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Cape Verde
"Marooned in the Atlantic, several hundred miles west of Senegal, the Cape Verde islands are one of the world's most out of the way destinations. Yet, these fascinating, if ill-starred, islands make for a tremendously rewarding experience for anyone with an interest in the obscure.
Unpopulated when the Portuguese discovered them in the 15th century, slaves were imported from Africa, and the islands became a major pivotal point in the North American slave trade. Another import - goats - succeeded in ridding much of the islands of the majority of their vegetation, and Darwin, who stopped here on his voyage on the Beagle, paid them the backhanded compliment of saying they possessed a certain desolate majesty.
The climate remains a fierce one (yet, ironically, excellent for the visitor) - there's very little rain, and the serious heat is mitigated by constant cooling winds. It's very difficult to grow anything on the islands, a fact that has led to mass migration - there are more Cape Verdeans living abroad than on the islands.
Yet there's plenty to delight the visitor. The population are immensely friendly, well educated and healthy (most of the major diseases that afflict mainland Africa are unknown here), and there are many natural wonders. There are the beautiful white sand beaches of Sal, the gardens of Brava, the awesome volcano of Fogo (which, unbelievably, supports a village in its black ash-blown crater), and the extraordinarily lush and spectacular Santa Antao. One side of this mountainous island is as barren as the rest of Cape Verde, but cross the peaks at the island's heart and a breathtakingly verdant and precipitous landscape unfolds - a curious microclimate means that water falls here when the rest of the islands are suffering drought. Just one of the many surprises Cape Verde has in store.
(The easiest way to reach Cape Verde is to fly via Lisbon.)
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