Island-hopping - in Africa's Cape Verde

With the promise of year-round sun just over five hours away and just one hour's time difference, it's not difficult to see why the hype about Cape Verde has grown since the first direct flights left the UK in 2006.

Sold by many as 'the new Mauritius', an 'undiscovered paradise'; Cape Verde's European tourists are after easy sunshine and an experience beyond the average package holiday. But while there are many spots of pure paradise here, it's not the new Mauritius. The way you'll experience and enjoy Cape Verde depends very much on your approach and expectations. It is a developing country, with a third-world infrastructure and hotels ranging from extremely basic to luxurious. If you want Mauritius, go to Mauritius.

But if you want an awesome landscape that has grown, literally, from volcanic eruptions; to walk on beaches of black volcanic sands mixed with golden grains blown thousands of miles from the Sahara; and to experience African culture tempered by European influence (colonised by the Portuguese in the 1400s, the islands became independent in 1975), then go to Cape Verde. Today it's a fascinating mix of race and culture, with its own language, a distinctive music that is known and admired worldwide and the unique perspective it has gained from its 'melting-pot' history.

Cape Verde offers glorious sunshine and a fantastic choice of landscape – from picture-perfect beaches to stunning mountain vistas – and activities – watersports, hiking and island-hopping to name but a few.

Arriving in Cape Verde

Approaching the island of Sal by air, a vast desolate barren landscape of red earth looms suddenly out of the sea, with no sign of vegetation or life. We wait for 10 minutes for the transit bus to fill up, before we are driven the 100 metres to the terminal. Then it's a two-hour wait for the connecting flight to nearby Sao Vicente, with a few of my fellow travellers from Gatwick. Most have chosen to stay on Sal, the most popular of the islands, offering the largest number of hotels and the most beautiful beaches. But to spend all of your time on Sal and not enjoy some of the very different island experiences would be a mistake, as each has something unique to offer.

We arrive at the Foya Branca hotel on Sao Vicente after dark. The hotel is one of the island's more luxurious, comprising individual buildings set in a beautifully landscaped garden. I count two swimming pools on my way through the palm trees to my bedroom, but it's dark, I'm tired and I can't take everything in. I'm pleased to draw back the curtains next morning and step onto my terrace to be greeted by waves crashing just a few hundred metres away.

Island hopping

But there's only time to whiz back through the gardens once more with a packed suitcase and out to my taxi for the early ferry to Santo Antão – three islands in less than 24 hours! You don't have to travel at such breakneck speed, as all inter-island ferries and flights run a few times a day, but I'm keen to pack as much into my week as possible.

If Sal is the island of beaches, Santo Antão is the island of mountains – it's basically home to a series of ever-reaching peaks or 'ribeiras' with a single road – and to get through a mountain you have to go up! And up we go. I'm taking a half-day tour with Norbert as my guide. We wind through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery I've ever seen, the driver tooting furiously as we approach each bend on the narrow road, hand-made entirely from cobblestones.

Mountain hiking

Santo Antão boasts Cape Verde's second-highest peak. At 1,979m it's beaten only by the mighty volcanic summits of Fogo. And I think we've reached it when we finally drive into the clouds – but no, there's even higher to climb. It's not difficult to see why this island is the favourite for hiking. Created by massive volcanic eruptions from the sea, Fogo is the only Cape Verde island with a 'live' volcano (its last eruption was in 1995, now it just smokes – but throw in wood and it will burn).

Perched amid the mighty ribeiras, is my hotel, the Pedracin village, halfway along one of the recommended hiking routes in my guidebook, the Bradt guide to Cape Verde. It's nothing more than an outdoor reception and a tiny dining room surrounded by a terrace and a small pool – but what a view; the high peaks providing a spectacular backdrop as the light dies behind them. At night, large shadows stretch across the terrace and up the steep cobbled slopes to the individual stone bungalow bedrooms, a design based on traditional island dwellings with thatched roofs.

Accommodation and food is good but basic – but who cares in a setting like this? Dinner that night – grilled chicken with rice and chips (for some reason rice is always served on the islands with both chips and potatoes!) – is eaten in the quiet timbered dining room. For dessert I have ice cream flavoured with the local rum – grogue – which is the sort of thing you could use to tranquillise horses.

Sampling grogue

Earlier that day we'd visited a grogue factory; my visions of a huge bottling plant shattered when we wandered into somebody's backyard, past chickens, ducks, goats and pigs, where two bulls were being led around and around in circles by a very patient man. A large timber pole tackled to the bulls was connected to a central grinding mechanism and, as the bulls circled, sugar cane being fed in by the workers were ground to pulp, the sweet juice running into a barrel beneath. This is then boiled at a high temperature for several hours to produce grogue, 42% pure alcohol.

As it wasn't even midday, I declined the kind offer to try it, but did taste the punch – made by boiling the alcohol further to turn it into honey, then mixing the honey with the rum. (I also tried a taste of the sugar cane juice that Norbert brought me, frothing in a coconut shell straight from the pressing; he added a dash of pure grogue with a wink and it practically blew the head off me.)

Next day it's back to Sao Vicente on the evening ferry, and the Foya Branca hotel. The hotel is 7km from Mindelo, the island's capital, a thriving port town and, reportedly, the best place in Cape Verde to hear local music. Music is on offer everywhere from the restaurants of the big hotels to smaller bars and cafés. Take local recommendations for the best spots.

I head for Café Musique, near the Presidential Palace. It's a Sunday night and the terrace, where musicians offer a mix of heartrending ballads and lively tunes that would be perfect for dancing, is quiet – though the bar inside is full of locals enjoying football on TV. But as the music plays a crowd gathers outside, and by the time I leave a few hours later, there are twice as many people on the terrace as inside. I say people, I mean men; women are largely absent from the streets.

Island tours

Sao Vicente has a lot more to offer than Mindelo, and a guide is strongly recommended; with the option of a full or a half-day tour, including lunch, or a custom-made tour depending on your requirements. We visit the excellent Churrasqueira Grill for lunch, where I try locally made goat's cheese (stop off at the Cheese House, about five miles before Cathau village on the road from Mindelo, to buy some to take home). As with most Cape Verdean menus, there's a huge variety of freshly caught fish on offer, and vegetables come, as usual, heavily doused in olive oil.

The main beaches are Catfish Bay and Praia Grande – it's possible to walk from one to the other in under three hours – or arrange to be dropped off at one beach and picked up at the other as part of your tour. It's a wonderful experience to crunch across the black volcanic sand of Praia Grande, mixed with the golden sands of the Sahara and creating a curious black and brown sandscape.

You'll hear lots about wind if you visit early in the year; January to April is the windy season, where the winds that start innocently in these islands become hurricanes over the Atlantic. The next time you hear of them they may well have a name and potentially have caused millions of pounds worth of damage – and maybe taken a few lives – on the faraway coast of Florida.

Return to Sal

An early flight to Sal completes the final leg of my journey. I'm staying at the Belorizonte, a typical large hotel complex with two swimming pools, two restaurants and four bars; it has a long beach-front location, with one of its restaurants on the sand, an open veranda for al fresco breakfast making it the perfect place to start the day.

Further along the beach, towards the main town of Santa Maria, the Morabeza offers more upmarket accommodation, though less facilities, while still closer to the town, the Odjo D'Agua is a small but beautifully maintained hotel with a stunning walled pool and sea views. All hotels are graded four star.

African meets European

Santa Maria has two 'quarters' – European, close to the beachfront, with newer buildings and half-built apartments; African towards the saltpans and shantytown settlements away from the sea. Both have their own charms, and even if you are shy about exploring the African streets lined with groups of men, you'll find plenty of willing guides to lead you through the dusty roads and into their shops.

But there's nothing intimidating about the groups that hover in the streets – again, almost exclusively men, though an occasional woman sits on the footpath selling cigarettes and jewellery. The streets never feel unsafe, though people obviously appraise you and will try to engage you in conversation as you pass – the most popular opener being 'How are you?' It's a question to which they supply the answer themselves – 'Fine' – followed closely by 'Where are you from?'

You'll then be invited to a shop selling wooden carvings, jewellery, paintings and fabrics. It's always worth a look – though most of the wares vary little from shop to shop – but the sellers enjoy a banter and the process of haggling. While doing their best to make a sale, there are no hard feelings if you leave empty-handed. The interaction, the conversation and the sharing of a little about your life is also appreciated – not as much as the euros would be perhaps, but enjoyed nonetheless!

On the plane home, I wondered what the future holds for this little archipelago, with construction work evident across much of the islands and real estate offices on every street corner. One thing's for sure, it's a destination that is best explored sooner rather than later. A rich and rewarding holiday awaits – just remember to travel with an enquiring mind and adventurous spirit.

Find out more

The Cape Verde Experience has seven nights' hotel accommodation on Sal from £739 per person, from November 2009. Island-hopping itineraries start from £1,495 per person for a seven-night package. For more information please call the Reservations department on 0845 338 2046 or visit www.capeverdeexperience.co.uk.

www.caboverde.com: a tourist site in several languages
www.caboverdeonline.com:a news site, aimed mainly at expats in Europe and the US

Updated 2009

You might also like...

'Glamping' - or glamorous camping - just one of the latest travel trends...

Your guide to travel health and wellbeing

Travel in style with our ways to make the journey easier