Continuing with Cabo Verde…
The other day, we shared the first part of some interesting facts about this destination, which more and more people are choosing for their volunteering experience.
Today, we would like to share a second selection of interesting facts that make this destination such a welcoming and special place.
THE LANDSCAPE CHANGES COMPLETELY FROM ONE ISLAND TO ANOTHER
One of the most interesting facts about Cabo Verde is the enormous variety of landscapes found within a relatively small territory.
Santo Antão offers mountains, trails, cliffs and green valleys. Boa Vista combines extensive beaches with dunes and desert areas. Sal features arid landscapes and vast open spaces beside the ocean. Fogo is dominated by its volcano and lava fields. Brava, the smallest inhabited island, can display surprisingly lush vegetation and areas covered in flowers.
These differences are due to the terrain, the geological age of each island, their exposure to the winds and the uneven distribution of rainfall. Mountainous islands tend to retain more moisture, while flatter islands have much drier landscapes.
This diversity shows that there is no single Cabo Verdean landscape. The image of pale sandy beaches represents only a small part of a territory where we can also find mountain paths, volcanic soils, cliffs, farmland and semi-desert areas.
WATER IS AN ESPECIALLY VALUABLE RESOURCE
Cabo Verde has an arid and semi-arid climate. Rainfall is scarce and irregular, droughts are frequent and many islands have few permanent watercourses. At certain times, rainfall can be concentrated into just a few days and fall torrentially.
This reality affects agriculture, construction, household finances and many everyday activities. It also explains the importance of water storage, desalination, consumption control and the responsible use of every available resource.
For someone arriving from a place where water is readily available simply by turning on a tap, this reality can be particularly revealing.
Volunteering allows you to observe how environmental conditions directly influence the life of a community. It also encourages you to reconsider personal habits that may seem normal, such as leaving the water running for too long or using more than necessary.
Adapting to local conditions does not simply mean accepting certain inconveniences. It means understanding why particular rules exist and acting responsibly so as not to increase the pressure on resources that are already limited.
CABO VERDE IS A VITAL TERRITORY FOR SEA TURTLES
The waters of Cabo Verde are home to five species of sea turtle: green, leatherback, olive ridley, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles. However, it is the loggerhead turtle, or Caretta caretta, that regularly nests in large numbers on the beaches of the archipelago.
Boa Vista accounts for approximately two-thirds of the nesting activity recorded in the country, making it a particularly important area for the conservation of this species.
The turtles face threats such as poaching, plastic pollution, artificial lighting, beach degradation and certain types of coastal construction. For this reason, different local organisations carry out night patrols, protect nests, collect data and organise awareness-raising activities.
This reality demonstrates that conservation does not simply involve observing animals. It requires research, education, community work, monitoring and long-term collaboration.
Anyone participating in an environmental initiative must follow the instructions of the specialist team, maintain the necessary distance and avoid interfering with the animals’ behaviour.
The aim is not to obtain a photograph, touch a hatchling or experience something spectacular. The priority must always be to reduce human impact and help wildlife complete its natural processes.
CIDADE VELHA PRESERVES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ATLANTIC HISTORY
Cidade Velha, formerly known as Ribeira Grande, is located on the island of Santiago. It was the first European colonial settlement built in the tropics and played a fundamental role in the maritime routes connecting Africa, Europe, Brazil and the Caribbean.
The city preserves part of its historic layout, several churches, a royal fortress and Pelourinho Square, where a 16th-century marble pillar can still be seen.
However, its history cannot be understood solely through its buildings. Cidade Velha was also a major centre of the Atlantic trade in enslaved people and a place connected to centuries of violence, exploitation and colonial domination.
UNESCO considers the site to provide exceptional testimony to the development of the Atlantic slave trade and the emergence of the first fully developed Creole societies.
Visiting or studying Cidade Velha requires us to examine the past in depth. It is not simply about looking at ancient monuments, but about understanding the human consequences of a history that continues to influence the country’s identity.
For a volunteer, understanding this context is essential. It is not possible to collaborate responsibly within a community without attempting to understand the historical processes that have shaped its language, economy, inequalities and culture.
CABO VERDE GAINED ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1975
After several centuries under Portuguese rule, Cabo Verde gained its independence on 5 July 1975.
This date is one of the most important moments in the country’s contemporary history and is commemorated each year as a national celebration.
Independence did not automatically eliminate the existing difficulties. The new state had to face problems related to limited resources, drought, emigration and geographical isolation.
Despite this, Cabo Verde has built a strong national identity that combines its African roots, Creole heritage and historical relationship with different territories across the Atlantic.
Understanding this history helps to avoid an overly simplified view of the country. Cabo Verde is not merely a peaceful or exotic destination: it is a society that has experienced complex colonial, migratory, economic and environmental processes.
THE OCEAN ACTS AS A BORDER, A ROUTE AND A SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD
In an archipelago, the sea is present in practically every aspect of life.
The ocean separates the islands, but it also connects them. Travel between them can take place by plane or boat, although not all islands have the same transport connections. Santo Antão and Brava, for example, are only accessible by sea.
The sea has also been a source of food, employment, communication and emigration. Fishing continues to play an important role in many communities, and numerous traditional dishes are prepared with fish or seafood.
At the same time, the ocean highlights the vulnerability of island territories to pollution, tourism pressure and environmental change.
During a volunteering experience, this relationship with the sea can be seen in the food, landscapes, schedules, conversations and the way communities understand distance.
COMMUNITY LIFE PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE
In many Cabo Verdean communities, especially outside the tourist areas, everyday life retains a deeply communal dimension.
Conversations outside people’s homes, greetings in the street, celebrations, music and family gatherings all form part of the community’s usual rhythm. The country’s tourism office describes Cabo Verdean culture as a way of living in the present through conversations and walks around the villages.
A volunteer may need a few days to adapt to this different way of organising relationships and time.
Plans may change, conversations may last longer and certain processes may be slower than expected. Interpreting these differences as a lack of organisation would be a mistake. In many cases, they reflect different priorities, circumstances and ways of relating to others.
Adapting does not mean abandoning responsibility or punctuality. It means observing before judging and understanding that our own cultural habits are not universal.
VOLUNTEERING TEACHES YOU TO LOOK BEYOND STEREOTYPES
Before travelling, it is easy to reduce Cabo Verde to certain images: beaches, music, sunshine or tropical landscapes.
However, living in the country for a longer period allows you to discover a much more complex reality. Cabo Verde represents hospitality and cultural richness, but also water scarcity, emigration, inequality, accessibility difficulties and environmental challenges.
A responsible volunteering experience should not portray communities as passive groups that need to be saved. Local people possess knowledge, skills and experience relating to their own reality.
The role of a volunteer is to collaborate under the guidance of local teams, support existing processes and recognise that any individual contribution is limited.
The experience also requires us to reassess our own expectations. Not everything will happen as we imagined, not every result will be visible and not every way of helping will be what we initially had in mind.
In many cases, the most important lesson is precisely to listen, observe and accept that the community should be the one to set the priorities.
THE GREATEST LESSONS APPEAR IN SMALL MOMENTS
The most interesting facts about Cabo Verde are not always found in a travel guide.
They can also be discovered while sharing a meal, learning a word in Creole, listening to a song, accompanying someone during an everyday task or talking with a member of the local team.
These small moments help us understand that travelling is not simply about moving physically from one place to another. It also involves questioning our ideas, changing our habits and learning new ways of relating to other people.
A volunteering experience can allow us to discover Cabo Verde from within, but this access requires time, respect and a willingness to learn.
It is not about arriving to explain how things should be done, but about asking how they work, why they work in that way and how we can collaborate without displacing those who have been working in the community for years.
DISCOVERING CABO VERDE FROM WITHIN
Cabo Verde is a country of contrasts: green islands and desert landscapes, volcanic mountains and extensive beaches, periods of scarcity and immense generosity, nostalgia for those who have left and strong connections to the homeland.
Its identity can be heard in morna, spoken in Creole, shared around a cachupa and felt in the morabeza with which many people welcome those who arrive.
Taking part in a volunteering experience in Cabo Verde allows you to approach this reality from a deeper perspective. You not only discover new landscapes, but also stories, customs, challenges and different ways of understanding community.
The true richness of the experience is not found solely in what we may contribute during our stay. It can also be found in everything we learn when we stop observing the destination from the outside and begin to form part, even temporarily, of its everyday life.
Because discovering Cabo Verde is not simply about visiting its islands. It means listening to its music, respecting its rhythms, understanding its history and allowing its way of seeing the world to transform our own.
