Cape Verde
Sand Origin
Sal, Santa Maria
Random Sand Fact
In Cape Verde, sand has held an entire ship in place for more than fifty years.
A Spanish cargo ship ran aground on a sandbank off the island of Boa Vista. The hull was undamaged, but the sand would not let go. Every attempt to pull the ship free failed, and why it ran aground has never been revealed.
The cargo had to be carried ashore by hand. Almost the whole island helped, day after day, like a procession.
The ship stayed. The beach took its name, Cabo Santa Maria, and the rusting wreck is now the island’s best-known landmark.
