Captivated by Cape Verde

Cape Verde Islands

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​The Cape Verde islands are a volcanic Archipelago around 400nm off the westernmost point of the Atlantic coast of Africa (which is also called Cap Verte). Colonised in the 15th century by the Portuguese, the islands have played a major part in the slave trade and have also been an important stopover on key Atlantic shipping routes. Cape Verde was incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal, but its inhabitants continued to campaign for independence, which they achieved in 1975. The official language is still Portugese, there is a local Creole, and English and French are also widely spoken.

​Mindelo is the port city on São Vincente, the island on which we arrived. It is the only one with any semblance of a “western style” marina. Colourful colonial houses line the shores of Porto Grande harbour, which is set against a backdrop of rugged mountains. The Torre de Belém, by the harbour, is a scaled-down replica of a centuries-old tower in Lisbon and now houses a maritime museum.

​We hadn’t intended to visit Cape Verde Islands, although many use it as their staging point for the Atlantic crossing. Although it wasn’t planned I would say that if I had to do this trip again I would build in some time in Cape Verde. It shortens the trip across the pond and it also seems a reasonable place to do final provisioning. There are lively and well stocked undercover and open air markets and a very good bakery. It would have been nice to have had more time to explore the other islands.

What we saw of the Sao Vincente island was quite beautiful and the people were incredibly friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was laid back and it seemed reasonably safe in terms of security (of course with the usual travel precautions). We did manage to take a day tour of the island of Sao Vincente, which was really lovely. We skirted around the coast as well as up through the mountains.
 
We can also verify that the is a reasonable medical centre here, although Google Translate will come in handy if you need their services. The officials at the port were also very helpful and efficient.

​Here is a short slide show of our time in Sao Vincent

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