Visit to the Ilha Selvagem Grande
Nusquama Sailing Blog
Fri 25 Aug 2023 18:26
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Crew (Patrick, Susannah, Rupert, Peter and Carina), we set off to our next uninhabited group of Islands on the way to Gran Canaria - the Selvagens. We anchored in the Ensenada das Cagarras which is the home to the largest colony of Cory’s Shearwater in the
world. Again we needed a permit to anchor, which came with a compulsory tour of the island. Crazy and wonderful place - an amazing mid-ocean anchorage. The wardens and maritime police are there full time for 21 days. They have a pretty solitary existence
but helped with copious quantities of wine from various scattered wine boxes. Our tour from Carlos the nature warden was excellent - lots of birds and lizards. The police presence was strange - it felt a bit like the Las Malvinas/Falkland Islands situation.
The islands are closer to the Canaries (Spain) and yet owned by Portugal. To Spain they are mere ‘rocks’, to Portugal an ‘inhabited outpost with significant importance for the natural world’.
We all got on so well that Patrick invited the entire population of the island (3 people) back to our boat for a glass of whisky and in return Patrick got to try out the fitness apparatus.
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