Fogo

Sao Nicolau

Santo Antao

Sao Vicente

Sal

Sal's most stunning features are its turquoise sea and powdery white sandy beaches. In the past decade, Sal has really moved on in terms of accommodating for the increase of tourism. The new Moorish style Rui hotel is due to open in November 2006. Smaller hotels have also sprung up along this coastal town of Santa Maria. There has also been a big increase in souvenir shops, bars and restaurants. The local market sells colourful sand paintings, woodcarvings and jewellery. Several of the vendors are immigrants from Senegal or other islands. Expect to see a few stray dogs roaming the cobbled streets.

Out of the nine inhabited islands, Sal is one of the best for water sports including scuba diving and fishing. I tried my hand at fishing - well I definitely made a catch or two! I went out on a catamaran owned by Gerard and Pascal. Anchoring around 6 km offshore and stopping at a depth of circa 60m there was a wonderful assortment of marine life to be caught. In the distance flying fish could be seen skimming the surface of the blue ocean. Windsurfing is also popular on the coast of Santa Maria and sometimes locals prepare a tuna catch on the beach.

During two 20m dives I was fortunate enough to spot the following: an Atlantic nurse shark, sting ray, balloon fish, west African angel fish, European parrot fish, bream, sharp nose puffers, west African coral groupers and royal spiney lobster to name a few. Many Atlantic trumpet fish can be seen swimming under the cave entrance and black eared Moray eels can be seen poking there heads out of rock holes. There is a colourful abundance of coral.

Lobster by the beach is a must (if you don't mind spending around 2500 esc or approx 16GBP at the Beach club). It comes served with rice and two long tools to scoop the most out of the crevices (and that's definitely an art in itself). The staple diet of the islands is fish and this is often a simple cuisine served with vegetables. Yes Cape Verde is a great place for a detox!