Cabo Verde - Cape Verde

Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cape Verde, is named for Cap-Vert, now in Senegal on the westernmost point of Africa and is a stunning and little known archipelago of contrasts and beauty. Cabo Verde or Cape Verde, either way this chain of nine populated islands, some separated by wide, windswept stretches of sea is a little taste of the Caribbean. Each island has a cultural face as striking and varied as the geography of the archipelago itself and with the Cape Verde picture perfect beaches and all year round hot weather, this group of islands is shaping up to be the holiday hotspot especially with the stampede to invest in the Cape Verde property market already well underway

Cape Verde property can offer the property investor and the homebuyer alike a beautiful beach front property at prices that are becoming unobtainable in most other holiday locations with beach-front apartments available from around only €60,000. Cape Verde is an attractive choice for property investors for many reasons. Not only are these islands the nearest tropical island destination for Western Europe, with their year-round sunshine, fantastic fishing and great water sports but combine this with property prices that are currently very low it makes Cape Verde the perfect investment for the future. To the homebuyer or to buyers looking for a holiday home, the Cape Verde Islands offer a wide choice of location combined with the ability to purchase that luxury property which may otherwise be beyond their financial means.

The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered the islands in 1456. African slaves were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations and as a result, Cape Verdeans are of mixed African and European origin. Due to this history of discovery and colonization, Cape Verde now blends West African and Portuguese elements in many unique and moving ways, for example the Cape Verde music which is well known internationally for the morna, a form of folk music usually sung in Creole-Portuguese and accompanied by clarinet, accordion, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. Similar to the Argentinean tango it is a national song-style beloved by the Cape Verde people across the many islands of the country. It is related to the Portuguese fado and its close cousin, Brazilian modinha with lyrics usually in the native Kriolu reflecting highly-variable themes, including love, lust, patriotism and mourning. The Morna has primarily European roots, but the islands also boast funana and batuco music that are more closely related to the West African styles.

Transport links are improving all the time as interest in this archipelago increases and with planned direct flights from London making the journey an easy 5½ hour flight tourism is set to soar, but the Cape Verdean Government is taking head of the lessens learnt from its neighbours the Canary Islands and has already set in place a tourism infrastructure that should avoid uncontrolled explosion of tourism on the same scale that the Canaries suffered in the 80´s.

The Cape Verdeans believe very strongly in their island heritage and are looking into many different ways to preserve their culture while embracing the better quality of life, better jobs and better schooling that the international interest in the islands is bringing.

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