Feel the Pulse in Praia, Cape Verde

raia, the capital of Santiago Island in the Cape Verde group is a city with a pulse, compared to Santo Antão that can boast of stunning beauty with its peaks, valleys, volcano and rugged coastline.

The colonial town centre of Praia is on a plateau with colourful ancient buildings and monuments attesting to the Portuguese past, but today the Creole population and lifestyle is more akin to that of West Africa. Women carry everything from vegetables to fruit and fish on their heads, and witnessing this colourful local custom adds special attraction to our visit to the Municipal Markets in the centre of town.

Street band entertains as we hit the main square

Straight backs!

e seem to be speeding towards the coast of West Africa, or perhaps I’m speeding up with the excitement of getting to our first port of call there, Dakar in Senegal, for a just a few hours tomorrow afternoon. As the time is so short ashore, Edmundo and I relented, and bought another ‘tour’ to have the best chance of seeing the main sights. If that German woman, who coughs and doesn’t cover her mouth comes anywhere near us in the confines of the minibus , it will be I who crowns her.

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