The walking track near Fontainhas, Ponto do Sol, island of Santa Antao
Cape Verde ended up being my favourite country across a 20-country journey in 2026, but I wasn't entirely surprised. It wasn’t just the landscapes or logistics, but the layering of small encounters, transport quirks, music, and everyday life that made it feel unexpectedly rich.
Located off the west coast of Africa near Senegal, Cape Verde sits within the Macaronesia archipelago alongside the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. The islands are divided into two groups, the Windward Islands in the north and the Leeward Islands in the south. Portugal colonised the archipelago and brought enslaved people from across West Africa, including Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, shaping the Creole culture and language that is still present today. The population is around 600,000.
The biggest early challenge in reaching Cape Verde was logistics. Moving between islands is not casual here, it structures everything. Flights and ferries dictate your route, and you end up building the itinerary around connections rather than geography or preference.
I already knew Santo Antão was non negotiable after seeing images of its green valleys, steep ridges and colourful villages, and reading that solo hiking was entirely possible. But getting there required planning: Santo Antão is accessed via São Vicente, which is reached from either Praia in Santiago or Sal. As Praia had onward connections to Guinea-Bissau and Casablanca, it became my final stop.
A delightful local church in the township of Paul, Santo Antão, which has been repainted in pink.
As of 2026, although, Cape Verde is visa free for most nationalities, you need to complete an EASE form online. This cost me 53.50 € (5900 CVE). For some reason, the computer rounded it UP to 53.51 €. The Cape Verde EASE form is an mandatory online pre-registration for visa-exempt travelers, which stands for Efficient, Automatic, and Secure Entry Process for Travellers. It acts as an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), designed to make entry quicker and includes payment of the Airport Security Tax (TSA). I was caught napping and forgot to apply 5 days before travel, but I still applied two days before travel and it was not rejected. The main thing I was asked for when checking in at Dakar was my Yellow Fever Certificate, which thankfully I had.
Paintings for sale in Santa Maria, Island of Sal.
I have to acknowledge a sense of passport privilege here. Even though West Africans have the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Free Movement Protocol through whichcitizens can travel within member states, they need to provide a return flight ticket, not onward flight ticket. As I was travelling from Senegal to Cape Verde to Guinea Bissau, I actually had more freedom than West Africans in this respect.
The main Catholic church in Santa Maria, Sal, Cape Verde, is the colonial era Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows (Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Dores)
My first flight from Dakar arrived late in the evening, around 20:45. I landed on Sal Island and transferred to Santa Maria, staying at Cam’s Suites, a practical apartment choice with kitchenette and washing machine after weeks of travel through Senegal and The Gambia.
Santa Maria is a resort town at the southern tip of Sal, with long beaches, pastel buildings, music bars and a strong tourism infrastructure shaped largely around European package holidays. The contrast with West Africa was immediate: cleaner beaches, more leisure infrastructure, and a more visibly international tourist scene. Santa Maria, like Senegambia in The Gambia attract tourists from Europe (Belgium and the Netherlands) and the UK, mostly looking for a restful holiday and sun using Tui airlines who offer resort packages.
On my first morning I woke to loud street life outside and walked down to the beach to take it in.
Having recently travelled through five Gulf countries and several African countries where modest clothing was the norm, I found myself slightly disoriented by the level of exposure on the beach. Covered shoulders, loose clothing, and conservative dress had been standard for weeks, so suddenly seeing so much minimal swimwear, and a lot of exposed everything, was quite a shift.
I caught myself thinking I could personally do without the return of G-string bikinis, even while being fully aware that body positivity and body freedom are part of a wider cultural shift.
There is also something interesting happening culturally. As one sociologist has noted, Western fashion has long focused on enhancing and emphasising the body, particularly the butt, which is often framed as both sensual and non reproductive, and therefore tied more to display and pleasure.
For some people this is clearly liberating. Personally, I had wore sunscreen and hat, more concerned about wrinkles and skin cancer than aesthetic theory.
Realising that Santa Maria was not really my scene and knowing that I was only here for three days, I decided to turn it into an advantage, and sought foods for lunch not usually available in the West African countries I had been visiting. I found a café with a beach view, English speaking staff and a menu which contained poke bowls and wine. And I returned to the beach. It was clean and I could wet my legs up to my knees, and I could go on long walks. There was even a lighthouse!
I did visit the botanical gardens in Santa Maria but was disappointed to see that animals they had ‘rescued’ were put into enclosures without sufficient stimuli. One was a monkey that had been used to help pick pocket tourists. Its cage barely any greenery or foliage. On the other side of the highway from the Botanical Gardens, was a dog and cat shelter where tourists can volunteer to walk the dogs. Perhaps I should have contributed rather than waiting to be entertained. Good to know it’s there.
Two full days was just enough for me explore some of Sal Island and eat good food. There was certainly more to do than I experienced and I did not take any day tours which are possible. You can surf or kite surf as it’s the kite surfing premier destination.
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