The Santo Antão grogue makers

I ramble the hills and valleys of Santo Antão, the westernmost island of Cape Verde archipelago. The island is a pearl of natural beauty. Hidden in the canyons are palm groves and tropical vegetation.

The road winds along the slopes and I choose to not open the map. Sometimes I meet people working on the fields. The villagers are mostly friendly. When asked to pose for a portrait, they mostly smile and accept.

Waiting for the collectivo (shared taxi), I am confronted by a group of local farmers who instantly invite me home.

The local product is grogue (grogo, groga), a strong alcohol distilled from sugarcane. This is what they make here. I am invited for a glass of grogo and then another one and then one more...

My hosts are Domingos and his son Davide. I ask Davide about his medallion on his neck. The engravings represent two persons dearest to him, his mother and sister.

We walk to the factory. Inside is “trapiche”, the sugarcane press. The sugarcane is pressed through to produce cana, the sweet molassy juice or syrup. It will later be fermented and distilled into grogue.

I leave after a few hours spent together and perhaps a litre of grogue emptied in good company. Walking is hard… I hitchhike and luckily quickly a collectivo stops and gives me a lift.

The people here in Santo Antão are among the most friendly and peaceful folk of all the countries I’ve seen worldwide. Somehow they resisted being spoiled by tourists - even though I meet numerous foreigners, I find no trace of greedy commercialism in the attitude of the locals.

But something casts a shadow over the idyllic situation.

I notice the only product of the island is alcohol. Santo Antão is considered the granary of Cape Verde, where most of the fruit and vegetables are made. Yet, the majority of the green area is covered by sugarcane, and sugarcane is here to make grogue. I later did some research on this. Will write more.