A brief introduction into Cape Verde (Video)

Cape Verde, officially named the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country, consisting of an archipelago of ten volcanic islands, 350 miles off the West African coast out in the central Atlantic Ocean.

When Portuguese explorers originally discovered the islands in the 15^th century, they were uninhabited.  The explorers soon saw how useful the perfect positioning of these islands could be for the African slave trade.  Unfortunately, the positioning also attracted a mix of pirates and privateers.

Among some of the more famous visitors to arrive on the islands are Sir Francis Drake in the 1580s, and Charles Darwin’s expedition made a stop there in 1832.

As the slave trade gradually lost popularity, the Cape Verde islands became more settled and that excellent positioning now came in handy again, this time for supplying visiting ships, as the islands were located within the major shipping lanes between Australia, India and Europe.

Up until 1975, when Cape Verde achieved independence, the islands remained a colony of Portugal. For many years, salt mining was a popular industry, but these days, the salt is mainly used locally and the Cape Verdean economy is mostly service-oriented with an emphasis on foreign investment and tourism.

Despite a lack of natural resources on the islands, Cape Verde has been praised as being an example among the African nations for its great stability and developmental growth, taking second place only to Mauritius on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIGA) in 2014.

The islands enjoy an excellent, year around climate, with warm and mild temperatures, and offer an amazing range of different landscapes, with mountainous scenes, forests, volcanoes, excellent white and black sand beaches, seasonal floral displays and deserts.

Cape Verde also has a fascinating cultural wealth, and the music of the islands includes the famous “Morna” music and dance, made internationally famous by Cesária Évora. Popularly known as the “Barefoot Diva,” as she preferred to perform without shoes, Évora has also been dubbed the "Queen of Morna.” Other famous performers from Cape Verde include Ildo Lobo and Nelson Freitas.

Morna is a rather melancholy song-form, normally sung in the local Creole language or in Portuguese.  The music is a mix of Brazilian, Caribbean and Portuguese influences. Morna is usually accompanied by the cavaquinho, clarinet, guitar and violin.  Other traditional Cape Verdean music includes Funaná, Coladeira, Batuque and Cabo love.

After improvements to the harbor and airport facilities throughout Cape Verde, all islands are all reasonably easy for visitors to access.  In certain areas, large modern “All-Inclusive” hotels have sprung up including the Club Hotel Riu Karamboa on Boa Vista and the Club Hotel Riu Funana/Garopa on Sal.  

While these major hotels are excellent for tourists, there has been much criticism by the poorer locals, as the hotels bring in their own supplies, import everything including their staff, and do not buy locally. Please see the video below about Boa Vista island and if possible, when holidaying in Cape Verde, stick to the locally run, more traditional accommodation.:



In total, around 222 tourist accommodation establishments of various different kinds are available for visitors, including the major resorts, along with small hotels, residences and pensions.

While the varying landscapes of the different islands offer different activities for visitors, the main popular options are wave sailing (a type of windsurfing), as well as many other water sports, fishing, hiking, birding and just plain exploring.  Evenings on all the islands offer a lot in the way of both local entertainment and delicious local cuisine.

Language-wise, the locals speak Portuguese and a Cape Verdean Creole and in the major and more popular centers of the islands, English is reasonably widely spoken.

A video below gives a brief introduction to the history of the islands and anyone interested in seeing more can access a playlist of videos about the islands here.

Photo credits:

• Boa Vista desert (top) and Praia de Chaves CC-by-SA Zé Pinho
• Faja de Agua village on Brava island CC-by-SA Holger Reineccius
• Cesária Évora CC-by-SA As fotos da Virada! 

Maio: Sleepy tranquility in Cape Verde

Maio (May in English) is located south of the island of Boa Vista and to the east of Santiago.  The easternmost Sotavento (Leeward) island of Cape Verde, Maio is known for its sandy beaches, a beautiful forest and sleepy tranquility, away from the madding crowds.

 

Quaint and quiet towns are dotted around the island, with narrow streets of colorful buildings and homes, offering a sense of sheer tranquility.  Maio is a peaceful and beautiful place where time seems to stand still. 

A little more lively is the capital of the island, Vila do Maio, which is situated right on the ocean in the southwest of the island.  

Popular places to visit include the Praça Fina, a plaza in the center of town which serves as the meeting place for the locals during the evenings.   

Close by is a market hall offering groceries for sale.

Running west from Vila do Maio, the Praia da Vila is worth a visit and to the east, Praia Ponta Preta, excellent for swimming.

Up in the forested area in the west of the island can be found the towns of Morrinho and Calheta.  Morrinho appears to be pretty much deserted and many of its houses are vacant.  However, Calheta is a pretty little town with colorful houses.

Close by, the town of Morro is nestled in a grove of coconut palms and offers a lovely swimming beach with fine sand.  This beach is popular with the turtles during the summer as they lay their eggs and visitors are asked to respect them and keep their distance from the nests of eggs, as the turtles can easily become unsettled and desert their nests.

Landscapes on the island vary from desert-like terrain, to salt marshes, to hilly landscapes.   

There are limestone valleys and acacia forests, forming the largest continuous woodland region of the Cape Verde archipelago.

Birders will enjoy seeing a variety of feathered friends, including cream-colored coursers, ospreys, bar-tailed larks, as well as sea swallows and waders, down in the saline pools close to Vila do Maio.

Accessing the island is not the easiest, as Maio only has air connections with Praia, and flights do not run on a regular basis.  While the harbor on the island is large enough to handle ships, there are also few maritime connections for tourists.  Due to this, plan well if you intend to visit Maio during your stay in Cape Verde.

Enjoy scenes from Maio in the video included below:

Photos:

• Floral landscape on Maio CC-by-SA Francisco Deusvando
• Aerial view of Maio in the public domain
• Vila do Maio and beach CC-by-SA SkipperPat
• Vila do Maio boat, doorway and street view CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Pedro Hormigo