Cabo Verde Ribeira Trail 2026

Ready or not? 🤪

There's a good chance you don't know your destination today 🫣. We're taking you on a race to... Cape Verde 🇨🇻! Off the coast of Senegal 🇸🇳, Gambia 🇬🇲, and Mauritania 🇲🇷, this small island 🏝️ is the venue for the Cabo Verde Ribeira Trail, a race over several days with an incredible profile 🤩. Before you pack your bags, let us explain this fabulous event 👇.

Turn back, time record and ultra-trail enthusiasts: this race is a trail to be completed in stages 🧘. Imagine yourself with a group of 40 people 👫, selected and trained in advance for the occasion, on a course where you will be awestruck 👀. During 5 days of racing (but 8 days in total with the trip), you'll travel through Cape Verde, a region made up of different islands (ten in total) including two you'll discover during your exceptional stay: São Vicente and Santo Antão. Between sea 💦 and mountain 🏔️, this trail offers incredible panoramas 😍 as well as encounters with the inhabitants of Cape Verde. The country is characterized by numerous volcanic origin landscapes ☄️ and also by vast salt deserts, always impressive. On the island of Santo Antão, you'll get to see landscapes of sugarcane fields and banana plantations 🍌.

Two routes of 5 stages are offered to participants in the Cabo Verde Ribeira Trail race, there's something for everyone! 🙌 If you want to enjoy the scenery without worrying about performance, the 53 km (2,500 mD+ /3,400 mD-) can be completed by running 🏃‍♀️ or by walking 🚶‍♀️. You can also challenge seasoned trail runners and choose the 95 km (3,800 mD+ / 6,000 mD-) route, exclusively reserved for runners 🏃. Additionally, you'll quickly get into the swing of things as the first day 📆 of the stay is dedicated to exploring the environment and the organizers' briefing. If you're worried about embarking on this type of adventure, rest assured it's well-organized: apart from some muscle soreness, nothing will happen to you 🙃. But be cautious! You should have at least worn hiking boots once in your life, it's not a walk in the park ✋.

On your first hours in the capital of the island of São Vicente, Mindelo, you'll be amazed 😳. We are here in a city made famous by the singer Cesaria Evora 🎙️, still one of Cape Verde's international stars. You'll spend two wonderful nights 🛌 there! In the "To each their distance" section below, you can find more details about the five stages of the course and their specificities. On the menu are oases 🏖️, small villages 🏡, coastlines 🌊, volcanoes 🌋... A unique path awaits you, with some dizzying views to anticipate. You can check some images on the organization's website... Or not! It's your call to keep it a surprise! 🤫 For the record, in April, the climate is hot and dry, expect pretty hot and dry weather during the race 🥵.

Regarding language, you can travel at ease, you will find a way, no need for a dictionary: while the official language of Cape Verde is Portuguese 🇵🇹, most inhabitants speak Cape Verdean Creole 🇨🇻, and English 🏴 and French 🇫🇷 are taught at school 🤓.

Pass the boarding gate, and we'll see you at the other end of the world for a true adventurer's trail! 🌍