Cape Verde
Ribeira da Torre
Sugarcane ripens under black basalt towers in a gorge that ends at a waterfall pool.
The valley narrows as it climbs, terraces of cane and banana stacked between cliffs, until a single rock tower stands over the village of Xoxo like a raised finger. Water moves through it all: along stone channels, down the riverbed, and finally over a mountain waterfall into a pool where locals swim.
Ribeira da Torre is the deep-cut sister of Paúl on Santo Antão's wet north-east coast, part of the same protected landscape as the Cova crater. Trade-wind cloud snags on its serrated ridges, and the moisture feeds a valley floor dense with sugarcane, bananas, coffee, yams and mango, farmed from terraces that climb slopes most farmers would refuse. The tower that names the valley is real: rock pinnacles rise straight out of the fields, the boldest of them above Xoxo. Paths here are steep, narrow and lived-in, connecting hamlets, a working grogue distillery and the waterfall at the valley's head. Guided walks link the pieces and end, on hot days, in the water.
Solo
Take a village-to-village route with local advice; the terraces, water channels and the Xoxo tower reward a slow, watchful walker.
Friends
Do the full valley on foot together, distillery stop included, and end with a plunge in the pool below the waterfall.
- Ribeira da Torre lies inside the protected park it shares with Cova and Paúl, one of Cape Verde's biodiversity strongholds.
- A towering rock outcrop stands over Xoxo, the valley's signature landmark.
- Terraces grow sugarcane, bananas, coffee, yams and mango on extremely steep ground.
- Valley walks pass a working distillery and finish at a mountain waterfall with a natural pool.
Valley walks call at a working grogue distillery; taste the cane spirit a field away from the cane.
Down in Ribeira Grande, Bellcantoo's kitchen runs from seafood spaghetti to its own named steak.
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