Cabo Verde

Ten islands, ten personalities. Sal is not the interesting one

Cabo Verde is an archipelago of ten volcanic islands 570 kilometres off the West African coast, uninhabited until the Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century and then a major hub of the Atlantic slave trade. The resulting Creole culture is genuinely its own thing, neither African nor European but built from both.

Sal and Boa Vista get the package flights and have the flat, windswept beaches and the all-inclusive resorts, plus some of the most consistent kitesurfing conditions in the world. They are also the least characterful islands, which catches people out.

Santo Antao is the one to prioritise: dramatically green and mountainous, with hiking trails through ribeiras that are among the best in the Atlantic. Fogo has an active volcano with a village inside the caldera growing vines in the ash. Sao Vicente has Mindelo, the cultural capital, where Cesaria Evora made morna famous and where the music scene still runs late.

Annual events and festivals

• Carnaval de Mindelo (Feb-Mar) — a Brazilian-influenced carnival, the biggest in the islands.
• Baia das Gatas Festival (Aug) — a beach music festival on Sao Vicente at the full moon.
• Gamboa Festival, Praia (May) — the largest music festival in the country.
• Sao Joao Baptista (24 Jun) — horse racing, drumming and processions, biggest on Santo Antao and Brava.
• Independence Day (5 Jul) — marks 1975 independence from Portugal.
• Tabanka (May-Jun) — a Santiago tradition of processions with drums and conch shells, of African origin.
• Kriol Jazz Festival (Apr) — in Praia, mixing Cape Verdean and international artists.
• Festa da Bandeira, Fogo (Apr-May) — flag festival with horsemanship.
• Morna and coladeira nights (year round) — live music in Mindelo bars. Morna is UNESCO listed.
• Turtle nesting, Boa Vista (Jun-Oct) — one of the most important loggerhead nesting sites in the world.