Amazing Quest: Stories from Cape Verde | Somewhere on Earth: Cape Verde | Free Documentary

[Music] somewhere on earth is off to discover cape verde an archipelago of 10 or so islands situated in the atlantic ocean 600 kilometers off the coast of senegal ten little worlds whose sole natural riches are their mountains and their deserts lands of stone and sand tormented by the winds and currents george lives on sao vicente just across the water from a couple of uninhabited islands they are a sanctuary a last refuge for rare and endangered bird species george and his brother are committed heart and soul to protecting these secret gardens santa anto is the island mountain deo knows the island's every path and trail because he's hiked them all from the harsh mineral desert to the lush tropical vegetation this island is a land of contrast child of the wind and waves mitu is a kiteboarding champion the ocean is where he lives and plays he grew up in sal and his island has now become one of the world's favorite spots for surfing sports sometimes i come here on my own and there's not a single person no noisy cars nothing and i think this is incredible this is something money just can't buy this is natural and it's mine it's great [Music] set down in the ocean lost out in the vast expanse of the atlantic the creole islands of cape verde possess an air of mystery up until the 16th century the archipelago didn't even figure on the charts and we don't know who really discovered them first the arabs or the portuguese the archipelago is made up of ten islands nine of them inhabited plus a few eyelets dark volcanic rocks exposed to the waves and currents each island has its own shape its own story each one of these worlds is separated from the others by kilometers of open sea often impassable on windy or stormy days the inhabitants so often cut off from each other and from the rest of the world have learned to rely on themselves [Music] sao vicente is one of the most arid of the creole islands of cape verde a volcanic barren island with sparse vegetation still george has found his place in life on this island here where he lives in close contact with the fishermen these cape verdean fishermen who scanned the ocean on the lookout for schools of tuna when i first got here there was no electricity no telephone no cell phones for years i lived on my own without electric lights but i was happy because i was part of the fishing community the most important thing is to be close to the sea close to the people and doing your best to help them the village where george lives is surrounded by volcanoes lava and stone silks that george never tires of exploring [Music] everything that makes this uh a mythical spot for many people the vienna volcano is even a mystical spot [Music] a lunar volcanic landscape here on sao vicente where george lives it never rains or almost never it's a stark island that vibrates with raw wild beauty [Music] [Music] only the skies that blanket it know where it is from afar you'd think it were uninhabited abandoned by mankind on the count of its extreme hostility [Music] from his house george can see the island of santa luzia in the distance with only 35 square kilometers it is one of the smallest of the cape verde islands it's also what gives george's life meaning [Music] santa lucia is one hour by boat from sao vicente an hour in good weather because when the sea gets rough the channel becomes impossible to cross [Music] as a child george would watch the fishing boats making for santa lucia full sails ahead that's when the island became a dream for him like a promise for the future [Music] when george was fifteen years old he finally did go to that island with his parents when he first set foot on this land he was wonder struck yet he had no idea that this little scrap of land would play a major role in his life [Music] santa luzia acts like a magnet to seafarers some have even tried to settle there to raise cattle in vain too far from everything lacking water and resources one by one the settlers vanished the island had gotten the better of them but we didn't get much today so far this is a good spot there are fish here so we fished this area for four five six days then we head back we all sleep on santaluzia even if it's cold and even if we're getting rained on [Music] as it has always been in the evening the fishermen find shelter here on the beach of santa lucia [Music] [Music] they'll sleep right on the beach [Music] with no news of the world that's in such a state autopsy derby far from the political rankings this peace and quiet makes you feel as if you were on another planet is completely separated from the troubled worlds of africa europe and asia with the wars and famine here you're in a cocoon and i like to savor those moments [Music] this is a great place i leave the island on saturday and i come back on monday and it's always a pleasure to come back here tonight i especially like it when the sea is calm [Music] there's a nice beach where we can land and it's a free space but it rains sometimes and that's too bad because things are harder then but usually there's no problem i've never left this place in fact it's my life you know silver is the skipper of a fishing boat he's one of those sailors who has learned how to live with the sea rather than buckling under to it and he does devote all his time to it the fishermen patch their sails with rice and flower sacks we try to use the sail as much as possible rather than the motors the best sacks are the blue ones they last a good three years the white ones on the other hand no more than six months sometimes you just have to redo the sail completely otherwise little pieces keep ripping away and you lose too much time patching [Music] as soon as the sea is calm enough george sets out to meet his brother zay this morning he'll pass by the island of santa lucia and head for the outer reaches of the archipelago towards razzle a tiny eyelet cut off from the rest of the world that's where his brother zay a rabid nature lover comes to stay several times a year now they are both wholly dedicated to protecting this timeless spot george is proud of razzle thanks to the efforts of the two brothers this zone has been declared a protected area a closed reserve for rare animal species it's the refuge and breeding grounds of an endangered species found nowhere else the cape verde sheer water known here as the kagara practica eating kagara chicks is a custom that dates back to the 19th century from the time when ships portuguese would sail through here the sailors of the time would eat these birds on their way out to india or to brazil brazil it's an old custom it's difficult to change people's mindsets to its great detriment this bird has the reputation in sailors lore of being an aphrodisiac like rhinoceros horn or shark fins and of curing certain elements george is fighting these long entrenched beliefs in order to save the sheer water meet zay george's brother he has come to check on an alcatraz chick another species that thanks to him continues to flourish and fly on these few square kilometers of land zay enters into a different dimension it's something that's very difficult to explain because what i feel is a connection with the very forces of creation for me it's like touching god life itself [Music] the battle these two brothers are waging seems to be turning to their favor the colonies of birds here are growing each year [Music] this kaggara that zay's banding flew here from argentina to lay one single egg it was wounded when they rescued it he fed and cared for it these birds eat only raw fish so every day they had to chew up whole fish and regurgitate them into its beak [Music] how much money do i make with this work zero is to nurse a dying bird back to health it's worth all the gold in the world at that moment nothing on earth can match the happiness i feel coming into razo there's nowhere to beach so george moores his boat and dives in to meet his brother on this island of birds our parents passed on to both of us [Music] we're trying to pass and the work has to go on [Music] [Music] [Music] george and his brother have brought this very fragile bird to razo a kuruka a small barn owl george and zay rescued it when it was a month old and nursed it back to health and today they're releasing it like any wild animal that hasn't learned from its parents when it hasn't grown up in the wild and it has never flown like this one here when nobody has taught i think its chances of survival are close to zero bye go on bye go on play this is your big chance [Music] zay sleeps on the cliff with the birds he's one of the family [Music] so finish i'm happy 100 happy no ifs ands or buts influence unfortunately few people attain this happiness and that's because all their lives they just keep striving to accumulate material goods why does i think nature's greatest gift is being able to do something that you truly love not for the money but because you feel good when you as long as there are men like george and zay birds will continue to fly [Music] [Applause] [Music] at the western edge of the group of islands lies santo antow an island mountain a citadel of steep cliffs it's one of the highest islands of cape verde the inhabitants here are more turned towards the interior than towards the sea it's the most fertile island of the group but up on the high plateau it's practically a desert [Music] grew up in a family of farmers in the southern french alps his ethnology studies took him to africa to mali and that's where he first became interested in cape verde it was the music of the islands that caught his attention [Music] teo has spent the past 10 years exploring these islands one after another he fell in love with one of them santo antao it's dangerous here i'll show you how to get across you have to go slowly it's slippery [Music] i know it's a bit selfish but i feel very lucky to be here in cape verde you fly from boa vista very arid island in an hour you're on sal vicente which is totally different than an hour by boat and you're on santo antow you've gone from arid dunes to lush tropical valleys you'll find all that on a smaller scale you walk just a few hours and you're on the arid side then you pass over wooded peaks you go down into a lush valley where there's lots of water with banana and coffee and guava trees and you can wind up on the arid cliffs overlooking the sea and black sand beaches it's a characteristic of all the cape verde islands and this one in particular because it has such marked contrasts [Music] teo got it right this island has given him the life that he loves and loves to share with others [Music] these valleys with their rich savers and aromas that descend all the way to the sea are called ribeiras these trails have been carved right into the cliff face a long winding series of twists and turns that connects the inhabitants on santo antow walking is not a pastime but a necessity there are very few roads in cape verde so a good part of the population lives at a fair distance from the roads and many of the valleys mountains and landscapes are accessible only by foot i'm lucky because i've always liked clamping about ever since i was a kid and i've always been curious to go see what's over the next crest what it's like on that peak it's quite natural for me these trails all lead to remote villages or a few inaccessible farms sugar cane yams mangoes papaya the people here work the land they reclaim farmland from the mountain this is where maria tita lives over time she and teo have become friends i was born raised and married here my children were all born here and i love this place you have the peace the smell of the water the calm it's a good life the problem is the trail we're far from everything i'm happy here and i'll stay as long as i can but when i don't have the strength to tackle that path anymore then i'll have to leave that trail is really a tough one thelma and marlene have different plans for the future these two architecture students want to become guides teo is teaching them a business full of promise here and a way to share their country they'll have to learn how to read these steep trails for none of them is marked [Music] there are only a few it's fairly arid and it's pleasant here because you don't run into many people it's a stark mineral landscape with a lot of wind this is a fabulous spot you get the feeling of wide open spaces you feel that there are no limits it's all very open and you can roam wherever you want you see this mountain you follow this path here we're right here it's marked 300 meters maybe we could cut across here no no no no no no this mountain is much too dangerous we don't even try we have to go this way or this way who would say freedom doesn't mean having no constraints it means having the constraints that you like that you value and accept that's how it is for me the constraints of my work aren't really constraints because it's something i love doing i'm in my element i feel free and that gives me great satisfaction [Music] do i really like this stretch because we started out in a fairly green valley then we crossed a very arid zone and here we are again coming into a totally different landscape with a lot of green grass crops and water and further on you can see the beach the sea you can experience so many contrasts in a single day's hike it feels like you're crossing three or four different countries that's what i like about this island [Music] it's really great we hiked quite a bit today we discovered a lot of spots we were lucky to make it here and to cook some food plus we get to enjoy a sunset like this one when i arrived here there were very few k guardian guides you can count on they want to stay here and if there's a way to do that then they'll seize that opportunity what's quite gratifying is that the profession of guide is new here and it's great to take young people who don't know anything at all about it and to get them started in the right direction but we can't teach them everything because we don't know it all ourselves [Music] [Music] it really moves me it's stunning i want to capture it forever on canvas deo thelma and marlin are coming up to the tarafal valley not too long ago this corner of the island was completely isolated forgotten more easily accessible by the sea than by land tarafal is a testimony to the hardships of life here in cape verde all through the islands there's an ongoing struggle for water centuries ago the farmers channeled the mountain springs to their terraced plots and thanks to this traditional irrigation system they can still grow fruit and vegetables today there's not much land but we do have water there are the mountain springs so they've just built this to grow yams this is how they irrigate and it works just fine this is a mountainous island the clouds get caught it rains in the mountains then the pipes bring the water down to irrigate the valleys below that's why the valleys are so green striking to see how arid the plateaus are a real desert and when you arrive here and you see the deep greens it's just so pretty in the sunlight so wonderful there's no cell phone coverage here you're isolated on your own and if you come here after a hard week's work it's simply magic is really at the end of the earth this is teo's favorite spot he's even planning to get himself a little fisherman's cabin here [Music] aside from the landscapes the beauty of the country itself so full of contrasts where nature is still so unspoiled the special thing of cape verde is its people full of enthusiasm full of the joy of living and with a deep sense of hospitality and generosity that you hardly find in other countries or any case not the way you find it here because these are very often simple folks but they're willing to share everything they have even if it's very little two bananas or a piece of goat's cheese [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] the thing about kite surfing is that you're in direct contact with nature when you put your hand in the water you touch the water you feel the wind blowing and then when you jump you're suspended in the air you listen to the wind and the breaking waves and that is such a thrill it's my drug then after in the evening you're so tired you sleep like a log and then you wake up to the waves the wind and the kite [Music] [Music] [Music] the island of sal is in the easternmost part of cape verde it gets its name from the abundant salt deposits found here [Music] nothing grows here on the island it's dry flat barren desolate it was the last island settled because man was not welcome here [Music] the trade winds blow here 10 months a year they stir up the ocean and seem to want to reshape the island to make it even more inhospitable [Music] in the center lies a desert of dust the constant winds carry sand from the sahara and deposit it in this stark wasteland the inhabitants live turned towards the ocean and the waves this is the favorite playground of the young cape verdeans sal with 350 days of sun a year the waves and the trade winds is known as the hawaii of the atlantic [Music] well first off my name is montero that's my real name but here in santa maria everyone calls me mitu montero i was born in cape verde on the island of sal and i grew up here kite surfing is metoo's passion it's a sport that combines the force of the wind and the power of the waves meetu 28 is two-time world champion and thanks to that he has traveled the world at first glance kitesurfing seems like a simple sport but it is in fact very subtle an interplay of kite and slipping along the surface of the ocean wow the swell's getting bigger look at that wave i was competing abroad i was in peru and in mauritius then i spent some time in italy but i wanted to get back to my little island and just kind of chill out now i want to hit the waves for the past four days there hasn't been enough wind so i went surfing and did some fishing but now i'm itching to get back into the water then i stabilize the kite and i start to surf the wave i'm doing two sports at once kiting and surfing [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] for me kite surfing means freedom you're listening to the sounds of the sea the waves a fish jumping there's nothing else like it it's total freedom i think this is simply paradise it's hot you can get the sun the water's warm you have the wind the waves all the conditions in the world right here on this little island i don't have to take a ten hour flight to get to a spot fly two hours for another spot here within five minutes i have the best conditions in the world and brazil is over in that direction there you have it [Music] surfing sports a lifestyle that draws the enthusiasts together whatever their culture when jerome landed in sal 20 years ago he realized right away that this was where he would be able to live out his passion for the sea jerome is now metoo's surfing partner and no longer a stranger on these lands swept by the tradewinds yes he was one of the pioneers of surfing in cape verde and he never left like many he was spellbound by the raw beauty of the islands it's really wild perfect you have the sun the water's beautiful and even at this time of year it's still warm this is going to be just great when jerome arrived here he was a windsurf instructor and he's the one that gave me my first windsurf board he's a great friend and we go surfing together we do all these sports together hitting the water nearly every day is like a daily baptism for me it's a necessity a very deep passion okay you always have to be ready to fulfill your passion because if an opportunity presents itself you have to be there to seize it it may not be there tomorrow and we neither for that matter [Music] the island of sal was totally unknown in the 1980s a few surfing and windsurfing buffs who just happened on this spot found that it had ideal conditions for those water sports sun wind and waves [Music] they were the first to cut the waves in the waters off cape verde [Music] me too was drawn to the ocean right from his early childhood when he was eight he picked up an old abandoned board and set out to challenge the waves in his hunger for excitement he went out and learned on his own [Music] oh [Music] yeah there's no hassle here that's for sure you have the sound of the waves and the wind that's it total freedom it's too good to be real it's excellent when kite surfing came along it changed metoo's life thanks to him his hometown santa maria has become a must on the circuit for surfing enthusiasts of all kinds now he teaches kitesurfing to the children of his village but when learning he instinctively discovered the basic gestures and moves necessary to master this sport but without technique or experience it was sometimes a school of hard knocks once i took the sail kite and went out on the water i did a few runs back and forth smooth as silk and then the sail collapsed into the water and i had no idea how to get it back up into the air so i'm heading out to sea and the lines are getting all tangled up it took me two hours to swim back to shore and when i got back to the beach i was dead and i had this huge tangle of spaghetti i was trying to untangle it for three hours and i just wanted to take a knife to it but all that was positive it gave me experience it's this experience that metoo would like to transmit to these children of his island and even beyond he feels the need to share this school of life with them [Music] there are no rides or merry-go-rounds so mitu introduces the kids to his strange kite [Music] that's where i get all my energy every time i'm out there kiting or surfing when i catch a wave it gives me a charge of energy and that makes me want to live even more it's something really good it's very natural it's hard to explain you have to experience it sometimes you're in the water and you see this orange sunset the sun's sinking into the water and sometimes i come here on my own and there's not a single person no noisy this is something money just can't buy this is natural and it's mine it's great for me too the waves have been his road to freedom now he has acquired the wisdom of world travelers and he knows that his greatest riches are right here on his island in the middle of the atlantic [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), somewhere on earth, amazing stories, amazing stories from Guatemala, amazing quest, Guatemala

Id: rL2Slu4-inw

Length: 52min 6sec (3126 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 17 2022