The Cape Verde archipelago is made up of 10 Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, 500 kilometres off the West African coast. Sometimes referred to as the ‘African Caribbean’ due to their fantastic white sandy beaches and rainbow coloured houses, the relatively unknown islands have only recently become more of a main stream holiday destination.
The islands were originally discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th Century and, being ideally located for the Atlantic Slave trade, became prosperous over the following 300 hundred years. However, the end of the slave trade in the 19th Century led to economic decline until, finding a new role as a stopover for shipping and more recently tourism, they have recovered and won a reputation for achieving political and economic stability. The official language is Portuguese, but the majority of the population uses Creole as their national language.
Now a cultural melting pot of African, Brazilian and Portuguese influences, the Islands are a great option for anyone looking for year-round sunshine, miles and miles of unspoiled white sandy beaches and a low-key, laid-back vibe. Also less than a six hour flight from most European countries, there’s no jet lag to worry about either!
The Cape Verde weather is excellent for beach and mountain holidays and as they lie in the Trade Winds belt with its gentle Atlantic swell, they offer the perfect conditions for sailing, kite or windsurfing. The climate is tropical and dry with warm temperatures throughout the year, ranging from 24ºC to 30ºC, making them almost 10ºC warmer than the Canary Islands in the winter months.
There are two main seasons; the rainy season from August to October, when sudden but spectacular rainstorms can punctuate the hot sun, and the dry season from December to June when the trade winds blow with more intensity. However, Sal, Boa Vista and Sao Vincente islands receive almost no rain, while on some of the higher peaks on Santo Antao and Fogo there can be up to 2 meters of rainfall a year, making them lush and green.
Sal
Sal is the most popular island in terms of tourism and with its deserts and dry valleys it is known for its lunar- like landscape. It is called the ‘Sunniest Island’ as it is pretty flat, so there are no hills for clouds to gather around. For many years the island was a centre for salt mining – hence its name Sal, meaning Salt. Now the strong wind that blows from November to June makes it a mecca for surfers. The southern pastel coloured town of Santa Maria is an ideal holiday destination with its long, wide beaches, water sports, traditional restaurants, surf shops, and a pretty square with al fresco cafes. Live music plays a huge part in Cape Verdean culture and is often performed live in various bars in Santa Maria during the evening.
Boa Vista
Closest to the African mainland, Boa Vista is not only renowned for its stunning beaches but its marine life too. Mass tourism has not yet come to Boa Vista so the island offers a truly authentic experience, but with its 55 kilometres of golden beaches it is seriously attractive destination. Like Sal, it also has a desert landscape, but here the larger island also has a few mountain ranges and also offers excellent conditions for water sports.
Santiago
The biggest of the islands and with more than half of the Cape Verdeans living on it, Santiago also has the most diverse landscape. There are fine sandy beaches, mountains and dry desert areas, as well as fertile valleys and plateaus. The islands’ capital Praia is a bustling African town where you will see Santiago’s vibrant culture and turbulent history. The old colonial buildings line the main square on the Plateau, and there is also the Presidential Palace and the Palace of Justice.
Fogo
The active volcano on Fogo is one of the highlights of Cape Verde and has created what is a very fertile land; coffee is grown on the outside slopes whilst the vines used to produce the famous Fogo wine are grown inside the crater. Visitors to Fogo tend to embark on a hike up the volcano with a rewarding lunch at the top in a restaurant offering magnificent views. The dark rocks and black sands of the island give an impression of a lunar landscape. São Filipe, the capital of Fogo is a pretty town full of Portuguese squares, cobbled streets and pastel houses.
Maio
Located 25 km to the east of Santiago, the spectacular unspoilt beaches of Maio is similar to that found on Boa Vista and Sal although parts of the island have been re-forested. With a population of just 4,000 and untouched by tourism, the small island of Maio is a great place to escape, relax and take in the scenic landscapes, lonely beaches and mature forests.
Sao Vincente
The cultural hub of the islands, São Vicente is home to some of Cape Verde’s greatest musicians, writers and thinkers. Mindelo (pictured left) is proud of its rich tradition of music and art and has a vibrant nightlife with a lively buzz of music throughout the pubs, restaurants and nightclubs. Beaches on São Vicente are not as attractive as the other islands but they ideal for windsurfers (best conditions Nov-Apr) when they are one of the world’s finest for speed windsurfing. Festivals are an important pastime for the Cape Verdeans with the biggest celebrations taking place on the island of Sao Vicente: a beach music and culture festival during the full moon in August which attracts musicians and visitors from all over the archipelago and secondly, the exotic carnival with Brazilian influences in mid February
Santo Antao
A day trip to Santo Antão will allow you to see the spectacular views across the island’s mountain range, and visiting the village of Fontainhas, perched on the edge of a rock above a deep ravine is incredible. The houses in this unique village line the street and have a sheer drop of several hundred metres behind them! However, the precarious mountain road may not be everyone’s idea of fun!
Brava
This tiny island, known for its rich assortment of flora and fauna is often referred to as the ‘island of flowers’. Brava is the smallest inhabited island in the archipelago and the southern most point in Cape Verde.
São Nicolau
With mountain ranges and spectacular scenery, this quiet island remains relatively untouched. The high mountains and varied landscapes make São Nicolau an ideal place for walking. Birdwatchers are also attracted to the island as it is home to the endangered fairytale Dragon tree. Deep sea fishing is also popular on the island (best time Apr-Aug) as there is an abundance of Blue Marlin. The beaches at Tarrafal are said to have healing powers so don’t be surprised to see locals burying themselves in the sand!
Santa Luzia
The island is very dry and barren and totally uninhabited. It has only been inhabited by a small community between the 1960’s and 1990s! The only way to reach the island is from Calhau, on the east coast of São Vicente, where it is possible to charter a fishing boat for the day to take you to Santa Luzia.
Gavin has been one of the directors at eShores since 2007. He came from a sales & marketing background, but always had a passion for travel. He has travelled to most places around the globe, including North and South America, Europe, the Far East, South Africa, Indian Ocean and Australia.
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AlisonFletcher
Brilliant trip organised by Dave, included Helsinki, Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. (4 different countries) Everything ran smoothly. Dave organised hotels, flights, taxis, ferry and coach. Have used this company a few times and can't recommend highly enough they are fab 😀
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Sandra
As always, Chris was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me good advice on my travel plans and booked the holiday on my behalf. I've used eshores a number of times, and will continue to do so.
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Harrison
We haven’t been on our trip yet but based purely on the experience of booking the trip we are pleased with the result. It started with a bit of a hiccup as we spoke to a member of staff who never came back to us but when we reached back out again we were placed in the hands of Andy who has helped us book a 2 week trip to India including the golden triangle and then a few days on the beach. Andy was very patient with us with our changes to our tailor made holiday, even when we asked him to explore different areas only to revert back to the original plan. He also recommended moving the holiday back one week which created a saving of over £700 which meant we could upgrade the room for our beach stay in Goa. Andy was also available on weekends if we wanted to speak and regularly picked up the phone as opposed to keeping it to purely email dialogue. Hopefully the holiday will be amazing but based on the booking experience I would recommend eShores if you’re looking to book a tailor made holiday
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Wendy
I spoke to Lynette who was extremely helpful in understanding the trip that myself and my sister in law wanted from Thailand. Myself and my sister in law are both 72years young and we are really looking forward to our trip.
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Dawn
Excellent service from Matt at eShores. So very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. I booked Mya holiday after all his hard work finding me the perfect holiday that I wanted. Superb service and not pushy all all.
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Amrik
We have booked two big holidays this year for a group of 8 and a group of 10, Rachel has coordinated our holidays with the utmost excellence, during the consultation we changed countires hotels and even flights but it did not phase Rachel one bit. Exceeds customer expectations by helping advising and supporting throughout the holiday. We are off to Thailand and Dubai in August and then followed by India and Thailand in November, I have rang emailed Rachel many times during the booking and I got very prompt responses even on her days off. Rachel is a credit to EShores and EShores is setting standards regarding customer focus.
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IainWilliam
I can’t praise Lynette at EShores enough. She has organised my trips perfectly to the point that I wouldn’t use anyone else. She listens to what I want or to the problem I have and comes up with a solution. Nothing is too much trouble. Try them out yourselves and I bet you become a repeater too!
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Kevin
At short notice, I needed a quote to travel through the USA (July the 20th) I emailed eShores with an idea of what I wanted to do, within a short period of time I had a response from Matthew, After several amendments to my holiday which wasn't any trouble to Matthew, Holiday all booked, now looking forward to travelling through the USA Have to say, the service I had through eShores was fantastic, well done Matthew for working through the changes,
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Marcus
Dealt with Adam who was great, I went back and forth many times, nothing was a problem for him. We got there in the end and Adam arranged a 3 place holiday to Malaysia and Singapore. We go on 5th August, will if update review when we return. EShores so far brilliant hats of to Adam.
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Jill
We as a family used eShores last year to go to USA, and they were brilliant, my husband and 1 are going to Italy with them this September and we have just booked again to go back to USA with them next May, very efficient and Matt is lovely to deal with
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