Fogo Island: Hiking Africa's Most Active Atlantic Volcano
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Fogo Island: Hiking Africa's Most Active Atlantic Volcano

A 30-minute flight from Praia, Fogo is dominated by the 2,829-metre Pico do Fogo — an active volcano that last erupted in 2014, burying the village in lava and rebuilding on its own cooled slopes

  1. 1

    Pico do Fogo summit hike

    The 3-4 hour climb to the summit crosses the lunar lava field to the crater rim — active fumaroles, panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and the extraordinary geology of a mid-ocean volcano

  2. 2

    Chã das Caldeiras Lava Village

    The village in the caldera was buried by the 2014 eruption — residents returned to rebuild on the cooled lava; the ghost town of the old village visible under the new

  3. 3

    Fogo Wine and Coffee Estates

    The volcanic soil of Fogo's caldera produces Cape Verde's best wine and distinctive Arabica coffee — the Cha Cooperative's products are some of Africa's most unusual agricultural exports

  4. 4

    Mosteiros fishing village

    Fogo's old capital on the cliffs of the sea — dramatic black lava coast with Atlantic waves and one of the oldest fishing communities in Cape Verde

  5. 5

    Fogo Caldera Walk

    The Inner Caldera Walk circles the secondary cones of the main crater — a geological landscape of extraordinary drama with resident birds and the contrast of black lava and green vegetation

  6. 6

    The night sky in Chã das Caldeiras

    At 1,700 meters in the caldera, with no light pollution and clear Atlantic air, Fogo has some of the best stargazing in Africa — the Milky Way visible as a solid band overhead

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