Cape Verde Travel Guide

Benfica is a very popular barbecue restaurant in Praia. You get tasty grilled meat with fries, local company (and loud tv probably). Not an advisable choice for vegetarians though, since there is only one standard meat dish on offer basically. But it's prepared deliciously - so if you like some meaty dinner, go for it! Well, there's only one dish:...

This is the biggest supermarket in Praia. You can find a changing selection of Capeverdian and international food and drinks. The trouble is just that it's not predictable if something will still be available next week... They might offer Dutch Gouda now and never again after. But it comes closest to a Western supermarket and is also quite pricey....

Bomba'H is a hugely popular nightspot in Praia, especially during the summertime when Capeverdians living abroad visit their country of origin for a few weeks. The club organizes special theme nights in August to cater for the emigrants - there are Paris or Rotterdam theme nights then. If you want to enjoy cool clubbing this is the right place....

Prior to our visit to Boa Vista in May 2011, we had read a few stories of visitors being hassled by touts in the streets of the island's capital, Sal Rei.We weren't sure how big a problem this would be; whether it was just a case of a few less experienced tourists feeling a bit uncomfortable being approached in the streets or whether it was more...

Mercado Municipal is a modern two storey market building in Sal Rei.It is located on the edge of Largo Santa Isabel, Sal Rei's main square, just inland from the beach. We made a brief visit to the market building during a tour of Sal Rei in May 2011.The ground floor of the market is devoted to food, and in particular fruit and vegetables. You will...

From Ponta do Sol we take an aluguer to Corda at 900 meters above sea level and began the descent. We never thought that walking down is exhausting, but I know better now...Anyhow, the views compensate for all efforts.The "road" is only a small mountain path, you really need a guidebook to find your way. Although think about your knees, it´s 900...

The walk to the "mountain village" of Fontainhas is a must! The road is easy to find and the views back to Ponta do Sol or to the mounains are spectacular!This walk is also for not very exercised people, but bear in mind that in midday it´s very hot and at the road there is almost no shade (take enough water and a headdress).We went up to the...

Along the road we saw a lot of circular stone structures, made of rocks. We tried to figure out for what is was used. At this place we saw pigs an other small cattle in these very small ones.Bwana Brown told me, that he found out, that funco is the name of these circular structures. Covered with dried leaves these structures are used as primitive...

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean there are bottles floating with a message inside. The message is from me and asks the finder of any of these bottles to let me know where they find them. I have been doing this for years and only ever had 2 found – 1 in Venezuela and the other in Thailand. Before I travelled to Cape Verde I laminated sheets of bright...

IPNET is a cracking new internet place in Sal that offers fast speeds and modern equipment. One of the owners, Patrizia, was very friendly and helpful. They are Italian, and their website is in Italian, but they do speak English as well. I stopped in because I needed to do some quick banking on-line. I was done as quick as a flash. They have modern...

Sal has ATM cash machines. In fact they seem to be plagued with them. Despite what the guidebooks say, there are ATM’s on Sal in the airport, Espargos and in Santa Maria. In Santa Maria they are in the hotels and numerous banks. There is absolutely no issue finding one. They belong to the VISA, Plus and Venti4 cash networks. Quite a few businesses...

In Tarrafal the restaurant of Baia Verde on a rock at the beach was our favourite. It has a good panorama of the beach and the bay. You can sit on the terrace in the open air.On the picture: it is the white building at the leftside. Good seafood and local dishes.

Early in the morning at sunrise you can see the boats sailing out from the bay for fishing at sea.It's nice to go at the port at the moment the fishermen come back and look at all the activities.

Everywhere at Cape Verde you can eat fresh sea-food every day.Our favourite restaurant at Tarrafal was the restaurant of Baia Verde, high upon the rock with a good panorama of the beach and the bay.

Curral Velho beach is a beautiful, unspoilt white sand beach on the southern coast of Boa Vista island.It enjoys a rather remote location at the moment, but this could change in the coming years with ongoing development at the nearby Lacacao beach. In May 2011, a new tarmac road was opened that links the south of the island with the airport at...

Curral Velho is an abandoned village close to the south coast of Boa Vista island, located a few kilometres to the east of Lacacao beach.It was the first stop on an island tour that we undertook in May 2011. We left from the Riu Touareg hotel in an off-road pick-up truck and arrived at Curral Velho after a short but bumpy ride over sand dunes. You...

Robertney Barros, one of the best surfers from Cape Verde, teached me how to surf. He is not only a great surfer from himself but he can also teach people how to surf in a very good way. He took a great effort to teach me everything that I needed to know. I would recommend Robertney to anyone; beginners but also intermediates will learn from him.

Robertney Barros, one of the best surfers from Cape Verde, teached me how to surf. He is not only a great surfer from himself but he can also teach people how to surf in a very good way. He took a great effort to teach me everything that I needed to know.I would recommend Robertney to anyone; beginners but also intermediates will learn from him.

Laginha is the city beach of Mindelo. Hang out here for an entire day and you'll see most of the locals. There's a different crowd every hour, where families come early and young people spend the afternoon. There's fun, music, drinks... prepare for a very nice time.

Here and there around the city of Mindelo we find several constructions still remaining from portuguese colonial times.

Mindelo is the main town in the island. In opposition to the lack of "life" around the island, Mindelo is a very vibrant town. Nice restaurants where lobster is a "must eat" dish and very unexpensive too. Even the nightlife is very surprising.

Watch the fisherman work at Tarrafal beach. They use only traditional tools and it's amazing the diverse species they catch.

It's amazing the speed that the locals can apply when climbing up these trees to get the coconuts. An amazing show anyway...

The road that connects Cidade da Praia to Tarrafal crosses the mountains in the middle of the Island. The landscape could be compared to the moon... no trees, no vegetation at all!

Besides three nice rooms, the Pensão Sitaquario offers excellent food and is definitely the best restaurant on the island (and maybe on Cape Verde). The owner Henny Kuster used to work as a cook in Holland and is now transferring his knowhow to local youth. The speciality of the house is tuna, but you can get almost anything you want, even a Swiss...

Medical infrastructure on Sâo Nicolau is very basic. There is a "centro de saúde" in Tarrafal and a small hospital in Vila da Ribeira Brava. But both are only very modestly equiped and in case of a more serious injury you'll need to be transported to another island. There is also no suitable transportation for the injured and the bumpy roads add to...

No fancy trolley, on the cobbled streets you can forget about that. Rather come with a large backpack and a smaller one for day excursions Hiking shoes, flipflops (no highheels - it's a pain on the irregularly cobbled streets!), a light jacket for hiking, bikini or swimmingbriefs, summer clothes Is mostly available in shops and pharmacies if you...

Tchâle Figueira is Cape Verde's best known artist. He is a painter, sculptor, musician and writer. He has a his atelier in Mindelo at the beachfront (ask anyone for directions, he's very well known). Here you see some of his artwork exposed and you may also have the chance to chat with the artist who's multiligual (has lived in Switzerland for many...

No San Miguel on Saõ Vicente is not only an airport and a long beach : it is a living city and its people sometime need to go to Mindelo. From the airport, instead of taking a Taxi, either wait for a taxi-minibus (aluguer) coming from the ocean's-side or walk to San Miguel where you could wait for one in a small restaurant. The price is...