© Lonely Planet Publications 229 Cape Verde Most people only know Cape Verde through the haunting mornos (mournful songs) of Cesária Évora. To visit her homeland – a series of unlikely volcanic islands some 500km off the coast of Senegal – is to understand the strange, bittersweet amalgam of West African rhythms and mournful Portuguese melodies that shape her music. It’s not just open ocean that separates Cape Verde from the rest of West Africa. Cool currents, for example, keep temperatures moderate, and a stable political and economic system help support West Africa’s highest standard of living. The population, who represent varying degrees of African and Portuguese heritage, will seem exuberantly warm if you fly in straight from, say, Britain, but refreshingly low-key if you arrive from Lagos or Dakar. Yet life has never been easy here. For centuries, isolation and cyclical drought have resulted in famine. Generations of Cape Verdeans have been forced to emigrate, leaving those at home wracked by sodade – the deep longing that fills Cesária Évora’s music. While hunger is no longer a threat, you need only glance at the terraced hillsides baking in the sun to understand that every bean, every grain of corn, is precious. Though tiny in area, the islands contain a remarkable profusion of landscapes, from Maio’s barren flats to the verdant valleys of Santo Antão. And Fogo, a single volcanic peak whose slopes are streaked with rivers of frozen lava. The beaches of Sal and Boa Vista increasingly attract package-tour crowds, but Cape Verde remains a destination for the connois seur – the intrepid hiker, the die-hard windsurfer, the deep-sea angler, the morno devotee. CAPE VERDE FAST FACTS Area 4035 sq km Capital Praia Country code%238 Famous for Cesária Évora Languages Portuguese, Crioulo Money Cabo Verde escudo (CVE); US$1 = CVE91, €1 = CVE112.16 Population 450,000 Visa All non-Cabo Verdean citizens require a visa. 230 CAPE VERDE •• Highlights www.lonelyplanet.com www.lonelyplanet.com CAPE VERDE •• History 231 HIGHLIGHTS sugar plantations never paid off, especially economic clout fell as Britain, France and HOW MUCH? Mt Fogo ( p244 ) Huff to the top of this after the Caribbean proved so productive. the Netherlands challenged Portugal’s con- stunning, cinder-clad mountain, the Taxi ride in Praia CVE200 However, the islands’ remote yet strategic trol over the slave trade. As a result, Lisbon country’s only active volcano and, at position made them a perfect clearinghouse invested little in Cape Verde during the good 2829m, its highest peak. Berth on the overnight ferry from Sal and victualling station for the transatlantic times and offered almost no help during bad Mardi Gras ( p241 ) Down quantities of grogue, to Mindelo CVE4200 slave trade. Within a century, the islands times. To escape hunger, many men left the the rumlike national drink, and dive into Espresso coffee CVE50 had grown wealthy enough to attract pir- islands, principally to work as hired hands on the colour and chaos in Mindelo. Woven basket from São Vicente ates, including a 1585 raid by England’s Sir American whaling ships. Even today, Cape Santo Antão ( p243 ) Hike over the pine-clad CVE500 Francis Drake. Verdean communities along the New Eng- ridge of the island, then down into its In 1747, changing weather patterns, aggra- land coast rival the population of Cape Verde spectacular canyons and verdant valleys. Fresh grilled tuna with rice and chips vated by deforestation and overgrazing, re- itself, and foreign remittances account for as Windsurfing ( p249 ) Head to the beaches of CVE650 sulted in Cape Verde’s first recorded drought. much as 20% of GNP. Boa Vista, and fill your sail with the same In the 100 years from 1773, three droughts Cape Verde’s fortunes revived with the transatlantic winds that pushed Colum- LONELY PLANET INDEX killed some 100,000 people – more than 40% advent of the ocean liner at the end of bus to the New World. of the population each time. It was only the the 19th century. It became an important Traditional music ( p234 ) Watch musicians 1L of petrol CVE80 beginning of a cycle that lasted well into the stopover for coal, water and livestock, and wave loved ones goodbye with a morno, 1L of bottled water CVE80 20th century. At the same time, the island’s Mindelo, with its deep, protected harbour, or welcome them back with a coladeira. Bottle of beer CVE100 0 50 km CAPE VERDE 0 30 miles ITINERARIES Souvenir T-shirt CVE1000 One Week Fly into Sal ( p246 ), unwind for Plate of cachupa (bean and corn stew) a few days on the beaches at Santa Maria CVE250 Ponta do Sol Santo Antão Sal Ribeira Grande ( p247 ), which is a windsurfer’s mecca Cruzinha Reguinho Fuira da Garça Paúl and take a side trip to the salt mines Janela Marocos Palmeira Pedra da Lume (1767m) Cova Crater (1170m) of Pedra da Lume ( p246 ). Next, head to without a downpour. Thanks to cooling Porto Novo Espargos Mindelo ( p240 ), located on São Vicente, ocean currents and offshore winds, Cape Baia das Monte Trigo Mindelo Gatas Mt Verde (750m) Ribeira the country’s cultural centre and pretti- Verde has the lowest temperatures of any Tarrafal Calhau Torta Santa Santa est town, and spend a day exploring the country in West Africa, and also some of Madeiral Luzia Ribeira São Nicolau Maria São Pedro Fajã Valley São da Prata island’s interior. From Mindelo, an hour- the most moderate, ranging from a min- Juncalinho Vicente Barril long ferry ride lands you in mountainous imum night-time average of 19°C in Febru- Ilhéu Ribeira Brava Branco Ilhéu Tarrafal Mt Gordo Boa Vista (1312m) Santo Antão ( p243 ), where stunning hikes ary to a maximum daytime average of 29°C Raso Espingueira João Galego cap off your trip. from May to November. Sal Rei Cabeco de Ὀo s ( W i n Rabil Tarafes Two Weeks From Santo Antão, head over Summer temperatures, especially in n t d w l a v e a r d a r I s Povoação Velha to Fogo ( p244 ) to climb Mt Fogo or just the northern islands, can be cooler than B l a n d s simply to explore Chã das Caldeiras, the in Europe, though the southern islands, ) Praia de Santa Mónica ancient crater out of which the 2829m especially Fogo, can get hot and sticky. CAPE VERDE volcanic peak rises. Spend a day in São From December to March you may need a Filipe ( p244 ), and another day or two sweater in the evenings, especially at higher exploring the wine and coffee country altitudes. Winter months are also marked T I C O on the north side of the island. Then by gusty winds, which blow in dust all the N C E A A CAPE VERDE L wind down on the fine and largely de- way from the Sahara. T N A serted beaches of Boa Vista ( p249 )or Maio See Climate Charts p813 . I s l a n ( p250 ). a r d d s ) Maio e e w Three Weeks With three weeks, you can do HISTORY ( L s Cascabulho t o Porto Calheta all of the above, and have time to visit Slavery, Drought & Neglect n Tarrafal Formosa Alcatraz e Morro São Nicolau Brava v Calheta Figueira da Horta ( p248 ) or ( p248 ), the two When Portuguese mariners discovered a t Fundura Vila do Maio most traditional islands. Both offer hik- Cape Verde in 1456, the islands were un- o Ribeira da Barca Pedra Badejo S Assomada Picos ing, especially the peaks of São Nicolau, inhabited but fertile enough to attract the Uninhabited Islands São Jorge São Domingos Fogo Pico do as well as an insight into rural life that has first group of settlers six years later. They Fajazinha Santo António Praia de Salina Mosteiros (1394m) Cidade PRAIA remained the same for centuries. founded Ribeira Grande (now Cidade Velha São Jorge Mt Fogo Santiago Velha), the first European town in the trop- (2829m) São Filipe Cova Figueira CLIMATE & WHEN TO GO ics, on the island São Vicente. To work the Brava Nosso Senhora Fajã de Água Furna Vila de do Socorro Cape Verde is pleasant year-round. Even land, settlers almost immediately began to Nova Sintra To African Mainland (445km) during the so-called rainy season from mid- import slaves from the West African coast. Cachaço August to mid-October, weeks can go by Plans by Genoese investors to create large Cape Verde 232 CAPE VERDE •• History www.lonelyplanet.com www.lonelyplanet.com CAPE VERDE •• The Culture 233 became the island’s new commercial and up his regime with dreams of colonial right policy of political and economic lib- mous effort and arid weather keeps yields cultural centre. When the airplane replaced greatness. From the early 1960s, one of Af- eralisation, the MPD swept to power in the small. While the infrastructure, from roads the ocean liner, Cape Verde responded in rica’s longest wars of independence ensued. 1991 elections. Privatisation and foreign in- to water, is rapidly modernising, you regu- kind, opening an international airport on However, most of the fighting took place in vestment – especially in tourism – brought larly see women toting water from common Sal in 1948. Designed to service long, trans- Guinea-Bissau, and indeed many middle- only slow results however, and in 2001, the wells. A high percentage of households con- atlantic flights, it remains a mainstay of the class Cape Verdeans remained lukewarm PAICV reclaimed power. This time it prom- sist of single mothers with children, a legacy country’s economy. toward independence.