Quinhámel

Quinhámel is the nearest coast to the capital and the place people from Bissau drive out to at the weekend, a short run west through cashew orchards to where the mangroves open onto tidal flats and a scatter of beaches. A weaving centre in the town keeps the Pepel cloth tradition going and sells directly from the looms. Boats go out through the channels to a sandy island that appears and shrinks with the tide. Oyster women work the mangrove roots at low water. It makes for an easy half day out from the city.