June 16th, 2009
Cape Verde Islands: Honeymoon Holiday
OK, so we got married in October 2008, but a five-day city break in Amsterdam does not a relaxing honeymoon make…
Once we were over the ‘I thought we were going to Cuba, now we’re going to the Cape Verde Islands’ shock, we got rather excited about the super-exotic paradise awaiting us. We weren’t disappointed. Departing Manchester at 9am on the Monday morning, the flight lasted a mediocre six hours. Darren was well equipped to cope however, with his Wide-Screen-Eye-Wear ‘cinema-goggles’ which allow you to watch films as if on a 52-inch screen, connected to his iPhone. I just had simple book, ‘The Secret Life of Bees’, which though good, didn’t hold my attention for the entire flight.
Cape Verde is a former Portuguese colony, gaining independence in 1975. It is an archipelago comprising ten islands – some mountainous, some flat and sandy – in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They are the next group of Islands below the Canary Islands, off the West Coast of Africa. They enjoy a calming breeze off the Atlantic and experience around 30 days of rain a year, if they are lucky! We chose ‘Boa Vista’, which means ‘Beautiful View’. The two main languages on the island are Portuguese and Cape Verde Creole.
As we came into land, the hotel loomed large beneath us; a sprawling sand-castle in the desert. The airport was little more than a ruined fortress, completely open to the skies. There was a fair breeze, but the heat was a balmy 27C. Our passports were stamped, our cases were almost first off the conveyor, and an air-conditioned coach was ready to take us the five minute journey to our resort. Read more …