☰Sao Filipe

The main reason most people come to São Filipe is to climb, or at least to approach, Pico do Fogo. At 2,829 metres, it is the highest peak in Cape Verde and one of the most active volcanoes in the Atlantic — the last major eruption was in 2012, when lava flows destroyed most of the village of Portela in the caldera of Chã das Caldeiras. The villagers rebuilt in the same spot, on the same lava field, between the old solidified flows and the new ones. Whether this is stubbornness, pragmatism, or something like faith is a question the place asks without answering.

Shared taxis (aluguers) leave from the main square in Sao Filipe for Chã das Caldeiras, the settlement inside the ancient outer caldera that surrounds the active cone. The drive takes about an hour and climbs steeply through farmland and then through the bare, dramatic interior of the island. From Chã das Caldeiras, the hike to the summit of Pico do Fogo takes three to four hours in each direction — fit walkers can do it in a long day, returning to Sao Filipe by evening. A guide is strongly recommended, both for navigation and because local guides from the caldera village offer context that no guidebook can replicate. The views from the crater rim, on a clear day, extend across the entire southern Cape Verde archipelago.

By air: São Filipe Airport (IATA: SFL) is a few kilometres outside town. TACV (Cabo Verde Airlines) operates flights from Praia on Santiago, the main hub; the flight takes around thirty minutes. Schedules are limited, so book ahead, especially around local holidays.

By ferry: Inter-island ferries connect Fogo to Santiago (Praia) and to the other southern islands. The ferry terminal is at Vale de Cavaleiros port, about three kilometres north of the town centre. The crossing from Praia takes four to five hours depending on sea conditions. From Vale de Cavaleiros, a small ferry also serves Brava island — about an hour across open water.

Getting around: Shared taxis (aluguers) run from the main square to destinations around the island, including Chã das Caldeiras inside the caldera of Pico do Fogo. Agree on the fare before you get in. For the volcano trip, the aluguer fills up when it fills up — there is no fixed departure time. Hiring a private taxi for the day gives you more flexibility. The town centre itself is compact enough to walk.

Sao Filipe rewards the slow traveller. The town's colonial core is one of the most intact in Cape Verde, built from dark volcanic basalt and painted in faded ochres and blues. The sobrados — the two-story mansions of the old landowning class — line the streets near the church and the main square, their wrought-iron balconies overhanging the narrow lanes. Walk in any direction from the central praça and you'll find architecture that feels genuinely old, not restored or prettified. The pace is unhurried, the scale is human, and the volcanic cone of Pico do Fogo dominates the skyline to the north as a permanent reminder of where you are.

The town sits on a bluff above the Atlantic, and on clear days you can see Brava island floating on the horizon to the south-west. There's a covered market worth a morning, a municipal museum in a restored sobrado, a handsome parish church, and a cliff walk with the best views in town. But the real draw for most visitors is what lies beyond: the caldera of Fogo, an hour away by shared taxi, where a village rebuilt itself in the lava field left by the 2012 eruption. Sao Filipe is the place to sleep, eat, and get your bearings before heading up.