EU approves special partnership with Cape Verde

The 27-member states of the European Union (EU) on Monday approved in principle a special partnership agreement with Cape Verde in Brussels, meant to strengthen relations between both parties, an official source affirmed in Praia.

The agreement approved by the Council for General Affairs and foreign relations of the EU, is based on findings of a paper from the European Committee on the future of relations with Cape Verde. It is expected to enable Cape Verde to secure a plan of action from the European Union, which should affirm the logic of proximity between Europe and Africa.

Read the rest here.

Cesária Évora at the 2007 JVC Jazz Festival - New York

Cape Verdian living legend Cesária Évora will perform at the 2007 JVC Jazz Festival - New York in June 2007. The festival takes place from the 17th to the 30th of June. Produced by George Wein & The Festival Network, LLC, the annual celebration of jazz and eclectic music features more than 200 events.

Tickets for the Cesaria Evora show vary from $35 to $85. Tickets can be purchased at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 881 Seventh Avenue, at www.carnegiehall.org or by telephone at (212) 247-7800. Or you can visit the official JVC Jazz Festival - New York website for more information.

Here is the music video of the beautiful song Mar Azul, released in 1991 from the album with the same name.

Cape Verde in Cannes Cinema Festival 2007

Cape Verde will be on the spotlight in the Cannes Cinema Festival, one of the most prestigious international cinema competitions. The Festival that started on the 16 of may and ends on the 27th, celebrates this year its 60th anniversary.

The Cannes Cinema Festival will have a day dedicated to Cape Verde (the 24 of May). Also the new short movie by the Portuguese director Pedro Costa "Tarrafal", will debut in the Festival, not participating of the official competition. The movie "Tarrafal" is about the concentration camp that existed in the Santiago Island.

The Cape Verdean theme day have various events demonstrating the culture of the islands, from Cape Verdean gastronomy, to music - Tito Paris and São Vicente’s Carnival music, to name but a few.

Source: A Semana online (portuguese article)

Suzanna - Nha Sonho

Born in Cape Verde, Suzanna Lubrano moved at a very young age to the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Suzanna started singing professionally at eighteen, having recorded a very successful CD with the group Rabelados, and three solo albums: Sem Bó Nes Mund, Fofó and Tudo Pa Bo. Often known as the Queen of Cabo Zouk, her style can be described as a mixture of Zouk and R&B.

This month Suzanna's new single Gone was released, from her long awaited album Saida that will be released in May according to Suzanna's official website. You can listen to Gone in Suzanna's myspace.




While we wait for the new album here is one of Suzanna’s biggest hit songs: Nha Sonho from the album Tudo Pa Bo. With this track Suzanna Lubrano has won the Kora All African Music Award 2003 for Best African Female Artist.

Cape Verde featured on Travel Channel

Known for providing entertaining, practical and inspirational information, the Travel Channel presents an objective perspective on Europe’s hottest new destination: the Cape Verde islands.

You can see the videos here:

Sights and Sounds of Cape Verde – part 1

Sights and Sounds of Cape Verde – part 2

Cape Verde, number one destination for 2007

Cape Verde is this year's number one destination according to Expedia, beating other popular destinations such as Paris, New York and even Morocco, Vietnam, Bulgaria and Cape Town.

Expedia, one of the largest internet-based holiday companies, has declared that Cape Verde will be the number one holiday destination in 2007. Cape Verde proved to be Expedia's customers' top choice thanks to its beautiful landscape, superb white sandy beaches, year-round sunshine and Creole style culture.

Expedia’s Marketing Director comments:

“This year’s list reveals that more and more people are exploring niche destinations and becoming more adventurous with their holiday choices. Our customers prefer to head off the beaten track rather than continue to go back to traditional tourist hot spots. We hope this list will give travellers holiday inspiration to let themselves go and experience new places and cultures in 2007.”

Expedia's Top 10 Destinations for 2007:

1. Cape Verde
   
2. Bulgaria
   
3. Brazil
   
4. Vietnam
   
5. Croatia
   
6. Cape Town
   
7. Devon
   
8. Beijing
   
9. Las Vegas
   
10. Morocco

Lura - Na Ri Na

Lura is as young as the country of her roots, Cape Verde. But she is already considered by some to be the future of Cape Verdean music. Mixing her Cape Verdean heritage and Portuguese influences to a perfect balance, the sultry singer is at her best in front of an audience.

In this music video, Lura sings "Na Ri Na" one of the biggest hits from her 2005 album called "Di Korpu Ku Alma". Lura's latest album is called "M'Bem di Fora".

In Lura, Cape Verde has a beautiful face - and a steely, seductive voice - to represent its traditions.
RollingStone.com CD Review

Lura brings a fresh outsider perspective to the traditional music of her
ancestral isles, looking beyond familiar morna and coladeira popularised worldwide over the last two decades.

BBC Radio Awards for World Music

Real Estate and Properties in Cape Verde

About two years ago travel journalists predicted that the Cape Verde islands could be the next big tourist destination hotspot. And they were not far from the truth. Ever since Cape Verde was featured on BBC Holiday Destinations, the archipelago is being discovered by UK and Ireland tourists. And they are not only coming for a one-time vacation, they are buying property and land too.

Once only known by Portuguese and Italian investors, Cape Verde is an emerging market with massive investment potential. With such assets as stunning sceneries, beautiful white sandy beaches, year long sun and great location (only 3 hours from Lisbon or 5.5 hour direct flights from the UK - no jetlag) the islands are a true tropical paradise just next door.

There are wonderful investment opportunities in Cape Verde, from property to land investments, but the rapidly growing demand in Europe (especially in the UK and Ireland) for the purchase of investment and holiday property and land in Cape Verde are bound to turn the market around into a sellers market. The time for action is now. If you are interested in properties and developments for sale abroad you should really check the Cape Verdean market.

Carnaval 2007 - Mindelo

The Carnival, also known as Mardi Gras, is one of the most anticipated celebrations in Cape Verde. This holiday mobilizes the population that organizes parades and street parties that rival with the best of the world. The most famous carnival in Cape Verde is the one from São Vicente's capital city, Mindelo.

This year, three groups shined in Mindelo's Carnival parade: Sonhos sem Limites (Dreams without Limits), Flores de Mindelo (Mindelo Flowers) and Maravilhas do Espaço (Space Wonders). Maravilhas do Espaço won the majority of the awards, including the Best Group award.

Main Awards:

Best Group Maravilhas do Espaço

King of Carnaval Flores do Mindelo (Nelson Delgado)

Queen of Carnaval Maravilhas do Espaço (Alicia dos Reis Brito)

Best Parade Car Maravilhas do Espaço

Flag Carrier Flores do Mindelo (Ana Júlia Brito)

Best Music Maravilhas do Espaço (Dany and José Pedro Mariano)



A few photos from Mindelo's Carnaval 2007

Photos are courtesy of Mindelo Infos. You can see more photos of the Mindelo's Carnival here.

Maio Island

The town of Maio, the capital of the island, is also known by the name of Vila do Porto Inglês (Town of the English Port) due to the presence of English vessels in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Fairly arid until its recent forestation, the island now offers the greatest expanse of greenery in the archipelago. Maio island is encircled by beaches of fine pearly sand that provides a delicious contrast with the crystalline warm blue sea.

A trip to the island offers a quiet refuge ideal for relaxation. Lovers of diving and fishing can also enjoy the rich sea life. Another favourite tourist attraction is a peculiar form of rodeo involving the capture of a wild donkey.

Brava Island

Brava is the smallest of the inhabited islands of the archipelago of Cape Verde. Being a rare combination of three qualities, colourful, small and beautiful, Brava is also known as the island of flowers. The climate’s freshness and humidity encourages the growth of an unusual abundant vegetation.

Vila de Nova Sintra, the island’s capital, is rich in dream houses and beautiful gardens filled with flowers. The famous Fonte Vinagre, a thermal spa of acidic mineral water with medicinal effects lies nearby the town.

Fajã d’Agua is the name of the sheltered bay which harbours boats in stormy weather. The marine blue of the sea contrasts deeply with the surrounding luxuriously green vegetation, making it an amazing scenery. The bay also provides unrivalled conditions for fishing sports, and is an essential site to be seen.

The island’s abundant beauty makes it a pleasure to wander through its terrain, in search of hidden locations which shelter tiny, but very welcoming populations.

Cape Verde, a top holiday destination

Cape Verde strengthens its position as a top new tourist destination by participating in numerous tourism fairs across Europe. According to news site A Semana online:

In addition to Lisbon and Madrid, Cape Verde will also be represented at the Milan Tourism Fair, the Berlin Tourism Fair, the Deauville Top Resa and the London World Tourism Market.

CI also highlights the importance of the opening of Praia International Airport, which has facilitated access to tourist “products” from the islands of Santiago, Fogo, Brava and Maio, including eco-tourism, religious and rural tourism, business travelling, etc.

In another article A Semana let us know of the plans to increase the number of flights from Lisbon to Sal by portuguese airline TAP.

This growth accompanies the dynamic of the Cape Verde’s transformation process and includes new airports, new ports of entry for tourists into the country. The concentration of entries that began with Sal is becoming diluted, and in a few years we’ll have various points of entry for investments and tourists in Cape Verde.

Also on the news, the new cape Verdean airline, Halcyon Air, will begin to operate in March.

The company will operate daily flights between the archipelago’s three largest islands – Santiago, Sal and Sao Vicente – and will run four weekly flights to Boavista Island and two flights per week between Sal and Fogo islands.

São Nicolau Island

On a clear day, this mountainous island of rugged terrain and unique beauty, offers views of the rest of the archipelago.

Visitors to the island may discover the town of Ribeira Brava, filled with many squares, narrow streets and alleyways, a typical example of colonial influence. The school-seminary is an essential site to visit, along with the parish church and the ancient Sé Catedral (Sé Cathedral). The seminary was the first secondary school in Cape Verde and the entire Western coast of Africa.

The town on Tarrafal is renowned for its beach of black sand, rich in titanium and iodine, and visited by many people in search from relief from physical pains, such as rheumatism.

The bountiful sea that surrounds S. Nicolau attracts fishing lovers from around the world, who always marvel at the abundance of swordfish, blue marlin and other typical species of the region.

Cesária Evora

Her full name is Cesária Joana Evora and she is known as Cise to her friends. But the world has come up with a new name for her: the Barefoot Diva. Born in August 1941 in the city of Mindelo in São Vicente, one of the ten islands which make up the Cape-Verdean archipelago.



The song she sings in this video is Sodade, a morna (a genre of cape-verdean music related to related to Portuguese fado, Angolan lament and Brazilian modinha).

Fogo Island

Originally named São Filipe, Fogo Island (Fire in portuguese) was renamed because of its volcano, which is famous for being one of the most perfectly shaped cones in the world.



The city of São Filipe is the island's capital. Visitors can enjoy the elegant mansions built in the Portuguese colonial style that contrast deeply with the modest surrounding houses.



The island is famous for its production of the famous "café di Fogo" (Fogo's coffee), considered one of the best in the world. Along with the coffee there is also a vine production, in the heart of the volcanic crater. One must-have souvenir is the local wine called manecon, witch is highly appreciated that is produced without any chemicals in its composition.



The volcano is in fact the main tourist attraction on the island taking just over 4 hours to climb to the top. Reaching a height of about 3000 meters, it offers one of the most spectacular views and scenery of the whole of the Cape Verde Islands.

Boavista Island

Boavista is an island of sand dunes, a truly tropical paradise of unique beauty. The long stretches of sand nested against the blue sea, warm currents through-out the year, quiet sand dunes, date palms and acacias dominate the landscape. The beaches in Boavista are amongst the finest in the world and offer ideal conditions for water sports.



The island is also known as the “breeding ground of musicians". In fact the best example of national music was born in Boavista: the morna. Street music and serenades are an integral part of the islander’s way of life.

Mayra Andrade, new cape-verdian singer

Santo Antão Island

The northernmost island of the archipelago is renowned for its jagged mountain peaks and deep valleys.

When arriving at the island by boat, you will first be met by the arid scenery of the Porto Novo city, but once the journey begins towards Ribeira Grande the lanscape changes radically, opening into the luxurious vegetation of the valleys.

Important sites to visit are the valley of Paúl - one of the most beautiful in the island -, and the town which lies stretched out against the sea, next to the airport, Ponta de Sol, that has amazing examples of colonial architecture.

Santo Antão is also renowned as the island of grog, a characteristic Cape Verdian brandy which is still made today by traditional methods of grinding the sugar cane.

The best way to discover Santo Antão definitely close to the nature, in outdoor activities. It is nowadays a very popular destination for trekking, hiking and mountain bike (MTB).

Sal Island

Home to the first Cape Verdian international airport, the scenery when landing on the island is breathtaking. The landscape is arid and almost moon like. But don't be mistaken, Sal is a tourism destination by excellence. Its turquoise sea and golden sands combine to form a contrast with the sterile and arid nature.

Being the most developed island where tourism is concerned, Sal has one of the best beaches in the world. The town of Santa Maria is the site of the beach of the same name - 8 km of golden sands with warm sea temperatures all year round, making it into a paradise for water sports lovers, whether is windsurfing, fishing or snorkeling that takes your fancy. A significant portion of visitors already come here for water sports. Scuba Diving is becoming a big attraction because of the oceans prolific sea life.

The beaches are its main asset, but any visitor should also pay a visit to Salinas de Pedra de Lume, a huge salt pit located in the crater of an inactive vulcano.

São Vicente Island

With a surface area of about 227 km2, this island is endowed with very distinctive features and is the place to go to enjoy the night life, Cape Verde style. Mindelo is the island's capital and its famous for its beautiful clear water bay.

Monte Cara is the main landmark of the city and of the island as a whole.

Must see sites: Fortim do Rei (the King's Fort), Baia das Gatas (Bay of cats), beach of Calhau among others.