Cape Verde Holidays

Cape Verde Holidays

Why not take a vacation in the great Island nation of Cape Verde. It can be an awesome place for a vacation. You may want to enjoy the weather the culture, the beaches the mountains. You may want to rent, buy, sell, hire, loan, timeshare a villa, a house, an apartment, a flat, a home, a cottage, hotel room, a beach villa in the nation. The beach villas may be cheap or luxury.

The Cape Verde Islands are located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean some 570 km off the west coast of Africa. The archipelago consists of 10 islands and 5 islets, divided into the windward (Barlavento) and leeward (Sotavento) groups. The six islands in the Barlavento group are Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal, and Boa Vista. The islands in the Sotavento group are Maio, Santiago, Fogo, and Brava. All but Santa Luzia are inhabited.

Three islands – Sal, Boa Vista, and Maio – generally are level and lack natural water supplies. Mountains higher than 1,280 meters are found on Santiago, Fogo, Santo Antão, and São Nicolau.

Main International Airports:

Amílcar Cabral International Airport, Sal Island
Praia International Airport, Santiago Island

Sand carried by high winds has caused erosion on all islands, especially the windward ones. Sheer, jagged cliffs rise from the sea on several of the mountainous islands. The lack of natural vegetation in the uplands and coast also contributes to soil erosion. Only the interior valleys support natural vegetation.

Rainfall is irregular, historically causing periodic droughts and famines. During the winter, storms blowing from the Sahara sometimes form dense dust clouds that obscure the sun; however, sunny days are the norm year round.

The ocean near Cape Verde is an area of tropical cyclone formation; since these storms have the whole Atlantic over which to develop as they move westward, they are among the most intense hurricanes, and are called Cape Verd type hurricanes.

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Highest point: Mount Fogo 2,829 m (a volcano on Fogo Island)

Natural resources
Salt, basalt rock, pozzuolana (a siliceous volcanic ash used to produce hydraulic cement), limestone, kaolin, fish

Geography - note
Strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site

Santo Antão (Portuguese for "Saint Anthony"), or Sontonton in Cape Verdean Creole, is the westernmost and largest of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. The nearest main island is São Vicente to the southeast, separated by a channel named Canal de São Vicente. It is the westernmost large island in Cape Verde and the continent of Africa, and the second largest in Cape Verde. The island, entirely made up of volcanic material. The tallest mountain is Topo de Coroa, reaching a height of 1,979 m. The second tallest is Pico da Cruz at 1,585 m. The island is divided into north and south by a mountain range long considered impenetrable but now crossed by a road. The island’s main town is Ponta do Sol on the north coast, home to an airport, while its ferry port is Porto Novo on the south coast. A part of the island in the southeast has an arid climate, while the northwest receives relatively normal precipitation. Its valleys are suffering heavy erosion. Tourism is becoming one of the most dominant industries on the island. There has been some investment in Rural tourism infrastructures. Parishes and settlements

Alto Mira, Chã das Furnas, Coculi, Corvo, Cruzinha, Curral da Russa, Eito, Eito de Baixo, Espongeiro, Fontainhas, Formiguinhas, Janela, Lomba dos Pombas,
Lomba de Santo, Lourenço, Monte Trigo, Nossa Senhora do Rosário - parish, Nossa Senhora do Livramento - parish, Paul (PA-oo), incorrectly Paúl, Passo, Pombas, Ponta do Sol, Porto Novo, Ribeira da Cruz, Ribeira das Bras, Ribeira Grande, Santo António das Pombas - parish, Santo Crucifixo - parish, São João Baptista - parish, São Pedro Apóstolo - parish, Sinagoga, Tarrafal de Monte Trigo

São Vicente

The island is roughly rectangular in shape with a surface area of ca. 227 km². From east to west it measures 24 km and from north to south no more than 16 km. The terrain includes mountains in the west, the southwest, the south, the east-central and the north. The area is flat in the north-central, the central part, the eastern part south of Calhau and the northern part in the Baía das Gatas area. The urban area of Mindelo is in the northern part. Much of the island is deforested.

Geographical features

Ponta de Doca, in the northern part of the island, Ponta Marigou, north, the northernmost point on the island, Ponta da Fregata, in the northeastern part of the island, Praia Grande (meaning large beach), northeast, Ponta do Calhau, located in the east, Ponta da Vianna, located in the east, Ponta de Saragaça, located in the east southeast, Ponta da Várzea, located in the southeast, Ponta do Matadouro, located in the south southeast, Ponta da Calheta Grande, located in the east southeast, Ponta do Sul, located in the south, Ponta Araújo, in the south-southwestern part of the island, Ponta da Ribeira da Caixa, in the southwestern part of the island, Ribeira Julião tributary.

Santa Luzia (Portuguese for Saint Lucy) is an island of the Barlavento archipelago in Cape Verde located between São Nicolau and São Vicente. The area is 35 km² (some reads 34 km²). The highest point is Monte Grande elevating 395 m. Home to a small agricultural population in the eighteenth century, desertification led to its abandonment, while it later acted as a hermitage. It was formerly home to a unique lizard. In the 20th century, a meteorology station was built.

São Nicolau is an isle of Cape Verde.

Sal (Portuguese for “salt” — from the mines at Pedra de Lume) is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento. The island is composed by a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is 30 km long by 12 km wide. It is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the archipelago, with white sandy beaches and fairly flat. The highest elevation of 406 m at Monte Grande. Serra Negra has a height of 92 m.

Boa Vista is the easternmost island of Cape Verde. It is located in the Barlavento group of the archipelago. The island is known for marine turtles and traditional music, as well as its ultramarathon and its sand dunes and beaches.

Settlements

Baforeira, Cabeço dos Tarrafes, Curral Velho, Estância de Baixo, Fundo das Figueiras, Gata, João Barreiro, João Galego, Norte, Povoação Velha, Rabil, Sal Rei, Santo Tirso
Maio (in Cape Verdean Creole: Dja r’ Mai) is the easternmost of the Sotavento islands of Cape Verde. Maio is located south of the islands of Boa Vista and east of Santiago. The island is also known for its large forest, which is unusual for Cape Verde.

The island covers an area of 269 km². The tallest mountain on the island (436 m) is on the east coast, in a mountain range named Monte Penoso. Terra Salgadas is a plain filled with salt, in the far north. The northernmost point on the island is Ponta Cais. Bays includes Galeão and Santana to the north. The island’s main town is Vila do Maio, also known as Porto Inglês, near which its airport lies.

Settlements

Alcatraz, Barreiro, Calheta, Figueira da Horta, Figueira Seco, João, Lagoa, Monte Branco, Morro, Morrinho, Pedro Vaz, on Maio's east coast, Pedro Vaz, near Galeão, Pilão Cão, Porto Cais, Praia Gonçalo, Ribeira Dom João, Santo Antônio, Vila do Maio (formerly Porto Inglês, meaning English Port)

Fogo (Portuguese for "fire") is an island in the Sotavento group of Cape Verde. It is the most prominent of the group, rising to nearly 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level at Mount Fogo.

The island is located between the islands of Santiago and Brava. Practically the whole island is an active volcano that has been periodically active, last erupting in 1995, forming a new crater called Pico Pequeno. Its largest feature is a 9 km wide caldera, which has walls 1 km high. The caldera has a breach in its eastern rim, and a large peak rises in the centre. The central cone Pico forms the highest point of the island and its summit is about 100 m higher than the surrounding wall of the caldera. Lava from the volcano has reached the eastern coast of the island within historical times.

A small village, called Chã das Caldeiras, exists at the base of the volcano, and the residents are periodically evacuated during eruptions.

The island's main town is São Filipe, near which is an airport. First settled in the 1480s, it is largely an agricultural island. The islands also houses schools, a gymnasium, banks, a post office, some hotels and squares (praças). São Filipe's buildings use classic Portuguese colonial architecture. Mosteiros in the northeast is the island's second most important town. The historic town of São Filipe and Chã das Caldeiras in the volcanic crater receive the bulk of visitors.

Parishes and Settlements

Achada, also Achada Furnas, Achada Grande, Atalaia , Bangaeira, Chã das Caldeiras, Cova Figueira, Coxo, Curral Grande, Estancía Roque, Fajãzinha, Figueira Pavão, Fonsaco, Fonte Aleixo, Furna, Galinheiros, Lomba, Monte Grande, Mosteiros, Patim, Ponta Verde, Ribeira Ilhéu, Salto, Santo António, São Filipe, São Jorge, São Lourenço, Vicente Dias

Brava is an island in Cape Verde. It is the smallest inhabited island of Cape Verde, in the Sotavento group. First settled in the 1540s, its population grew after Mount Fogo on neighbouring Fogo erupted in 1675. Its main industry was long whaling, but the island is now primarily agricultural.

The main town is Vila Nova Sintra. The island has schools, a lyceum, a gymnasia, churches, and a square (praça) including one in honour of the famous musician Eugénio Tavares. All of the five villages lie north of the mountaintop, which has four main roads including Furna - Vila Nova Sintra and Fajã de Agua and south to Nova Sintra do Monte and slightly south of the mountaintop. The two large islands north of Brava are uninhabited. The mountain valleys dominate the south, the east and the west. The north has a few valleys. The village of Furna has a commercial port.

Settlements

Cachaço, Campo Baixo, Cova Joana, Fajã de Agua, Furna, Lime Doce, Mato Grande, Nova Sintra do Monte, Santa Bárbara, Tantum, Vila Nova Sintra

Find a Villa from Across Europe

Grand World Villas - Find a Villa from anywhere in the world

Grand Global Villas - Find Villas from Around the Globe

Planet Villas

An Index with links to almost all our sites.

Get a Villa in Spain

Villas in Portugal

Holiday to - Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 2 - More Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 3 - More places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 4 - More places to go on Holiday to