Cabo Verde (previously the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde) is an island group out in the Atlantic. As such it's exposed to winds, but had a surprisingly low count of windmills. As with many tropical islands, it had a sugar growing economy, so there are remnants of sugar mills on the islands.
Described as one of many in the valley, used for irrigation.
[photo]This mill appeared as a decorative attraction in the south west corner of the square Praça Marcelo Leitão. Pictures suggest it was there perhaps through to around 2015. However the square has been relaid out since, and no windmill has been included in the new layout.
It looks as if it was a (possible replica) of a viable pumping device, with 4 short stubby (almost square) solid wooden sails, driving a crankshaft and hence a reciprocating vertical beam pump. Such devices were once fairly common in the saltpans which occur throughout the island of Sal, especially in the south and north east of the island. Within the fence surrounding the mill there was an information board, which I assume carried more details about the use of windmills at the salina, but I have been unable to find a readable photo of this write up.Such mills were described in the 1980's in the publication Wind Energy Activities in Africa, Alan Wyatt and Sam Baldwin, 1982 thus
On the island of Sal there are approximately twenty saltwater pumping windmills made of wood. The wood, which is imported from Guinea, is used to make a 4-bladed rotor of 3 metres in diameter driving an iron crank connected to a piston pump, lifting sea water up about two or three metres. Sea water flows to evaporation ponds where the salt is collected. The same type of mills are used on Boa Vista for lowhead freshwater pumping for agricultural purposes. These mills are one of the few "indigenous" uses of windpower in Africa.[photo] [photo] [photo] [photo] [photo] [photo] [photo]
Another salt pumping windmill, photographed in 2011 somewhere in Santa Maria.
The salt pumping windmills are illustrated in various murals and logos around the town.
[photo]| Last updated 10/03/2025 | Text and images © Mark Berry, 1997-2024 - |
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