Fogo is a volcano with a town around its base. The cone of Pico do Fogo rises to 2,829 metres, the highest point in Cape Verde, out of a vast collapsed caldera called Cha das Caldeiras whose floor sits at around 1,700 metres and is walled on three sides by a cliff nearly a kilometre high. People farm inside that caldera, growing vines, coffee and apples in black ash, and they have rebuilt there twice after eruptions buried their villages, most recently in 2014 and 2015. Sao Filipe, the island's colonial capital on the western coast, is one of the handsomest towns in the country, built on a cliff above a black sand beach. Nothing else in Cape Verde looks remotely like this.
Things to Do in Fogo
Pico do Fogo
VolcanoThe 2,829 metre cone rising from the caldera floor, and the highest point in Cape Verde. The ascent takes roughly three hours up loose ash and scoria, and under an hour to come down by running the scree. Guides are compulsory in practice and arranged in Cha das Caldeiras. Start before dawn; the cloud usually arrives by mid-morning.
Duration: ~6 hours
Cha das Caldeiras
Natural LandmarkThe caldera floor at around 1,700 metres, ringed on three sides by the Bordeira cliff and open to the east where the wall collapsed. Two villages sit on the 2014 lava, which buried the previous settlements and is still warm in places. Vines, apples and coffee grow in the ash.
Duration: ~4 hours
Cha wine tasting
Food and DrinkVines grown in volcanic ash inside the caldera produce a distinctive wine, made at the cooperative and by individual families. The white is sharp and mineral, the red rougher. The same slopes produce arabica coffee that is among the best in West Africa.
Duration: ~2 hours
Sao Filipe's sobrados
ArchitectureThe colonial merchant houses of the old town, two storeys with carved wooden balconies and interior courtyards, built when Fogo was a trading centre. Several have been restored as hotels, which is the easiest way to see inside one.
Duration: ~2 hours
Praia de Sao Filipe
BeachA long black sand beach below the town, dramatic to look at and dangerous to swim: the shore drops away steeply and the undertow is strong. Locals use it for football and fishing rather than bathing, which tells you what you need to know.
Duration: ~1 hours
Fogo Neighborhoods
Where to stay and explore
Sao Filipe
Safe and quietColonial, well-kept, unhurried
The island capital, laid out on a cliff above the sea with two colonial squares and streets of sobrados, the two-storey merchant houses with wooden balconies that give the town its character. It has the airport, the ferry link and most of the island's hotels.
Price level: $$
Cha das Caldeiras
Safe; the volcano is monitoredExtraordinary, stark, resilient
The villages of Portela and Bangaeira inside the caldera itself, rebuilt on the 2014 lava after the flow buried the originals. Roughly a thousand people live here, farming vines and coffee in ash at 1,700 metres, and a handful of simple guesthouses take walkers.
Price level: $
Mosteiros
SafeGreen, rural, quiet
A small town on the green northeastern coast, where the trade winds bring enough moisture for coffee and fruit to grow. It is the wettest, greenest corner of the island and sees almost no visitors.
Price level: $
Food & Restaurants
Fogo grows more of its own food than any other island, and it shows. Coffee, wine, apples, goat cheese and beans all come from the caldera and the northern slopes. Sao Filipe has a small number of good restaurants; up in Cha das Caldeiras you eat whatever the guesthouse is cooking, usually with a bottle of the local wine on the table.
Must-Try Dishes
Cha wine
Made from vines grown in volcanic ash at 1,700 metres, sharp and mineral in the white.
Fogo coffee
Arabica from the northern slopes, roasted dark and served short and strong.
Goat cheese from the caldera
Made in Cha das Caldeiras and eaten young with bread and honey.
Top Restaurants
Sao Filipe sobrado hotels
$$Cape Verdean and Portuguese • Sao Filipe
Restored colonial dining rooms and island produce
Cha das Caldeiras guesthouses
$Home cooking • Cha das Caldeiras
Set dinners with caldera wine, at altitude, after the climb
Fogo Nightlife
Minimal. Sao Filipe has a few bars around the squares that fill on Friday and Saturday, sometimes with live music, and the annual Bandeira de Sao Filipe festival at the end of April turns the town over to horse races, drumming and drinking for several days. In the caldera, night is for sleeping before an early climb.
Best areas: Sao Filipe squares
Sao Filipe square bars
BarSao Filipe
A handful of bars with weekend crowds and occasional live music.
Shopping in Fogo
Wine and coffee, bought where they are made. The cooperative in Cha das Caldeiras sells bottles and beans directly, and Sao Filipe has a few craft shops. There is very little else to buy on the island.
Malls
Markets
- Sao Filipe market - Produce
- Cha das Caldeiras cooperative - Producer
What to Buy
Safety in Fogo
Fogo has almost no crime and the risks here are geological and physical. Pico do Fogo is a serious climb on loose ash at altitude, and people underestimate it every season. The volcano is active, last erupting in 2014 and 2015, and is monitored by the national observatory, which is the authority to heed rather than local rumour. The black sand beaches have severe undertow.
Safe Areas
- ✓ Sao Filipe
- ✓ Cha das Caldeiras
- ✓ Mosteiros
- ✓ All main roads
Avoid
- ✗ Swimming off the black sand beaches
- ✗ Climbing Pico do Fogo without a guide
- ✗ The summit once cloud has closed in
Safety Tips
- • Start the Pico climb before dawn; cloud usually covers the cone by mid-morning
- • Take a guide from Cha das Caldeiras, both for the route and because the community depends on it
- • It is genuinely cold in the caldera at night, well below what visitors pack for
- • Bring cash; there is one bank in Sao Filipe and nothing in the caldera
- • Do not swim at Praia de Sao Filipe, however inviting the black sand looks
Getting Around Fogo
Aluguer minibus
Shared minibuses from Sao Filipe around the coast and up to the caldera. Infrequent to Cha.
$3 to $10
Hired driver
RecommendedThe usual way up to Cha das Caldeiras and around the island, often arranged by the guesthouse.
$50 to $80 a day
On foot
The caldera villages and the volcano itself are walked, on ash and lava rather than path.
Free
Fogo Weather
Warm on the coast, cold at altitude, with the caldera often ten degrees below Sao Filipe
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| january | 25°C | 19°C | 5mm | Dry and clear on the coast, cold in the caldera |
| february | 25°C | 18°C | 3mm | Driest month, best climbing |
| march | 25°C | 19°C | 1mm | Dry, excellent summit visibility |
| april | 26°C | 19°C | 1mm | Dry and warm, Bandeira festival at month end |
| may | 26°C | 20°C | 1mm | Warm and dry |
| june | 27°C | 21°C | 2mm | Warm, cloud building on the cone |
| july | 28°C | 22°C | 10mm | Hot on the coast, cloud on the peak |
| august | 29°C | 23°C | 50mm | Rains begin, ash slopes soften |
| september | 29°C | 23°C | 95mm | Wettest month, climbing often impossible |
| october | 29°C | 23°C | 45mm | Rains easing, caldera green |
| november | 28°C | 22°C | 12mm | Clearing, good climbing returns |
| december | 26°C | 20°C | 8mm | Dry and mild |
How Many Days in Fogo?
2
Minimum
4
Recommended
5
Ideal