Cape Verde became independent from Portugal in 1975, it comprises 10 islands and five islets. An islet is like a baby island. The archipelago lies around 500 kms off the west coast of Africa. An archipelago is a bunch of islands. About 500,000 people live there.
Cape Verde is an important nesting site for loggerhead turtles which do not have heads as big as I would have thought given their name. Humpback whales also feed in the islands’ waters. The archipelago’s marine life is under threat from growing tourism.
In recent years it has seen economic growth with the construction of three international airports and hundreds of kilometres of roads. Although, more people with Cape Verde origins live outside it and send money home.
If you fancy it you could climb Mt Fago; an active volcano and Cape Verde’s highest peak 2829m. Intrepid farmers still raise coffee and wine grapes on the mountain’s black slopes.
The Happy Holidays 