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Surrounded on one side by an elderly woman with a huge basket full of stunted fruits and vegetables, and on the other by gay children in blue uniforms that never ceased to whistle, giggle and shove each other, I impatiently waited for my tour of the Cape Verde Islands to begin. I was the only white person among the dark-skinned passengers of the popular Toyota HiAce van that serves as the chief mode of transportation in the country. Arlindo, the handsome driver with braided hair intertwined with multicolored small beads, drove around the main square for the tenth time and literally snatched passengers from competition. When we all were packed in like sardines and began to give up hope of ever starting our journey, Arlindo switched on the radio, and in a flash the loud, contagious music opened the souls of the fatigued travelers. The difference between the rich and poor, the young and old, foreigners and locals faded away and we became a single body that swayed to the sounds of a music that suggested an uncommon blend of joy and sorrow, African rhythms and melancholy Portuguese fado. Believe it or not, I’ve never had a more pleasant journey!
If not for the fantastic music and the famous "barefoot diva" Cesaria Evora, few would have heard of the Cape Verde Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean not far from the coast of Senegal. This is not so surprising since this young country, a former Portuguese colony, gained independence only some 30 or so years ago.
From the moment when I saw the first contours of the islands, I could not but gain the impression that someone had played a bad joke by calling them "green". The red, desert-like soil, the barren sand dunes, the bare mountain ridges dominated by the cone of the still active volcano were the only thing I could make out until I landed at the airport in the capital city of Praia on the island of Santiago. There was no trace of any greenery! Owing to the harsh climatic conditions, the islands were uninhabited until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1462, although they are a mere 450 km from the western coast of Africa. Soon after they were discovered, they became the main stop along the slave-drivers’ route to the New World, something that gave them importance and a brief period of prosperity. However, frequent droughts and famine that afflicted the islands during its 400-year status as a Portuguese colony, as well as scant investment in the country’s development and exhaustion of its insignificant natural resources set off large waves of emigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries. More Cape Verde Islands’ people live abroad than in the country itself.
To this day, a mere ten or so percent of food is produced in the country, while drinking water is sometimes obtained through desalination from seawater. This is why prices in this African country are on par with or even higher than in Europe. This often has a confusing effect on the growing number of visiting tourists. Depending on the brochure you have, the islands are called the New Bahamas or the "Portuguese version of the Canary Islands". However, hardly any one of these claims could survive a more serious test due to underdeveloped infrastructure, that is a relatively small number of accommodations outside the Santa Maria main tourist center on the Sal island. The government, however, is placing great hopes in developing the tourism industry, which is slowly but surely becoming the country’s major industrial branch.
During the three and a half weeks of my stay on the Cape Verde Islands, I toured six of the ten islands. Each one is a story unto itself. They differ not only in terms of geographical and climatic features, but also as regards inhabitants, the dialects they speak and the music they play.
Sal and its neighbor Boa Vista are the country’s main tourist centers. They offer a variety of tourist attractions, primarily in the form of beautiful sandy beaches, because continual air currents make it ideal for windsurfing. Although mass tourism and uncontrolled development threaten to destroy the sensitive ecosystems of these islands in the immediate future, there are still the ocean depths that surround them and offer a wide diversity of underwater life, making it a divers’ paradise.
Santo Antao, the westernmost island of the Archipelago, strongly reminds one of the Peruvian Andes with its terraced, green valleys and sharp basalt peaks. The island is crisscrossed with narrow, meandering mountain roads built of hand-cut volcanic rock that aptly speak of natives’ building skills. It is a destination destined for hikers and connoisseurs of good drink. It has a number of distilleries of grog, the famous national drink made from sugar cane.
The country’s cultural capital — the colourful colonial town of Mindelo on the Sao Vicente island — is a must for anyone who enjoys good music and a wild nightlife. During my stay on this island, there was a carnival, meaning that the entire town danced to the sound of samba until the wee morning hours. The biggest surprise for me personally was meeting the owner of the most popular club on the island who is a native Belgrader.
I carry the strongest impressions from the island of Fogo (Fire) that was named after the still active volcano whose last eruption was in 1995. The black volcano cone that rises above sea level to an altitude of almost 3,000 metres is impressive not only owing to its grandiosity but also for its raw beauty. At its foot are two settlements whose 900 residents defy the constant danger of the volcano’s abrupt eruption. Their most numerous residents are children, as borne out also by the fact that those under the age of 14 account for 42 percent of the Cape Verde Islands’ population. Although they live in very poor conditions, without electricity and running water, these incredibly pretty children with characteristic green eyes charmed me with their openness and cheerful disposition.
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In the little town called Sao Filipe, on the last evening of my stay I had the opportunity to attend an unforgettable gig by local musicians who reminded me very much of Cuba in the virtuosity of their playing, spontaneous improvisations as well as their physical appearance. They sang about their country, about poverty, about love and loss, about the sun and rain that never comes. It was then that I realised for the first time what is meant by saudade, the basic feeling permeating the Cape Verde music. This word cannot be properly translated by any corresponding word. It is a word that implies love and pain for someone we miss, as well as fear that they might not return to us.
I had no time to tour the Sao Nicolau, Maio and Brava islands. They must wait for my next visit and as an answer to the question: "Why are you going there again?" It is hard to describe to those who have not experienced in person the energy of the black volcanic country, the sounds of the coladeira and morna, the sun and tears in the eyes of the Cape Verde children – my big saudade… | 
