A Trip to Cape Verde

I have always had a soft spot for island nations, and Cape Verde is no different.

Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) is a group of small islands off the west coast of Africa. I opted to visit the country since I was previously in Portugal with family for Christmas. Since Cape Verde was a previous colony of Portugal, it was a very easy direct flight from Lisbon to different islands.

Cape Verde has several different islands, and they all have different features that will appeal to different tastes and travel types. For example, the island of Sal is known for beaches, and this is where most visitors to Cape Verde visit. However, I am not a huge fan of a beach holiday since I prefer more culture and history, so I opted to stay on Santiago Island, which is the main island and home to the capital of Praia.

During my time in Cape Verde, I spent some time exploring Praia, especially its colonial center, which has many beautiful and colorful buildings. The colonial center is small and does not take long to see, but it is worth checking out. There are a couple museums in the center, and if one is interested in learning about Cape Verde's freedom fighter, Amilcar Cabral, it is possible to see a small museum about his life.

While I did not have time to explore the other islands due to time constraints, I made sure to make the most of my time by doing two day tours on Santiago Island.

The first tour I took was to Tarrafal, which is located on the northern part of Santiago Island. However, there is a darker aspect to it since this tour also included a visit to the Resistance Museum, which is the site of the Tarrafal Concentration Camp, which operated from the mid 1930s to early 1970s. This camp was established to hold various political prisoners from Portugal and the former colonies of Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea-Bissau.

This was an interesting visit since I had very little familiarity with this region's history, so it was quite educational and also gave a glimpse into the difficult life that the prisoners had. Since the museum is a site of a former concentration camp, it is possible to see the different areas where prisoners lived and worked.

The second day tour that I took was a hike through the Calabaceira Valley, which is extremely beautiful, lush, and verdant. The tour itself was about two hours, but it was a very easy hike with no real hills and did not require any real strenuous activity. Instead, it was mostly going down into a valley and walking through it. However, it was important to have water since it got quite hot. For this tour, it was not only me and the guide, but there was a family from the UK and a US Peace Corps volunteer who was based in Senegal but here for holiday.

Once the hike through the valley was complete, we arrived at the small town of Calabaceira then made our way to Cidade Velha, which is a UNESCO site and the former capital. The town itself is relatively small but has colonial ruins along with a fort at the top which provides beautiful views of the town below and coast.

Ultimately, even though my trip to Cape Verde was short, it was definitely worth it. The country had been on my travel list for a while, but I had held off on it since the easiest way to reach it would have been to go through Portugal. Since I had previously spent Christmas in Portugal with family, this was the best opportunity to visit, and I am very glad that I did.

Please enjoy the Photo Gallery. All photos were taken by me using an iPhone.