Cape Verde the Islands Borne by the Trade Winds

According to legend, when God was satisfied with Creation He brushed His hands together and the crumbs that fell unnoticed from His fingers into the sea formed the Cape Verde Islands.

Not with standing legend, the volcanic Cape Verde Islands began their slow formation some fifteen million years ago, as volcanoes erupted from the ocean bed creating a new archipelago over countless millennia.

 Opinions differ as to when man first appeared on this tropical scene and some say it was the Phoenicians sailing from their ancient port on the site of today’s Cadiz.

 The Cape Verde Islands lie at that magical point in the Atlantic where the north-east and south-west trade winds converge and sailors have found a safe haven on their shores since Portuguese navigators and other New World discoverers came this way in the fifteenth century.

Many historians believe the islands were discovered by the Venetian, Alvise Cadamosto, who sighted them for the first time in 1456, just before he had seen the Southern Cross stars illuminating the skies.

The islands became strategically important for the Portuguese and Spanish en route to and from the New World, while slave traders soon realised the potential of its location some three hundred miles off the African coast of Senegal.

By the seventeenth century, all the seafaring nations of Europe were plying the Atlantic seaways and with trade and riches came piracy and smuggling adding romance to the islands.

Legendary seafarer Sir Francis Drake made landfall on the isle of Santiago in 1578 and in 1832 the Beagle dropped anchor in Praia and naturalist, Charles Darwin, came ashore only to be fascinated by the island’s unique flora and fauna.

He wrote: “It has been for me a glorious day, like giving to a blind man eyes, he is overwhelmed with what he sees and cannot justly comprehend it”. The islands are divided into the Barlavento (windward) and Sotavento (leeward) groupings.

 The Windward Islands, located to the north, are Sal, Boa Vista, Sao Nicolau, Santa Luzia, Sao Vicente and Santo Antao. The Leeward Islands are Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.

 Contact Stately Investments for further information.

 

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