Blogs from Cape Verde, Africa

Cabo Verde is an archipelago of 10 main islands, the Easternly point of Africa. Most of them, by the name of the country, are very green. Well, Sal Island is not one of those green islands. The island is the most Northeastern of the country, the closest from Africa being only 640kms from Senegal! One more country to discover for me, one I wanted to visit for a while! You have follow my path to reach Sal Island all the way from Congo. I could have also fly in via Dakar or Casablanca, but this is actually slightly more challenging! The fun part, the airline flying the most plane into Sal Island is TUI...this gives you a clear idea of the public you'll find around it, not really my personal dream! The island is well-known as ... read more

2018 was a hectic year with us moving to our new home and getting it set up and then going to New York to get married, I also moved over to a new job and had a mini secondment into the bargain so we decided we'd have a little honeymoon type trip that was as unlike any before where we just flew to a resort and did pretty much nothing. For once we just wanted to recharge the batteries and unlike at home not battle putting tents up in the wind and rain, just this once. So we took a February break with TUI down to Boa Vista at the Riu Palace. We wanted it easy so bookended with Clayton Hotel stays at Manchester Airport. The TUI planes would be fine for say an hour or ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Santo Antao, the second largest of the Cape Verde islands, and my third out of the four which I have planned to explore. All three so far, whilst all stark, barren, and mesmerisingly beautiful, have also been quite different, and a real pleasure to explore. Whilst Santiago was undeniably the most developed and centre of the archipelago, both politically and economically, and Fogo was the stunning volcanic cone surrounded by black sand beaches and crashing ocean waves, Santo Antao is towering, mountainous and rugged, deeply set throughout by kilometre-deep ravines and river valleys, and the north-eastern part which I am based in is by far the greenest area I have seen so far in this country. I believe I last wrote from the serene and remote Tortuga B&B, passing away my final ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Cape Verde, country number 76! And what an amazing country this seems to be. Cape Verde consists of a group of nine sizeable islands, and countless smaller ones, stretching out in a semi-circular archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. My impression so far is only of its main and largest island, Santiago, and based on this first impression, these are bleak, desolate and actually quite stunning islands surrounded by an ocean of impregnable blue. They are spectacular, and they have come as a very welcome relief from my travels in Africa. I have certainly enjoyed traveling in Senegal and The Gambia, they have offered new experiences and it has been pleasurable exploring a region of the world I’ve not yet set foot in, but in all honesty the two countries ... read more

Boa Vista is ontdekt in 1480. De zeeman die als eerste dit eiland zag, riep: “Kapitein, goed zicht” (boa vista), in plaats van “land in zicht”, zo blij was hij dat hij land zag omdat er een vreselijke storm aankwam. Het was het vierde Kaapverdische eiland dat door de Portugezen ontdekt werd. Eerder waren Maio, Santiago en Fogo aan de beurt. Nu is het zo’n beetje gekoloniseerd door de Italianen. Italiaanse restaurants en ijssalons, Italiaanse constructiebedrijven enz. En een beetje door de Chinezen die bijna alle kleine winkels in handen hebben. Ik heb overigens liever met de Italianen te maken, ook al spreken de meesten van hen geen woord over de (hun) grens, dan met de Chinezen. De Italianen zijn over het algemeen vriendelijk, de Chinezen over het algemeen niet. Maar gelukkig hebben we tegenover ons ... read more