This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by @marc-allaria: LA LONGUE ROUTE DE MAESHA • Cariçal • Cabo Verde

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Marc Allaria (@marc-allaria), a French guy.

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MAESHA'S LONG ROAD

CABO VERDE
SÃO NICOLAU
CARIÇAL

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There are sometimes stopovers that mark trips. After two months spent between Sal and Boa Vista, two of the islands in northern Cabo Verde, Maesha sets sail for São Nicolau, one of the largest islands in the archipelago. The arrival from the South confirms that Cabo Verde is truly experiencing an era of indisputable drought. The mountains, announcing the island from the open sea, are brown with earth and rocks. No greenery is identifiable except in the shade of dry ravines that run down to the sea. The terraces of the heights are abandoned by their cultures, the slopes of the summits are arid, in other words, nothing seems to grow. And then, behind a point of the coast, appears to us a tiny village well lit by the evening light, overlooking a ravine crowded with acacias appearing to us like an oasis after what we have just observed! Quietness and fishing activity seem to sum up most of this village, we are in Cariçal.

Maesha is now anchored in waters of impeccable clarity. Here, the very small number of beaches and the proximity of the deep sea make the water perfectly crystal clear. The mini bay sheltering about fifteen boats is the scene of what remains of the fishing activity. The bay attracts schools of small fish used as bait, and the boats go back and forth in search of tuna or dolphinfish, the two main species exploited here. The fishing activity has known more industrial times and left some vestiges of what was a fish cannery. Since then, Tarrafal, the second largest town on the island, has taken over for canning tuna. The rest of the village can be visited in 30 minutes! Like the people of Cabo Verde, the 200 souls of the village are very respectful and not at all intrusive at the same time. Two mini shops allow you to buy something to accompany the fish, and a community project has just updated a restaurant which to date has offered me a delicacy of dishes that I had not yet tasted elsewhere in the archipelago.

There is no tourist activity here, and that's fine! Equipped with a pair of shoes, the entire massif is available for hiking and superb views. But it is once again below the surface that I am drawn. So I prospect the coast, discover incredible cliffs and especially their counterparts at negative altitude ... I explore two drop-offs, one vertical between 10 and 60m, and the second offering an incredible wall between the surface and 100m to the sounder. I can not resist several dives that offer me an incredible setting that I had not known for a long time. I will make several stops in Cariçal which will allow me to better know the places, the funds, and the people. An unforgettable stopover!

_{Coastal surprise}

_{Free-range breeding}

_{Fish index!}

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