Cape Verde, A Pleasure That No One Can Resist

The archipelago of Cape Verde, on the west coast of Africa, is one of those jewels that the Atlantic Ocean hides. A treasure with a thousand faces, since each of its ten islands can offer the most varied attractions. From pleasant beaches to desert areas or volcanoes. This country also offers everything from a historical heritage fruit of its colonial past to a lively night of music and dance. In short, Cape Verde is a pleasure that no one can resist.

The islands of Cape Verde are ten: Santiago, Fogo, Brava, Santo Antao, San Vicente, Sal, Santa Luzia, Sao Nicolay, Boa Vista and Malo, in addition to other smaller islets. Each of them is different from its neighbor, but at the same time they all have reasons for their visit and points in common, such as their exquisite gastronomy, their cultural wealth and a sad past as a port of slaves and a Portuguese colony.

Here we are going to present you the main islands of the archipelago, and in which the tourist offer is greater.

Cape Verde Islands

1. The island of Sal

The island of Sal is the most touristy of the whole, especially because of the great beach that unfolds in the town of Santa María. An ideal place to enjoy the Atlantic, especially for windsurfers, since here even world championships of this nautical sport have been held given the excellent conditions for this practice.

However, there are other sports that attract travelers, such as fishing or scuba diving. All this means that the hotels of foreign chains accumulate here, and that the island of Sal has the international airport that is the main route of entry to the country.

2. The island of Sao Vicente

The second great entrance to Cape Verde is the port of the city of Mindelo, where different cruise ships that travel through western Africa dock and that pass through ports such as the city of Dakar, in neighboring Senegal.

And the truth is that the city of Mindelo does not deceive and does not disappoint. It has its small beach on the outskirts, but above all it is attractive for its historic center.

There are several markets or squares full of ceramic murals that tell the history of the city and all the sister islands. But above all there are several cafes and bars that display one of Cape Verde’s emblems, their music, the most international version of which is the mornas. And it is that Mindelo is considered the cultural capital of the country.

3. The island of Santiago

If Santa María on the island of Sal is the tourist capital, and Mindelo on San Vicente is the cultural capital, the proper administrative capital of Cape Verde is Praia, on the island of Santiago. A lively city and also increasingly with more tourist capacity in terms of accommodation and restaurants to taste Creole cuisine.

However, if you visit the island of Santiago, you should take the opportunity to get out of the city and take a walk around the surroundings. The island has landscapes of great botanical and vegetal wealth, much more in comparison with the desert lands of the islands of Sal or Sao Vicente.

Although if you travel to Cape Verde and you want to enjoy green landscapes, almost typical of the tropical jungle, then you have to travel to the island of Santo Antao, where rural and natural accommodations abound above all.

4. The island of Fogo

We have already said that each island in Cape Verde has its attractions and if you have time you can travel from island to island for a while. To do this, it is necessary to take advantage of the internal flights between some of the islands and especially the ferries that link them, although in the case of the smaller islands, the frequency can sometimes be exasperating.

However, before finishing our tour of Cape Verde, it is worth going to the island of Fogo, fiery in its translation from Portuguese. And that is due to the presence of an incredible volcano that, with its 2,829 meters high, dominates the entire island and organizes the life of its inhabitants. In fact, it is very curious to see how the entire population occupies the volcano from the shores of the sea to practically its crater.