Hike Monte Verde, São Vicente, Highest point, Natural Park

Amazing landscape and good view. The walk is not difficult as long as you wear walking shoes. Windy at top, bring your extra clothes.

Wednesday 23 July 2025 we went with Green Line Tours for the Hike Monte Verde on São Vicente. We were picked up at the hotel by Paulo (owner of Green Line Tours) and a driver. Along the way Paulo told us some (knowledge) about the island. The hike to Monte Verde was partly on a goat trail with, yes, from time to time goats and fantastic views. The last part of the hike was on a paved road. Paulo talked about the history of the island, about the way of life, arable farming (growing potatoes and vegetables), keeping goats, but also about the flowers and plants we encountered along the way, the birds and about the origin of Green Line Tours. It was a beautiful trip, doable in terms of pace and paths. It was very special to walk “through the clouds” at one point. You saw shreds of clouds coming and suddenly you were in the middle of it. Very special. At the top of Monte Verde is a small tea hut. There was a choice of local tea, coffee or a local alcoholic drink. After the refreshment we could either walk down a bit, or join Paulo's van. We chose the walk. We didn't have to walk the whole way back. At one point there was a taxi waiting and we were brought back (together with Paulo) to the hotel in Mindelo. We look back on a fantastic trip courtesy of Paulo who, through his infectious energy, enthusiasm and vast knowledge about Cape Verde, its history and culture, has made it a wonderful and interesting excursion. Dank Paulo! Koen & Annemieke

Expérience intéressante mais sans plus : la vue est spectaculaire mais très voilée. Nous avons choisi le créneau de l’après-midi et avons pas eu droit à la dégustation de thé et de grog prévue au programme, la personne en charge de cette dégustation n’étant tout simplement pas là

My husband and I took this hike as a shore excursion off of the Norwegian Viva cruise ship. We were docked in Cape Verde overnight and thought this would be a great way to see the island on the first afternoon/evening. Paulo, another guide and his driver picked us up right outside the cruise port gate, it super easy to find them as they were on time and easy to spot in the line up of taxis. There were two other groups from the ship also on the tour, so a total of 9 tour passengers in all. We drove to the base of the mountain and started our hike. I would say that it is definitely not for those with any sort of mobility issues, but was a moderate hike overall - the first part was the more difficult as we were winding through smaller mountain tracks, but halfway up we switched to walking up the cobblestone road. There was a sandy haze over the whole sky this day, but we could still see for miles and it was truly beautiful. Both Paulo and the other guide were excellent, lots of history was explained, gave us time for talking photos and made sure everyone was doing ok. The hike ended at the top of the mountain with a sampling of tea, coffee, island liquers, papaya jam and cookies. We then drove back down the mountain to our ship. *We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this tour company and would definitely use them again if we ever make it back to Cape Verde.

This was a lively morning hike with tea and biscuits at the end with great views of Mindelo. Paolo gave us so much background about the people and the island; we wished we had done the tour at the start of the holiday as it made us appreciate and understand the place so much better. Highly recommend!!

Do not pay 65€ for this trip ! Take in Mindelo at the African market an aluguer (little bus for locals) for 1€ to the base of the mountain and climb up 2,5 hours, down 1,5 hours. Than wait for a aluguer, taxi or hitch hike back to Mindelo !