25 November 2006 - The Guardian - Mark Honigsbaum

Perhaps it was the view of Mindelo's horseshoe harbour with its sentinel rock erupting from the sea behind us. Or the volcanic peaks of Santo Antão looming in front. Or the way that a school of dolphins sported in the ferry's wake as a group of young police cadets sung heartfelt laments to the girlfriends they'd just left at the quay. Whatever, I'd only been in Cape Verde a few hours but I already felt the stirrings of the Caboverdeanidade - the peculiar mix of joy and sorrow that infects every visitor to this volcanic archipelago.

Joy because each of the 10 islands that make up the Cape Verde chain are uniquely beautiful. Sorrow because the islands, which lie 450km off the coast of Senegal, are a harsh environment in which to make a living and traditionally each arrival, whether that of the original Cabo Verdeans who came in the holds of Portuguese slave ships, or their descendants, now forced to emigrate in search of work, is tinged with the knowledge of imminent departure.

There are high hopes for Cape Verde at the moment. Depending on which brochure you read, these islands are either "the new Bahamas" or "Portugal's answer to the Canaries". Neither statement bears close scrutiny, for although Cape Verde boasts white sand beaches equal to any in the Bahamas, it has yet to develop a comparable tourist infrastructure - and they achieved independence from Portugal more than 30 years ago.

In any case, I think the islands - linked to Africa by history and geography but spiritually more in tune with Brazil - are more interesting than that. For where else could you surf and scuba dive one day, dance the samba and funaná on the second and scale a volcano on the third - and all in a dry, mosquito-free environment where the mercury never falls below 25C?

To read the remainder of Mark's feature please click to view the online version of the article