Gabriele Steindl: Professional Kitesurfer & Freelance Writer - Action, Lifestyle & Travels

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Kitegabi rocks windy Sal, Cape Verde

After a tough but very satisfying period of ‘strength- & endurance training’ in lovely Innsbruck, Austria, I was finally all set to leave my home country for warmer climates again!

For my first trip this year I chose a for me still ‘new’ destination  –  how exciting!!  –  and booked myself a ticket to Sal, Cap Verde, a group of islands in the Atlantic west of Africa. I was told, this place was one of the windiest spots at this time of the year and for the first two (out of three) weeks that I’ve been here now, I can only totally agree on that!

Cap Verde enjoys a very unique ‘flair’. A Portuguese colony for a few hundred years,  Cap Verde gained its independance in 1975. The country’s political past is partly reflected in today’s lifestyle, culture and people, however, with a strong African influence due to a huge number of immigrants mainly from Senegal and Gambia. True ‘Rastaman-Vibrations’  –  yeah, rastafaris with dreadlocks that they cultivated for decades 😉  everywhere  –   as well as a ‘Brasilian touch’  –  due to the language and geographical closeness of the countries  –  especially when it comes to  partying (!!), make Sal a special place to hang out!  I had the pleasure to be there during the ‘Carnival’ … 4 totally crazy days with the whole island dressing up, people singing and dancing in the streets and lots of Caipirinha  –  as opposed to the Brasilians and their ‘Cachaca’, the Cap Verdians are using their own local, super strong sugarcane schnapps  ‘Groque’ to mix it with lime and ice.

For the three weeks here, I rented a small studio appartment in Santa Maria, on the south shore of Sal, really close to the spot of ‘Ponto do Lleme Velho’, the beach where windsurf wave-worldchamp (2003) Josh Angulo and ‘Planet Windsurfing’ run their centres (windsurfing only!). Only a few minutes from the beach with enough space for me and my equipment, a terrasse where I could do my strength-workout every morning, and a hammock for some crucial chillin’ … just perfect … if there wasn’t that huge amount of six-legged uninvited friends who passed by rather frequently…!!? Well, you can’t have it all, right .. ? .. so I named my small, sweet home  affectionately ‘Cockroach-Mansion’. Yeah I really felt suuuper comfy there in Cockroach-Mansion .. except for the 8 days that I didn’t have any running water due to a water pump crash … well once again, you simply cannot have it all..!

The first three days of my trip, the wind was strong and I was only riding my beloved 7m2 Rhino6! Then the wind dropped a bit but the weather goods compensated that with some sweet swell. One unforgettably beautiful evening in ‘Ponta Preta’, the world famous wave spot in the west of the island, I could even watch a truly impressive session of Josh Angulo and Leewy Syver (apologies if the spelling is incorrect but I’m a kitesurfer after all!?) who were working on a new video, ripping the double-mast high waves until the sun vanished on the horizon into the Atlantic.

The island of Sal itself is not very spectacular. It’s basically just a hill of sand. Except for a few manually planted palmtress around the touristy parts of the villages and one already fairly dried out oasis, there is hardly any vegetation. Sand, wind, and lots and lots of sun that’s Sal. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the incredibly yummy and cheap fish!! Super fresh tuna- and barracuda steaks can be found for approx. 5 Euros. Whereas fresh vegetables and fruits are really rather pricey here … somehow logical, though, as everything needs to be imported  (mainly from South Africa) or have you ever seen vegetables and fruits growing in the desert?

I will be here for another 4 days … tomorrow the strong wind is forcasted to be back!!  Yeaaaah, I’m looking forward to be rockin’ with my 7m2 again :o)

Here a couple of shots from Sal.
Windy, kind regards from Cape Verde,
Yours Gabi

P.S.:  check out my ‘Spot Guide to Sal’ in the German edition of Stance Magazine and in Russian in Wave Magazine!