Start & Finish: Visitor Centre, Salinas de Pedra de Lume
Distance: 4.3 km (1.9 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 35m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched: None
Cafes on route: Cafe at the Visitor Centre
Links: Cabo Verde, Sal, Pedra de Lume, Pedra de Lume Salt Mine

Visiting the Salinas (Salt Mine) at Pedra de Lume is a highlight of any day-trip around Sal Island in Cabo Verde. Most visitors to the island will be staying in or around Santa Maria and island day-trip excursions are easily found. We wanted a more private tour so we hired an English speaking taxi driver for the day for 60 Euros. For 2 people that’s not much more than the cost of joining a group tour. The roads to the Salt Mine are very poor and I wouldn’t recommend driving there yourself.

The Salt Mines are in the Pedra de Lume crater which is an extinct volcano. The salt evaporation ponds were built over a natural salt lake that formed through infiltration of water from the sea. The floor of the crater is below the sea level and is the lowest point in Cape Verde.

On the approach road to the Salinas you’ll pass Pedra de Lume village on the coast. There’s not been active salt extraction since the 1990s but you can still see the decaying buildings and equipment. The boat graveyard has the remains of the vessels that exported the salt out of the island. From the coast you can trace the route of the salt to the crater via the line of towers that carried the salt via cables.

There’s a small car park on the outside of the crater where you can access the interior via a tunnel. On the other side, at a lower level, is the Visitor Centre. Here you can find a café, shop, toilets and showers. Many groups visit to float in the salt pools. I was in 2 minds about doing it and probably would have if I hadn’t already has the salt floating experience in the Dead Sea in Israel. It was cold and windy when we were there so we opted for a circular walk of the crater instead.

The crater is around 900 m in radius and there’s a walking path of approx 3km around the salt flats on the base. From the Visitor Centre it’s best to start in an anti-clockwise direction. This north-easterly side has the clearest path and best signage. Although the path on the first half is very clear, the benches have seen better days. Some are intact, others somewhat dilapidated, and there’s information boards without information. When you get to the half-way point, just beyond the track from the Visitor Centre that bisects the salt flats, the perimeter path is much less clear. You can’t get lost though, just look out for the next bench (or remains of) and stay close to the outer edge of the ponds until your return to the start.

After the circuit we also walked half-way along the central path to get a closer look at the salt-flats. Our total walk in the crater, including the out and back from the car-park was around 5km.