Enjoy your trip to Cape Verde to discover the salts of the island of Sal. Discover why the island of Sal is so named and let you float effortlessly in an extremely salty water!
The main attraction of this island of Cape Verde, the Sal Island Salines are an ideal day trip. From the capital Espargos located only 5 kilometers from the site, go to this former salt mine converted to a tourist site for a salt bath in the heart of a volcano crater. Guaranteed emotions!
History of the salts of Pedra Lume
Photo credit: Shutterstock / sofifoto
The island of Sal was first conquered by the Portuguese in 1460 was originally named Llana . It is part of the archipelago of Cape Verde, former Portuguese colony.
His name, the island owes him to Pedra de Lume . In 1833, Captain Manuel Martins began the exploitation of salt in a volcanic crater. With a soil installed at 7 meters below sea level, the crater is full of impressive amounts of salt! To facilitate entry and simplify salt extraction, a tunnel is then drilled.
At that time, it is the beasts that bind production. In parallel, a system of winches and pulleys facilitates the delivery of the salt cargo to the merchant port of Pedra de Lume. Thanks to a flourishing industry, the village then has a hospital, barracks for the workers and a refinery to treat salt extracted from the salts. The production is then transported abroad by boat.
La société française des Salins du Midi then took over the operation until 1975, the date of Cape Verde’s independence. During this period, Pedra de Lume is a real French enclave in Portuguese soil, with its own currency. The salt is shipped mainly to Europe and South America and then to Africa.
After 1975, the site became property of the Capverdian state. It is then sold to an Italian investor, the current manager. The latter decides to bet on tourism: it wishes to make the site accessible to the public, even if a small salt production is always extracted from the salts. Today, it is especially for the grandiose landscapes and the possibility of bathing in a heavily salted water that tourists come to visit the salts of Pedra Lume.
What to see and do in Pedra Lume's salines?
Photo credit: Shutterstock / Martin Minarik
Wood structures
After paying your right of entry, you will access the crater by a tunnel dug into the rock. At the outset, take a look at the wooden structures equipped with winches and pulleys that were used to route the production of salt out of the crater then to the village of Pedra de Lume, over 1100 meters long. This work shows the importance of the production that came out of the salts during the golden age of their exploitation.
The marshes
Then turn to the crater and discover the perfect grid of the salt marshes that fill it. Some take a pink, ochre or reddish color depending on the bacteria in it and the light that is reflected in it. The geography of the place gives the impression of contemplating a lunar landscape, ideal for a photo session. Small piles of salt scattered on the site testify to the small extraction activity that remains.
Walk around the site in search of the signs that recall the ancient prosperity of the place. Buildings and vehicles abandoned this and there plunge you into the effervescent atmosphere that animated the crater in the nineteenth century, much different from today’s calm.
The pool and massage center
A basin offers the possibility to swim, a must-see passage for anyone who comes to visit the salts on the island of Pedra Lume. As in the Great Salt Lake in the United States or the Dead Sea in Jordan, it is not possible to sink into this area of water with high salt content. Dive into the basin and let yourself float, almost sitting at the water level. An experience that attracts travellers who visit Cape Verde and remain engraved in the memories. Don’t forget to take a shower out if you don’t want to stay with a salt crust on the body for the rest of the day!
Close to the basin is a small massage center that also offers salt-based treatments and mud-covered wraps, whose benefits for the skin are famous to the inhabitants of the island. Among these treatments, choose the salt scrub that enjoys a real success.
Before you take the road to your accommodation, do not miss a detour to the village of Pedra de Lume. Although it is much more empty than at the apogee of the salt industry in the region, the remains and signs of the past prosperity of the region, such as the charming church, are still being guessed. Walk through the streets and admire the buildings with a surviving charm, then continue your walk along the beach for a pleasant moment out of time.
How to get to Pedra Lume's salines?
From France
The island of Sal is part of the archipelago of Cape Verde, a former Portuguese territory now independent, off the African coast. Its capital, Espargos, welcomes the unique airport of the island, Amílcar Cabral Airport, one of the main entrance gates of the archipelago.
From the airport you will need to borrow a taxi or a taxi aluguer , the collective taxis that fly to Cape Verde. For this option, count between 10 and 15 minutes to reach the Pedra Lume salines from the airport.
From Cape Verde
The salts are located in the village of Pedra de Lume, by the sea.
- By car/bus : you can connect the salts of the island of Sal from Santa Maria, the main tourist town of the island, in 30 minutes by the road.
- By boat : by boat, thanks to the port of Palmeira from the other islands of Cape Verde. Palmeira is a 15-minute drive from the Pedra de Lume salines.
How to visit the salts of Pedra Lume?
You can visit the salts of Pedra Lume by your own means, by quad or by car during a tour of the island of Sal. For more tranquility, engage one guide-heater during the day, which can explain the history of the place and make you discover the other curiosities of the island. Half a day seems sufficient to visit the salts on the island of Sal.
Timetables and rates of the salts of Pedra Lume
Photo credit: Shutterstock / PLRANG ART Artur Furmanek
HORARI
Sal Island Salines are open daily from 10am to 5pm .
RATES
- Entrance to the site : 5€ (550 cap-verdiens escudos).
- Shower : 1€ (110 cap-verdiens escudos).
- Care based on mud and salt between 12 and 20€
Council : Consider taking liquid.
BON A LEARN
– Prefer one morning visit, you may have the chance to see the workers working on salt. From 11 am, the place has more tourists, after the arrival of the buses of the tour operators. In the late afternoon, the site is empty again, the opportunity to be alone in the world.
- A little. bar-restaurant offers typical dishes and refreshments.
– Avoid swimming if you have small ones wounds or stripes on the skin.
– Provide for shoes suitable to go into the basin, the soil consisting of salt crystals that can be cut in places.
Loading comments ...