Curral Velho Things to Do

4 more images

Curral Velho is an abandoned village close to the south coast of Boa Vista island, located a few kilometres to the east of Lacacao beach.

It was the first stop on an island tour that we undertook in May 2011. We left from the Riu Touareg hotel in an off-road pick-up truck and arrived at Curral Velho after a short but bumpy ride over sand dunes. You can also visit Curral Velho on quad bikes that can be hired outside the Riu Touareg hotel; it forms part of a 1 hour guided quad bike tour, although the prices of such tours are fairly expensive (more than we paid for a full tour of the island in a pick-up truck!).

Today, Curral Velho consists of a handful of unoccupied houses in various states of disrepair, standing behind a large area of salt pans and a beautiful unspoilt stretch of sandy beach. As we parked up in the pick-up truck, the location felt rather exotic – there were tall palm trees, glorious white sand and clear blue seas.

Our guide said that the village was previously occupied by a handful of fishermen and their families, but the last of them moved out around 25 years ago heading to other parts of the island, notably Sal Rei, where they would be closer to the market and the island's population centres. Apparently they still own the buildings but lack the funds to repair them.

As the south of the island continues to develop (for example with the opening of the nearby Riu Touareg hotel in May 2011, the new tarmac road connecting the south of the island with the airport at Rabil and the proposed development of Lacacao Golf Resort close by), maybe it will become economically viable to live there once more and the villagers, or their descendants, will settle the village again?

It seems unlikely that such an idyllic location will remain abandoned and unpopulated for too long, especially with the continued improvements to the island's infrastructure.