This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by @marc-allaria: LA LONGUE ROUTE DE MAESHA • Les Salinas de Pedra de Lume

^{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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CABO VERDE - SAL ISLAND
THE SALINES OF PEDRA DE LUME

Sal is a dry island that you can visit quickly. Some tourist attractions mounted from scratch occupy the tourists who come to gather on the beach of Santa Maria. However, part of the history of the island combines both cultural interest and a geographical feature of great beauty. The salines, whose industrial operations have given way to tourist operations, are worth a look.

Protected area of Cabo Verde and exploited until the end of the 20^th century by a French company, this saline resource is due to a succession of volcanic explosions having created a crater at -7m below sea level. Through cracking of the rocks, the sea could go up for a kilometer to the depression thus created. The natural saline of Sal was thus born. This presence of salt in large quantities will make Sal an economic pillar of the archipelago and will encourage the Portuguese to settle on the island and industrialize the exploitation. There are still today traces of industrial facilities doomed to total degradation in the near future.

With the decline in operations, the site, whose photography is superb, was taken up by tourism in the early 2000s. A paid entry is now in place, supplied by numerous 4x4s coming from hotels including those of the TUI group which monopolizes a large part of tourism in Cabo Verde. Everyone has their opinion on this type of mass tourism ... It is possible to avoid this toll, not to go down to the heart of the caldera and enjoy the view from the heights. The money thus preserved can be spent more equitably towards the restaurateurs of the village or those of the nearby town whose work is not limited to raising a barrier! ;-)

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