Fogo, Cape Verde: Volcano, Chã das Caldeiras & São Filipe

Fogo island in Cape Verde comes down to one thing and its opposite: a volcano that destroyed everything in 2014, and five hundred people who came back to live at its foot. You don't come here for the beach — you come for this.

The rest follows: an old town built in tiers on the mountainside, a lava plain where vines, coffee and pomegranates grow, a high-altitude forest, and two climbs that rank among the finest in the archipelago. Pack boots, not swimwear.

The essentials before you go

Getting thereBy plane with the national airline, or by ferry with the inter-island shipping company. The airport and the port are both in São Filipe.
No carRenting one is not recommended: the mountain roads are difficult, and the one up to the caldera is narrow and dizzying.
AluguersAn aluguer is the shared minibus or pick-up taxi that links towns, and it is the most practical and cheapest option. In São Filipe they park near the market. Allow 1,000 CVE and 1h to 1h30 to reach Chã das Caldeiras.
TaxisYellow, at the airport car park and the port car park. Around 10,000 CVE for a tour of the island — negotiate before you get in.
The guideCompulsory for the Big Pico, unnecessary for the Little one. Rates are set by the local guides' association: no haggling, no surprises.
Don't missSão Filipe, Chã das Caldeiras, the Parque Natural do Fogo, the Little Pico and the Big Pico.

Getting your bearings

The island in three zones

A town below, a volcano above, and a road that circles the lot. The whole stay plays out between São Filipe, the caldera and the coast. Click a zone to show only that one.

Beach Village & town Site & sight

Good to knowPositions are approximate: they show where things are, not how to navigate.

The question everyone really asks

Can you swim on Fogo?

Very little, and you should know that before you book. The sand is black and magnificent, and the coast is almost everywhere battered by wind and currents. Two places are the exception, and neither is in town.

Place	From	Access	Swimming

What to do insteadAt Fonte Bila, swimming is very dangerous — but families hold picnics there in a fairground atmosphere. That is the right way to use Fogo's beaches: settle in, watch the ocean, don't go in it.

The sobrados of São Filipe's historic centre.

Zone 1

São Filipe, the town in tiers

sobradosCruz di PazCasa da MemóriaBila

The country's third-largest town and one of its oldest. Built in tiers on the flank of a mountain, it reveals itself along cobbled lanes lined with houses with colourful, flower-decked fronts.

The historic centre circuit

on foothalf a daystart at Cruz di Paz

Start from the central square, Cruz di Paz, and wander through the historic centre, whose charm comes from its colonial buildings — town hall, church, library — and above all its sobrados, the two-storey colonial townhouses built for Portuguese settler gentry.

Then head up to Alto da Aguadinha for a full view of this town that seems to throw itself into the sea. Come back down to the lower part: waiting for you there are the Cadeia Civil, a two-century-old building that has served in turn as a fort, a customs office and a hospital; the market; and finally the big, beautiful black-sand beach of Bila, the town's nickname, so tempting but so dangerous.

The Cemitério dos Brancos

lower townmid-19^th century

Your steps may lead you to this old cemetery, created in the mid-19^th century on a sort of rocky headland overlooking the sea. It is called the “cemetery of the whites” because it was reserved for the colonial bourgeoisie.

You'll notice one grave outside the wall. The story goes that it belongs to a member of white high society who “sinned” with a Black man — and that even in death, the enclosure was denied him.

Finding itIn the lower town, on the opposite bank from Fortim Carlota.

The Casa da Memória

centro históricobuilt around 1820free entry

This house in the historic centre has had several lives: family home, then commercial warehouse, joinery, cinema — before being converted in the early 2000s into a place of memory, on the initiative of Monique Widmer, a Swiss woman who has lived in São Filipe for years.

The Casa da Memória traces, in three rooms, the evolution of the town and of Fogo over the past two hundred years, in the manner of a reconstructed traditional home: furniture, crockery, photographs, decorative or everyday objects, lent or donated by local families. Entry is free; contributions are welcome.

The Museu Municipal

centro históricoin a sobrado100 CVE

Housed in a sobrado, it shows a fairly modest collection of maps, old and recent photographs, and traditional musical instruments from the island. A tour of the rooms is quick.

But you'll enjoy seeing, in the inner courtyard, a reproduction of a funco, the typical Fogo house — useful before heading up to the caldera, where you'll see real ones.

Once upon a time

Sobrados, and how to spot them

You can spot them by three signs: the wrought-iron balustraded balcony that adorns every window, the red-tiled roof, and the pastel-coloured front.

Sobrados are found in all the big Cape Verdean towns, but it is in São Filipe that they are best preserved. Some are abandoned — and that is part of the town's charm, this elegance that flakes away. Others have been renovated and turned into hotels and cafés, such as the Colonial House, lending the place a romantic touch.

Look up as you walk: it's on the first floor that everything happens.

Pico do Fogo seen from the Chã das Caldeiras plain.

Zone 2

Chã das Caldeiras and the park

2,829 m2014 eruptionfuncosvines and coffee

Despite spartan living conditions, this is an unforgettable destination — first for its lunar atmosphere, then for the encounters and discoveries it brings. One way or another, you come back transformed.

The plain of the cauldrons

35 km from São Filipe1h to 1h30 by aluguerapprox. 1,000 CVE

From São Filipe you'll have to climb a narrow and, to say the least, dizzying road — it rises to over 1,700 m — before you can enter this plain covered in extinct lava.

The “plain of the cauldrons” is an ancient crater nine kilometres across. On one side rises a mountain wall, the bordeira, and on the other stands the Pico do Fogo, which peaks at 2,829 m. The village, tucked at the foot of the volcano, originally consisted of three hamlets: Dje de Lorna, Bangaeira and Portela.

What you'll see growingSparse vegetation grows in the fertile volcanic ash soil: coffee bushes, pomegranates, castor oil plants and many other food crops are grown here — not to mention the vines.

The Parque Natural do Fogo

85 km²110 endemic speciesUNESCO candidate 2016

You can see why an application for World Heritage listing was submitted in 2016. The park is a one-of-a-kind splendour: across eighty-five square kilometres it takes in the volcano, the bordeira (the impressive rock barrier, remnant of a volcano nearly 4,000 m high, which stretches west of the caldera), the caldera itself, and the Monte Velha forest.

It is a vast whole that helps you grasp the intense geological activity that gave birth to the archipelago. Each of its sites invites you to face a nature that is dense, wild and austere at once.

What lives hereAround 110 species of endemic plants, 5 of them found only on Fogo and listed as vulnerable or endangered on the IUCN Red List. Also 6 species of reptiles — two of them endangered — and 13 types of birds, 5 of them endemic to Cape Verde.

The Monte Velha forest

850 ha1/10 of the parkon the trail to Mosteiros

This splendid forest is well known to visitors because a very steep trail crosses it, linking the caldera's hamlets to the coast. Covering around eight hundred and fifty hectares, the woodland is one of the country's most important forest reserves.

It has seen several planting campaigns, the first dating back to the 1940s and 1947, and it is home to eucalyptus, lemon trees and mimosas, alongside one hundred and ten endemic plant and animal species.

What it has enduredBesides the Fogo eruptions, fires have partly devastated it: the 2014 one ravaged 74% of the forest, which has been replanted since, notably its banana and papaya plantations near Pai António.

The funcos

Chã das Caldeiraslava stone

The funcos you'll see at Chã das Caldeiras are traditional circular buildings with a roof of plant material, reminiscent of huts on the African mainland. But on Fogo, the walls of these huts are made of lava stone — which changes everything, and tells the island's story in a single detail.

An honest caveat: these “reconstructions” are now often aimed at tourists. The techniques are real, but they are rarely real homes.

What happened

Rebuilding on lava

In 2014, the volcano's ravenous fire flowed down onto the caldera. Bangaeira and Portela were wiped off the map, swallowed by a torrent of lava.

Then, with great selflessness, some five hundred inhabitants rebuilt their homes on the thick mantle of lava. Not elsewhere, not lower down, not at a reasonable distance from the cone: on top of it.

The result is disturbingly beautiful. White walls and new roofs set on a flow that is still black, vines replanted in the ash, a village starting over exactly where it had been erased. That is the real subject of Fogo, and it is what people talk about on the way back down.

One side effect that is hard to gauge from below: the caldera has had no educational infrastructure since the volcano destroyed it. Teenagers from Chã go down to the secondary school at Cova Figueira.

The natural pools of Salinas de Dentro.

Zone 3

The coast, from south to north

Cova FigueiraMosteirosSalinas de Dentropanorama

The road circles the island. Taken one way it leads to the caldera; taken the other it reveals a Fogo that few visitors see: villages hanging over the void, and the island's utter hardship.

The southern road

São Filipe → Mosteirosby aluguer

Aluguers generally only use this road for a few kilometres, to take their passengers to the caldera. But if yours carries on to Mosteiros, you'll discover another, surprising face of Fogo: picturesque villages, some hanging over sheer cliffs, others clinging to the volcano's eastern flank.

This picture shows a nature both hostile and attractive — and the island's utter hardship. It is the part of the stay that appears in no brochure photo.

Cova Figueira

28 km eastvia Fonte Alexiasecondary school

One of the most important places on the east coast, and one of the few outside São Filipe with a secondary school. Many young people from the caldera are enrolled there, as the caldera has had no educational infrastructure since it was destroyed by the volcano's fire.

Cova Figueira owes its history to the Fontes, a family credited with the village's relative prosperity compared with others on the southern road. The story goes that in the late 19^th century, José Fontes, who had come from Portugal, married a Cape Verdean woman. In 1911, his first son emigrated to the United States and later showered the village with dollars, before returning home to enlarge the clan with forty-eight children and secure a line of around a hundred grandchildren.

Mosteiros

35 km north600 inhabitantsthe island's breadbasket

This small town occupies the wettest and greenest part of Fogo — it is thought to be the island's breadbasket. Hemmed in between the ocean and the cliffs, it holds little real tourist interest, especially since its small airfield was closed in the late 1990s, judged too dangerous, and replaced by the one at São Filipe.

The atmosphere is very calm, especially at weekends. Apart from the sunset on the seafront, laid out by the town hall, nothing will distract you — but that is contentment enough.

Salinas de Dentro and São Jorge

20 kmhalfway between the two townsswimming

The many coconut palms, eucalyptus and bougainvilleas of São Jorge give it the look of a tropical garden. Below, to the south-east, a nasty track leads to a little paradise.

In a superb seascape, the jagged rocky coast reveals several natural pools and, the highlight, a sort of arch sculpted by erosion — a work of art by nature. It is a pebble beach lined with caves and basalt columns, where locals come to swim in complete peace. No wonder an eco-tourism resort project, backed by local officials and the European Union, has chosen this site.

The northern road

Mosteiros → São Filipepanorama

This road is best enjoyed on the way back to São Filipe, after braving the gruelling hiking trail that links Chã das Caldeiras to Mosteiros. In this direction the journey unveils a splendid panorama: the ocean below on your right, the steep mountains on your left.

Setting off from Mosteiros, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the finest sight on the route: Salinas de Dentro, a sort of natural bridge carved into the rock by erosion.

Order mattersGo up to the caldera by the south, walk down to Mosteiros, then return by the north. You'll have been all the way round the island without passing the same place twice, and kept the best panorama for last.

Local colour

Fogo wine

The volcano gives the black earth of the caldera the nutrients and the ideal setting for growing vines. It is the only place in Cape Verde where wine is made — and it comes in three colours.

The grapes produce reds, whites and rosés, among them the famous Manecom, a powerful, fruity red. They contain no additives, and the quantities produced are small.

The direct consequence: it is hardly exported at all. So make the most of it by tasting it on the spot, in the caldera or in São Filipe — it is one of the few travel souvenirs you won't find anywhere else.

The real reason to come

The Pico do Fogo hike and three others, on the map

Everything starts from Chã das Caldeiras, except the longest, which descends from it. Here are the routes, their start, their finish and what they cost your legs. Three of them leave from the same village: use the difficulty filter to tell them apart. The routes are indicative — they show where things are, not how to navigate.

Easy Moderate Hard Finish point

The routes
No.	Route	Distance	Duration	Elevation gain	Difficulty

Guide feesThe local association Associação dos Guias turísticos de Chã brings together around ten independent professional guides, almost all natives of the caldera. Rates are set by the association, which avoids any haggling: 5,500 CVE for the Little Pico, 7,700 CVE for the Big Pico climb, maximum six people per group.

Two rules hereThe Big Pico must be done with a guide — departure around 06:00, with a gilet, sun protection and possibly walking poles. And in the Monte Velha forest, don't stray from the path: there are no waymarks, and you will get lost.

When to go

What depends on the season

On Fogo, the real variable is not the festival calendar — the island is quiet all year. It is walkability: heat, rain, and the state of the volcanic ground on the slopes of the Pico.

The right habitFor both climbs, what matters more than the month is the start time. The Big Pico starts around 06:00, and the Little Pico is done early in the morning or late in the afternoon. At midday, on the black ash, there isn't a metre of shade.

Our picks

Where to eat, have a coffee and find a guide

Almost everything happens in São Filipe: that's where the tables, cafés and market are. In the caldera you'll find guides and wine; on the coast, one address in Mosteiros.

About these addresses

These addresses are pointers drawn from travel guides, not places tested on site. Opening hours and phone numbers are deliberately not listed: they are the details that go out of date fastest, so check them before you go.

Before you go

What to prepare

The guide, before you arrive

The Big Pico cannot be done without a guide, and the association has only about ten members. Contact it from São Filipe, or the day before as you go up: don't expect to find someone on the same morning.

Sleeping in the caldera

If you want the Big Pico, sleep in Chã: the meeting time is around 06:00 and the drive up from São Filipe takes over an hour. Conditions there are spartan — that's the price of the place.

Shoes and sun

Grippy soles are a must: you walk on ash and lava fragments. A hat, sun cream and water are not recommendations but the bare minimum.

The caldera road

Narrow and dizzying, it climbs to over 1,700 m. That is exactly why renting a car is not recommended: take an aluguer, around 1,000 CVE, and enjoy the scenery.

Don't expect nightlife

The island is quiet, very quiet. In São Filipe, some weekends, a few restaurants host concerts — and that's about it. Elsewhere, simply forget the idea of going out.

Wine, on the spot

The quantities produced in the caldera are small and the wine is hardly exported. Taste it here. In São Filipe it is sometimes cheaper than in the caldera itself.

The volcano took everything in 2014. Five hundred people climbed back up to live on it.