Your African cruise will take you to a group of ten small islands off the coast of North Africa called Cape Verde. These islands were uninhabited until Portuguese colonization in the fifteenth century. During the sixteenth century the islands became a hub for slave trade. As slave trading slowed few people came through the island until the nineteenth century when it regained popularity as a re-supplying center for ships. In the 1950's a movement toward independence from Portugal began to gain momentum. In June of 1975 the citizens of Cape Verde elected a National Assembly, which Portugal recognized as independent. Cape Verde hosted a one party governmental system until 1991 when it switched to a pluralistic democracy.
Nine of the ten islands of Cape Verde are inhabited. On your Cape Verde tour you will see Mount Fogo, an active volcano that lies on the island of Fogo. A small group of inhabitants live in the volcano's caldera and grow coffee on the its slopes. The islands Sal and Maio hold vast salt flats. Inhabitants of the other islands have developed sugar cane and banana plantations at the base of islands' mountains.
The climate of these islands is fairly moderate. Temperatures range from 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The islands are quite dry. The islands do have some scattered rain between August and October. These islands are very isolated so the animals that you see on your Cape Verde adventure cruise are likely endemic to the islands. Some of the endemic birds include, Alexander's Swift, Raso Lark, and The Cape Verde Warbler. The islands are also home to the Cape Verde Giant Gecko.
Cape Verde's culture is a unique fusion of rural Portugal and West African customs. This mixture comes out in all aspects of the culture from food, to dances and the popular activities on the islands.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.