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Cape Verde: Cape Verde Islands
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With cold ocean currents that keep temperatures surprisingly mild, Cape Verde is pleasant year-round. Even during the so-called rainy season from mid-August to mid-October, weeks can go by without a downpour. Many come during the festive Carnival season in February/March. If you visit in winter you may need a sweater - especially at higher altitudes - although average daily minimums never fall far below 20°C (68°F). Things do get a little stickier in the southern islands (especially Fogo) during summer.
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The Cape Verde Islands are at the very northern limit of the tropical rain belt and therefore have a Dry-Tropical climate. If the rains do come (and they often don't), it is usually between August and October. Average daily maximum temperatures range from about 25ºC in January to 29ºC in August. Sea Surface Temperatures range from about 21ºC in winter to about 26ºC in the late summer.
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Despite being near to the African continent, Cape Verde has exemplary sanitary standards, with no contagious or endemic diseases, and with good coverage on all the islands. Its levels place it among the first of African countries and therefore, for this reason, no vaccination is required before entering the country.
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The Cape Verde Islands played a pivotal role in the transatlantic Slave Trade. European colonisation of the new world required a labour force to exploit the land and was a ready market for the cheapest labour of all, slaves. Along with goods, the Cape Verde Islands ... had exclusive rights to the trade in slaves from the West African coast. Apart from this legal necessity for the slaves to pass through the Cape Verde slave markets, the Islands also offered slave traders several advantages over direct trade with the African coast. The hardship of imprisonment and the sea journey from the African mainland would have already killed many of the weaker slaves, meaning that a higher proportion would survive the cramped Atlantic crossing. Secondly, the slaves that were for sale in Ribeira Grande would have received basic training and learned some Portuguese.
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The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered the islands in 1456. African slaves were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. As a result, Cape Verdeans are of mixed African and European origin. The influence of African culture is most pronounced on the island of Santiago, where half the population resides. Sparse rain and few natural resources historically have induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. It is believed that of the more than 1 million individuals of Cape Verdean ancestry, fewer than half actually live on the islands.
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The Cape Verde islands were discovered by Portugal in 1456 and settled 6 years later. An eruption beginning in 1500 appears to have continued for about 260 years, with behavior similar to that of Italy's Stromboli. The islands were an important point in the trans-shipment of slaves until the 18th century. Independence from Portugal came in 1975.
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Cape Verde Islands