte Trigo, accessible only on foot or by sea. In this village dominated by the Tope de Coroa volcano, the highest point on the island (1979 metres), life seems to flow more slowly than elsewhere... ride in a fishing boat (subject to weather conditions) back to Tarrafal. End of the day free to enjoy the sweetness of local life: discover the village and its terraces on foot, swim on the long black sand beach, play a game of football with the children or watch the fishing return. This is an integral part of local life: weighing, preparing and selling fish and shellfish are moments for fishermen and locals to exchange and socialise.

1 hour visit.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday. Free meal: evening. Transfer: 1h45 + 1h by boat.
Morning transfer to Porto Novo and boat trip to Mindelo. When you return from Santo Antão, the city will appear bubbling and exotic! On arrival, a guided tour of Mindelo: its central market and fish market, its alleys, its stalls, its main squares, its bay lined with palm trees... Free afternoon with the possibility of a swim at the beautiful Laginha beach. In the early evening, we'll go to the capoeira school to watch training in this Afro-Brazilian martial art, halfway between wrestling and dance. Anyone who wants to can give it a try, the atmosphere is guaranteed!

Positive elevation: 200. Negative lift: 200. 3-hour walk.
Accommodation: homestay. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1h30 flight + 30 mins by car.
We left Mindelo for São Felipe, on the island of Fogo (via Praia). On landing, the plane bumps into the huge volcanic cone of Pico, the volcano that dominates the island, whose last eruption was very recent (2014). From the entrance to the crater, we enter the caldera for a walk over black lava. The end-of-the-world atmosphere of the place takes hold of every visitor... For 77 days, the last eruption buried the villages established in the caldera. A few months later, the population rebuilt the villages on the lava slides and resumed farming and winemaking. On our way is the new local co-operative, whose equipment was moved at the time of the eruption. You can visit the small wine cellar, accompanied by a tasting of local wines and cheeses (payable on site, around €10 per person). Accommodation for two nights in the heart of the crater.
Note: depending on flight times (subject to availability), this day may be changed and the walk replaced by another.

Positive altitude difference: 300 metres. Negative gradient: 350 metres.
3h30 walk - lava tunnel: 1h30 walk.
Accommodation: homestay. Meals included: morning, midday, evening.
Under hostile exteriors, the caldera actually offers fertile land, where the locals grow coffee and vines with passion. Made from vines imported from Portugal at the end of the 19th century, the locally produced Manecon wine is grown without fertilisers and comes in white, red, rosé and passito (sweet straw wine). Through the crops and slag, we climb up the side crater of the small Pico, dominated by the cone of Pico Grande (2829 metres). The ochre-yellow fumaroles with their sulphur smell are evidence of volcanic activity that is still very much present! We returned to the lodge for lunch and a rest, then set off in the late afternoon for a short walk to discover a lava tunnel accessible on foot, which has formed under the giant's slopes.

Positive elevation: 100 m. Negative gradient: 1600 metres. 5 hour walk.
Accommodation: hostel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1 hour.
Leave on foot from the lodge and pass through the northern part of the caldera. Descent down Monte Velha, passing through a forest of eucalyptus, mimosa and conifers at the top, then coffee, papaya, banana and orange trees approaching the sea. the west coast and getting ready for the night. A relaxing afternoon in one of the town's many bar-restaurants!
Note: this walk is more difficult than the others and can be assimilated to level 3, poles are strongly recommended. For those who don't want to, it's possible to leave the vehicle with your luggage to get directly to San Felipe.

Negative gradient: 850 metres. 3h30 walk.
Accommodation: mountain hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening. Transfer: 1 hour transfer + 30 min flight.
Discover the island's lively capital on foot, with its flower-filled squares and market. Then we'll go to the foot of the volcano for a walk among the grasses and small villages. We descend to the ocean to reach the natural arches of the Salinas, and swim if conditions allow. Return to San Felipe and transfer to the airport. Flight to Santiago, the largest and most African island in the archipelago, cradle of the Cape Verdean people. Transfer to Rui Vaz, a small village in the heart of the volcanic massifs, and accommodation in a mountain lodge with spectacular views.
Note: depending on flight times (subject to availability), this day may be changed and the walk replaced by another.

Positive altitude difference: 600 metres. Negative gradient: 850 metres. 4h30 walk.
Accommodation: hotel. Meals included: morning, midday, evening.
From the lodge, we hike to the foot of the Pico da Antónia mountain range (1394 m). Descent through eucalyptus and sisal, between ochre-coloured jagged peaks, to the valley of Longueira, with its authentic village and trapiche where grog is made. Old houses of Portuguese architecture mark the end of the route. Transfer to Tarrafal Bay (one more!), where we find a magnificent beach, this time with clear sand, dotted with colourful fishing boats. Two nights in a hotel 300 metres from the beach.

Positive elevation gain: 200 metres. Negative gradient: 200 metres. 2 hours' walk.
Accommodation: night in hotel. Meals included: morning, midday. Free meal: evening. Transfer: 2 hours.