DESTINATIONS CAPE VERDE | ACTIVE RESORTS


Flight club


t travelweekly.co.uk


he wind is whipping at the purple parachute-style kite above my head. I’m trying to steer it, turning the bar in my arms slightly to the left and right, to


keep its strings taut. “I’m going to let go now,” warns Fabio, my


kitesurfing instructor, who has a caramel tan and muscular arms. He’s been guiding me, but within a second of him releasing the bar, I realise I’ve underestimated the power of the wind. I keep it in the air for 10 seconds, before it flops on the sand before us. “Good try” says Fabio, grinning. I’m in Sal, an island in the Cape Verde archipelago and one of the best kitesurfing destinations in the world – so good that it hosted the Global Kitesurf Association World Cup again last year. Fabio leads the watersports team at the newly


opened Robinson Club Cabo Verde on the island. Of the 25 German-run Robinson Clubs across the world, this one has the biggest watersports station, and 15 crew manning it. It’s plain to see why: year-round sun and breezy conditions between December and May are ripe for wind sports. “To learn to kitesurf, guests spend 10 hours with us


over three days, doing a mix of theory and practical,” explains Fabio. The best time to learn is between April and November, as the wind is lighter. There’s a


Within a second of my


guide releasing the bar, I realise I’ve underestimated the power of the wind


MOVERS AND SHAKERS Both on and off the beach, the Robinson Club Cabo Verde has sport at its core. Gym kit-clad guests can be seen power walking around the grounds, and the high-tech fitness centre runs classes every day from alfresco spin classes and TRX (total body resistance exercise) to aquafit in the pool and yoga on the beach. Classes are well led, with bubbly instructors explaining first in German, then in English. Guests can even wash their kit in the free-of-charge laundry room. The programme changes daily, and is packed


with sporting opportunities (catamaran sailing, beach soccer, scuba demos and more) and games (backgammon, bowls, chess and the like). There’s


² 26 MARCH 2020 31


Kavi Shah catches the breeze on a sporty break to new resort Robinson Club Cabo Verde


written test, after which you’re issued an international licence and can use the club’s GPS-enabled equipment without a fee.


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