Cape Verde (or Cabo Verde) is an archipelago about 400 miles west of Senegal in West Africa. Many people visit to enjoy its spectacular beaches, especially on the islands of Boa Vista, where the sand dunes stretch for miles and miles, and Sal, famed for its watersports. Others are lured here by the spectacular mountains of Santo Antão or Santiago. Each of the 10 islands is very different and unique but if you visit any of the islands you will see influences from Africa and Portugal as well as South America.
Mindelo
The islands culture capital is said to be in Mindelo on the island São Vicente, once home to the bare foot diva, Cesaria Evora, the islands most famous singer. A few years ago I spent a Sunday afternoon there, wandering through the back streets, photographing the people and the wonderful architecture, a reminder of its colonial past. Everyone I met was happy to be photographed as they went about their daily life. As you can probably tell it’s a very laid back place. If you followed my blog for a while you may have seen some of these photographs before but I’ve brought this collection together for this week’s #FriFotos. (If you are unfamiliar with FriFotos you’ll find more information at the end of this post.)
#FriFotos
For those not familiar with #FriFotos, every Tuesday many of us who love Twitter look forward to finding out what the theme for the weekly #FriFotos will be. Then, come Friday, we tweet appropriate photographs using this hash tag. I always enjoy sharing a few of my photos and checking out what others are sharing but I never have as much time as I would like, hence this post.
This week’s theme, as I think may have already guessed, is ‘urban’ and I’ll be sharing some of these photos. Care to join me at #FriFotos?
Related posts
Other Urban FriFotos Posts
Travel Destination Bucket List
Travel With Kat posts on Cape Verde
A slice of lemon with your barnacles madame?
The perfect beach holiday, whether horizontal on a sun-bed or surfing the turquoise waters
It looks such a laidback, beautiful place, Kat. Lovely post.
Johanna Bradley recently posted..Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post : Captivating
Thanks Johanna. I’d love to go back there sometime.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..The powers of the shea nut and a thunderclap on International Women’s Day
Thanks for the shout out!
Love the smiles and colors in your photos.
Cat recently posted..Shadows – #FriFotos Theme
Thanks Cat and I love your shadows. I didn’t have time to do another one last week and don’t think I have enough photos of cocktails for this week’s theme but I’ll certainly be doing it again for another time.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..Egypt… is it safe to travel there?
What I have spotted in your photos Kat is that people smile a lot despite the enormous poverty, which is so wonderful. Love the photo with girls and the dog. The dog’s so cute.
Agness recently posted..Weekend Breaks in London: Cheaper Alternatives to City Centre Accommodation
Thanks Agness. I’m certainly no expert but as far as I’m aware there is not as much poverty in Cape Verde as there is in some of the other countries I have been to in West Africa. That being said it is still a problem. I did meet a number of people living rough (mainly young boys) in Cape Verde, which I’ve never come across in The Gambia, for instance, even though The Gambia is a very poor country. I have found in general, the people of West Africa are very friendly and nearly always have a smile for you, no matter what their situation.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..Serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident
Love the blue door and the old man, but they are all splendid urban shots!
Not sure how this challenge works Kat, can you Tweet the link anytime during the week or is it restricted to Fridays?
Madhu recently posted..Fortress In Focus!
Hi Madhu, If you search #FriFotos on Twitter every Tuesday evening you should find a tweet announcing the theme for the following Friday.
Then on Friday loads of people, all over the world, tweet their photos that fit the theme with the hash tag #FriFotos somewhere in the tweet.
So every Friday when you search Twitter for #FriFotos lots of great photos on that week’s theme will come up.
https://www.twitter.com/FriFotos
(Rules are that if the photo isn’t yours you say who the photographer is or at very least where you got it from.)
The is the first time I’ve used it as a theme for a post but enjoyed so will probably do it again.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..Serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident
They’re great people photos – I’ve never generally taken photos of local people on my travels but vertainly intend to from now on.
travellingbag recently posted..The Blue and White Island.
Thank you. You do have to over come any awkwardness you might feel about invading people’s privacy but most people don’t mind. If you smile and indicate that you would like to take a picture of someone and they don’t want you to, they’ll make it pretty obvious! It well worth though.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..Serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident
Great photos Kat! So vibrant!
Just putting the finishing touches on FriFotos – pop on by and have a look!
Anita Mac recently posted..Dog Sledding – the exhilaration of a day with the dogs
Thanks Anita, Haven’t read the post you’ve linked to yet but will pop back there in a minute. Just had to say… those dogs are adorable!
Really delighted to see you’ve also done a post on #FriFotos.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..London Days Out: Brick Lane
What a wonderful set of photographs. I have never been to the Cape Verde islands but would love to visit, more so since I have seen these pictures. It seems life there is so laid back and that is in an urban setting. Time must be going backwards in the more rural areas!
(dofollow)
Gordon Lethbridge recently posted..Finland: Winter Funland
Thanks Gordon. It certainly is a laid back place, although these were taken on a Sunday which should always be taken at a slow pace wherever you.
Kathryn Burrington recently posted..Cabo Verde Urban Photography