My Town

I thought that maybe a few photographs of our town would provide you a backdrop to better imagine our tales from Santo Antão, Cape Verde.

This shot is taken looking up toward our town from the closest major city, Porto Novo. The climate where we live is dramatically different from the climate along the coast even though we’re only a few miles away. Our temperature on top of the mountain is sometimes a good 30 degrees lower and much more humid. On this day, the only cloud in sight happens to be sitting atop our town creating a dense fog. This weather pattern is common and accounts for the presence of a pine forest despite scarce rainfall.


This picture shows all but 2 of the houses in our town. The fortress-like structure in the middle is being built by a foreigner who hopes to open a hotel. Most of the homes in our community are made of concrete block with concrete roofs to protect families from the winter winds and passing fog. A few of the homes are made of stones with thatch roofs.

This shot is taken from the other side of the ridge shown in the last photo. Some days the clouds sweep through this volcanic crater so quickly that it feels like I’m watching a time-lapse video. You can see the neighboring island of São Vicent on the horizon. In this picture it almost looks like another cloud.

This scene is of the same crater looking in the opposite direction. I like to go for walks in this area in the afternoons or when I need time to myself. Each visit amazes me with something beautiful that I didn’t notice before. Wouldn’t you like to join me for a hike here? I can help you book a flight!



In our community, agriculture is practiced on steep mountain slopes. Scott really enjoys working with the men in the fields- especially since lunch is provided. While the guys were taking a break from preparing the ground for potatoes, Hortence got a call on his cell phone.

Chiquinha is bringing the men beans, rice, dried fish, and coffee for lunch. She has incredible balance and a neck made of steel. Of the hundreds of times that she’s carried meals in that basket, she’s proud to report that she’s never once let it slip from her head.

Meet Nazalie- quite possibly the most important person in town. She works 7 days a week as the clerk at our only store. In addition to the items you see in this picture, she has sacks of flour, rice, sugar, onions, and feed corn stashed behind the counter. On a good day after 2:00, she also sells fresh hoagie-like rolls driven in from Porto Novo.

Sometimes there are traffic jams on the town’s paths.

4-year-old Marylene is getting some water from the spring near our house. This spot is visited several times a day by most of the families in our community and is the only source of water aside from what is collected during a handful of rain showers each year. It is rare for a Cape Verdean community to have a source of fresh water. In most towns people must purchase desalinated ocean water from delivery trucks.

Well, that’s our town in a nutshell. I hope that these pictures have helped give you a better idea of what our community and the landscape of our new home is like. It’s pretty quiet, but we like the place.