Cape Verde OVERVIEW
Cape Verde has music across its heart. It slowly oozes the sorrowful morna, its notes brimming with a nostalgic longing for love, the beloved homeland and sea. The melody sadly echoes life that has never been easy for the Cape Verdeans, an existence scarred with droughts and famine, poverty and mass emigration to help the family with remittance money and break the hearts with yearning. And then resounds the scintillating hip-swinging fusion of samba, salsa and funaná, sprinkled with tribal African tunes, to dance you away into the sunswept beaches and azure ocean. The blend is bewitching and it reaches further to the islands' Portuguese and West African history culture and architecture.
Cape Verde's ten volcanic islands win the hearts of their visitors just as easily as does Cesária Évora, the country's premier export artist, with her mournful songs. Tiny as it is, the land abounds with stunningly diverse landscapes from Fogo's towering volcanic peak to Sal's sun-kissed beaches lapped by turquoise waters and the lush valleys of Santo Antão. Here and there the spectacular natural beauty gives way to the mystery of colonial style towns like Ribeira Grande or Cidade Velha, boasting a 16th century royal fortress of Saint Philip. Each of the islands has its own character like the pulsating cosmopolitan atmosphere of Santiago, Sao Vicente's culture life, Sal's laidback vibe of sandy beaches and Boa Vista quiet diving. And boy, diving is a treat here for the ocean floor is lined with 16th century shipwrecks to explore only a connoisseur can truly appreciate.
Although the country has been struggling economically since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the scenery and friendliness of its people still being an unsung paradise, it surely is on the way to tourist limelight.
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