Island Profiles

The cuisine of Cabo Verde is a robust cuisine derived from Portuguese and African influences.  The Portuguese brought livestock to the islands and the Africans brought numerous tropical crops from the continent. In addition, fruits and vegetables from the new world and the east were brought to the islands at one time or another. One of the most ubiquitous ingredients in Cabo Verdean cuisine is corn.  Cachupa, the national dish, is a stew made from  hominy and beans with fish…

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The archipelago of Cabo Verde represents a great diversity of landscapes. Here you can find rugged mountain peaks, flat deserts of sand dunes, fertile green mountain valleys, volcanoes, lakes of salt, and endless white sand beaches. The islands lie in a horseshoe formation, with the more Portuguese influenced islands of the Barlavento, or windward group in the north and the more African influenced islands of the Sotavento, or leeward group in the South. Let’s start from the top of the…

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There are few places in the world that can claim as high a concentration of musicians in it’s culture as the islands of Cabo Verde.  Music is the soul of these islands and there are numerous unique traditions and styles that have developed during the course of Cabo Verde’s stormy and troubled history. This island nation currently has a population of just over a half million people. There are more Cape Verdeans living in other countries, such as Portugal and…

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The Portuguese first established themselves on the island of São Tiago (Santiago) in the year 1462. Ribeira Grande (now known as Cidade Velha) is generally considered to be the first European settlement in the tropics. Due to poor record keeping, there seems to be a degree of uncertainty as to who first sighted or set foot on Cabo Verde. The Genoan Antonio da Noli and the Venetian Alvise Cadamosto, both explorers in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of…

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Our next destination is the island archipelago of Cabo Verde. Although historically known in English as Cape Verde, the island nation’s government declared in 2013 that the Portuguese version of it’s name, Cabo Verde would be used for all official purposes. Located  in the central Atlantic  about 350 miles off the western coast of Africa, this island nation achieved independence from Portugal in 1975. It is one of the most highly developed countries in Africa in spite of a lack…

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