The Deserto de Viana is a field of spectacular sand dunes in the northwestern interior of Boa Vista — the most dramatic landscape the island has to offer. The dunes shift and reshape with the wind, and the colours change dramatically through the day from pale gold at midday to deep amber at sunset. A small oasis of date palms in the middle of the desert adds an incongruous but welcome note of green.
Walking to the top of the highest dunes gives views across an empty, almost Saharan landscape with the ocean glinting in the distance. The site is reachable by 4WD or quad bike from Sal Rei in about 20 minutes.