Off on my bike : Sal

Wonder how and when this got here?

I arrive at Sal airport at 4am, not ideal, still it is 6am in the canaries so my body doesn't object to being awake too much.  Nobody seems to mind me dozing on a chair, and it isn't too long until a cafe opens, yay, coffee.  So, my flight is not 'til this evening, what to do?  I ask about tours of the island but no luck, the lady on information suggests a ten euro taxi to the tourist area / beach where my (cancelled) hotel is, hmm.  OK, looking outside I see an undulating plain of dirt and gravel, no sign of agriculture, no fences, few roads or obstacles in general - in other words I can walk wherever I want.  What's more I can see Espargo, largest town on the island, so off on two feet it is.

I did quite like it actually.

Little over half an hour and I'm there, not much of a place - dominant architectural style seems to be 'half built from irregular looking breeze blocks'.  I wander up to the viewpoint above town, lots of tourist buses up here, can see the sea to either side, this is not a big island I must say.  There's a town on the coast that I guess is Palmeira, another stop on the island tour I at least saw a map of at the airport, off I trot then.

Nice little place with a marina, people building boats and mending nets, oh look the big tourist bus has followed me... Plenty of bars here, quiet now, they look more set up for the evening when I can believe there's a bit of a party.  Still, I get a few local 'Strela' beers, and a proper lunch - well, back to airline food tonight.  Fresh fish, interesting thing with spines and sharp teeth, plus a hash of beans, maize and, oddly, bits of various meats.  All good, I rather like this place.  I play improvised shove ha'penny using bottle tops against one of the local kids, then it's time to get moving.

Boat building at Palmeira.

I walk along the coast, I saw a 'Monte Leão', that is Lion Mountain, marked on a map as this way, sure enough after an hour or two I am at the summit, fine views of the island and a good place to get a bearing on the airport from.  Well that was all fun, kind of sad I didn't have the planned three days here but what can you do.  Time to get on yet another aeroplane, last for a while at least.  Could do without the delay while they remove the luggage of a couple of passengers with 'documentation problems', but before long we're off, next stop Brazil!

Monte Leão summit.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.