Santiago Tours Cabo Verde- Mar & Roch

We took the walk from Calabaceira (Baobab) to Cidade Velha with our guide Joanito from Mar&Rocha Travel Cabo Verde. It's an easy and very interesting route from a historical, sociological, and botanical perspective. Cidade Velha is the current name of Ribeira Grande, the first European colonial settlement in the tropics. It preserves some of its buildings, as well as two churches, the pillory, and a royal fortress. It's quite remarkable that at the start of the route, which runs along the Ribeira Grande, stands a calabaceira, a baobab tree, over 600 years old, predating Cidade Velha itself. The path follows the course of the river (which used to flow above ground) and in August it's a vibrant green that contrasts sharply with the arid surroundings. Joanito explained this and much more about Father Nicolau and the island's endemic species with a great sense of humor. We laughed a lot, by the way. So we decided to do it again and did the trek from Ruiz Vaz to Longueiro and the one through Serra Malagueta with Mar&Rocha. Joanito joined us on all three hikes, and we learned a lot about the nature, customs, and people of Santiago Island, all while having a great time and joking around with everyone we met. Fantastic.

My husband and I just returned from a wonderful trip organized directly with Joanito, owner of the local agency MAR&ROCHA. We're two travelers who usually organize everything ourselves, but this time we wanted to try an organized tour with services and a Spanish-speaking guide (Joanito himself). We trusted the excellent reviews we'd read about MAR&ROCHA, and we couldn't have made a better choice. We organized everything before departure. Joanito booked the ferry and return flight to Fogo, small family-run hotels (as requested), trekking tours based on our requests/needs, and communication was perfect and fast both via email and WhatsApp. Joanito is a loving young man, only 22 years old, but he has a great knowledge and love of his homeland. He's very knowledgeable, always punctual, and in addition to Portuguese, he speaks fluent Spanish, English, French, and good German, and will soon start learning Italian as well. We traveled together for eight days between Santiago and Fogo and had a wonderful time, with walks, trekking, tastings, swimming in the sea, laughter, lunches at local restaurants, and wonderful conversations. We visited beautiful places, such as Praia, the Calabaceira Valley, Cidade Velha, Rui Vaz, Sierra Malagueta, and Tarrafal. Joanito is always present but never intrusive. As soon as we finished our excursions, there was always a car waiting to take us back to our accommodations and Joanito back to his house (because Joanito always returned home in the evening to leave us free to enjoy our own space), except in Fogo, of course. Joanito can organize anything, based on your needs and desires, from simple walks to more challenging treks, from overnight stays with a family to high-end hotels. He's always full of smiles and ready to share stories and anecdotes about Cape Verde. A tip: don't miss Fogo Island. Hi Joanito, we hope to see you soon. Annalisa

Best local guide!!! Leo made a great island tour, showing us the most interesting points and stories of the island, passing through both coasts, and from Praia to Tarrafal. He is a nice person, speaks good English, and is an excellent guide! The driver was also very nice and polite. We definitely recommend to take a tour with him, that definitely made a difference on our visit to Santiago

A superb morning tour with Joanito. He conveyed his passion for his island; we highly recommend him.

Hello everyone! The service was perfect, timing-exact, the guide was very flexibale-trying to show all we wanted to see and more, speaking good English, knowing his country history and actual events, familiar with nature and culture. Was very nice and complete experience! Higly recomendrd company!