Alternative Travel Photography In Cape Verde

Personal Images In Cape Verde Through The Eyes Of A Alternative Documentary Photographer

As a professional documentary photographer, it would be rude not to take my cameras on family holidays, so when my family and I went to Cape Verde a couple of years ago, it was no different.  Ok, so we’re not the kind of family that does your normal package tour type vacation…we’re a tad more, free spirited and like to make our own way around the globe – only thing is, to get to Cape Verde…you need to go the package tour route.  I’m not going to lie, I super sulked when I realised this!! Moving on from my super sulk because the aircraft we would be flying in was not the comfiest I had become accustomed to (I know, I know…you’re probably thinking GET OVER YOURSELF, what a snob) but seriously, no inflight entertainment, no complimentary drinks and absolutely no leg room, WTAF????  I fought to save my space in the overhead storage so I could store my gear in there.  I’ll never complain about Easyjet or Ryanair again!! So….after 5 cramped, boring hours, we arrived in Boa Vista, Cape Verde and were herded like cattle onto the coach and transported to our hotel.  I FREAKING WELL HATE THIS KINDA SHIT…Argghhhhh, its total bollocks.  I did find one bonus about this though, we didn’t have a load of drop off’s at other hotels before we reached our destination. It was one and done! The roads were part roads and part dirt tracks, but I liked that, it all added to the authentic experience in my opinion.

What’s the point of this blog??

No point really…. I was looking for some other images the other day and stumbled across this set from a few years ago and thought it was a shame that these beautiful images from this unique, unspoilt place are never to see the light of day.  So, I thought I’d write a personal blog and show you some of my vacation images.  Whilst exploring Cape Verde I very quickly realised that this place was a budding African gem in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Tourism is in its infancy there and that, for me was the absolute number one attraction to it.  The sand was pure white and the sea was as blue as the sky, it was what the Caribbean always offers but often fails to deliver!! We spent the first few days ‘chillin’ and relaxing at the hotel, but it wasn’t long before we all got itchy feet and felt the need to start exploring the island for ourselves.  I mean, the all inclusive thing was nice and the hotel its self was lovely, but it gets seriously boring and ‘samey’.  There’s only so much ‘hotel’ food and drink you can consume before you’re bored shitless of the syrupy drinks, the crappy cheap wine and the tasteless fried food, so off we marched to find a taxi to take us to somewhere, anywhere else worth exploring.  And OMG, turns out this island once outside the walls of the hotel, is an absolute travel/street photographers dream.  We stumbled across a handful of the most amazing beach front restaurants and bars I have had the pleasure of visiting. They all had a totally chilled vibe and I honestly thought I was in the Caribbean. Most of them were Italian owned, so the food was exquisite…..the mojitos were pretty awesome too. Don’t expect taxi’s to be luxurious, they were mainly all pickup trucks with benches on the back….yep, you read that right. Turns out health and safety is not a thing out there….and I loved that about the place. It rustic beyond its means!!

Is Cape Verde Worth A Visit?

I don’t want to build up any false idealistic of this desolate place.  It is SERIOUSLY baron.  To be honest, I can honestly say it’s probably one of the most baron places I have ever been to….even more than the Mojave desert, and that’s saying something.  A 40 minute drive from our hotel to the main town of Sal Rei consisted of us passing through one small hamlet of houses, moon like volcanic landscapes, a cow on the side of the road and sometimes if we were lucky a lone guinea fowl…..and sand, a whole lot of sand that is the Viana Desert.  That being said, there was something really endearing about this place.  I sincerely connected to it straight away.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen stars twinkle the way they did in Cape Verde.  The people there didn’t seem to mind that I was a complete outsider, walking around their town with this oversized camera, snapping away at everything and anything.   I communicated the best I could and they never minded me capturing them. Their saying there was ‘No Stress’ and you’d often see it graffitied on walls etc. Capturing life from within the walls of this crumbling 19th century old colonial town was truly a humbling experience.  The buildings are the only evidence left over from a time best left in the past. These images are as true to life as can be and was not in any form from any touristy visitors centre, this was how it was in Sal Rei. This particular day was a Sunday, and the locals had just finished in church at the weekly service. I just loved how they all gathered together to chat, catch up and enjoy the rest of the day.. As I said before, tourism is very much in its infancy in Cape Verde so there are very few tourist shops ( you know the types, the ones selling the kinda crap you don’t need to take home, but you feel sorry for them so you find yourself ‘supporting local’ and buying your kids a bracelet to take home for their friends!!). So, yes….if you like to holiday outside the box and you’re not worried about being in the swankiest hotels with lots of souvenir shops, Cape Verde is most definitely worth a visit. The culture will inspire you to take your camera out and capture life just as it is….before it changes. It’s pure and raw….and just how I like it.

We decided to take a touristy trip around our local area, riding on some quad bikes within a small group (no biggy here, we’re lucky enough to have one of these bad boys at home, so we’re used to riding them off road around the farm).  This sounded like it should be fun, and we weren’t disappointed. We chose to support some of the local companies rather than the giant holiday corporations, so the tour company we used were based on the beach at our hotel. This was much better in my eyes as the groups they took out were much smaller than the tours the holiday company put on. We found they were far more personal and benefited us in that we got to see so much more. Parts of landscape on this tour reminded me of the film the Martian.  We pulled up at this small little village. Here we met David, he made us feel really welcome and showed us around his little store.  Sure, it was overpriced tourist type stuff, that if I’m being honest, I could totally do without.  I mean, I have enough crap in my house at the best of times, without the need for even more tat, but I like to support these local businesses that bust a gut trying to provide some sort of income for their families….so here I was, about to purchase more authentic shit that I didn’t need!! The local community came out to greet us and to entice us into their establishments.  They showed us around the tiny little dusty, hamlet, that had been obviously beaten by the hot desert sun…but hey, you know - ‘No Stress’.  Turns out I really enjoyed being in their company and they were incredibly genuine and thankful when we made purchases from them and this made me really happy to support these guys. Once we were done with this place, we carried on with the tour, weaving in and out of the tracks around the ‘moonscape’ and ended up at a beautiful area of sand dunes and then the beach. Along the way, we passed the occasional discarded vehicles abandoned in various locations, but this only added to the attraction of Cape Verde. We then headed back towards our hotel along the beautiful and very long, unspoilt beach. Most of the beaches in Cape Verde are vast, empty and totally unspoilt.  It’s the most perfect place to go for a photographer that likes to travel.  The colours are perfectly vibrant and the light was to die for. The people were also more than happy for me to take a photo of them, especially when I asked for their permission. I feel so privileged that I was able to visit and explore this uniquely amazing place.

I managed to spend a few hours capturing the kids playing in the sand dunes too.  I would love to think that this place will stay as it is, but with tourism the way it is in todays world, I can’t help but think that the landscape will be constantly changing with every future visit.

Cape Verde is made up of a collection of islands, so if you’re thinking of visiting this place….do some research on what the islands offer because it may not be everyones idea of the perfect vacation destination, but as an alternative photographer, it was the perfect place for me . Sal and Boa Vista are the main 2 vacation islands. We stayed on Boa Vista, so these images are all from there. With alternative documentary photography running through my veins, I would love to come back to capture more of what the islands offer. I loved going against the grain and moving away from the hotel to discover the real Cape Verde and not the tourist island that the holiday companies are trying to create. The image below was shot on the beach by the beach bar/restaurant that we discovered on one of our escapes from hotel life. It was called the Bahia Beach Bar and I highly recommend you visiting it if you get the chance. The mojito’s were cold and tasted soooooo good, and they had a swing in the actual bar - how freaking cool is that?!?! The kids enjoyed playing freely on this beach where there were hardly any other people around. This particular day turned out to be an awesome experience. The guys working at the bar (Bahia, The Beach), made us feel so welcome that we ended up staying for quite a while and into the evening….and just as the sun was setting a coach turned up and the well dressed passengers were ushered into another part of the bar. We asked the guys working at the bar if they wanted us to go as our attire wasn’t quite in line with the coach party (we were in our beach clothes still), but they were like, “hell no, stay” and heres a cocktail that the other guest are drinking. Just at that point a team of drummers turned up and started to set their drums up. There was a big fire pit by us, and within no time this was lit too. We started to chat to the drum crew and before long they were teaching me some of their rhythms (quite handy that my dad was a drummer in a band as I was able to keep a beat!). The bar didn’t mind in the slightest that we had gatecrashed the organised moonlight traditional African drum experience, and this only made me love the place even more. It wasn't long before the other guests joined us outside and we all enjoyed the traditional African spectacular they put on for us….and another mojito!!

I met some other photographers that were hired by the tour company to take images of the guests, and we got chatting about photography etc. They couldn’t quite get their head around that I had no flash on my camera and the type of image I was wanting to create when I shot the image below. I explained that my style of photography is on the alternative side of things, but i’m not sure they got what I was talking about. I wish I had got their contact details as I would have loved to have shown them the result….but due to the consumption of too many cocktails, I kinda forgot, so that was that…..Drink wisely kids!!

As our time in this awesome bar came to an end, we called for a cab. A Cape Verde style cape arrived and we all bundled onto the pick up truck with the seats in the back. The journey home was approx 45 mins, and cold!! As the wind blew through our hair we all looked up to the stars that were twinkling like diamonds in the sky. It truly is such a unique experience as the health and safety police would throw a complete wobbly if we were to do that here in the UK….although we do, do this when driving around the farm we live on (it’s private land so we can do this!!)

If you are willing to venture out beyond your hotel, Cape Verde can offer a whole different holiday experience. From uber chilled beach bars to gorgeously white sand dunes. The beach front restaurants were mainly owned by Italian people, so the food was divine, and again undiscovered if you just stay within the hotel complex for the entirety of your holiday. You must have an open mind to get the maximum travel experience from this place, but now is the perfect time to travel there simply because its not yet been destroyed by the holiday industry.

I have loved sharing my personal images within this blog. Please feel free to reach out and contact me if you’d like any further information on any of my photography services I can provide.

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