Boat and plane. For inter-island flights with Best Fly airline, we provide you with available schedules and fares. Maritime connections between islands are operated by CV Interilhas. All islands are served, crossings are often lengthy and delays frequent. However, maritime connections are less expensive than domestic flights.

The official language of Cap-Vert is Portuguese, but the inhabitants speak primarily Cape Verdean Creole, the only indigenous language spoken on the archipelago.

English and French are taught in schools. Cap-Vert is a member of the International Organization of la Francophonie and the Parliamentary Assembly of la Francophonie.

Traditional craftsmanship skills are (partly) part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage. However, many artisanal techniques declined or disappeared from the beginning of colonization, and even more so with globalization, without being adequately documented and recorded.

Local craftsmanship remains relatively modest, but is developing. It consists mainly of batiks (artisanal dyes), ceramics, sculptures carved from stone or coconut, and shell jewelry. Mindelo is home to a National Craftsmanship Centre, and several talented creators have settled in Santa Maria.

National Holiday

July 5th: Independence Day (1975).

Festival Calendar

January 1st: New Year's Day. January 13th: Democracy Day. January 20th: National Heroes Day. February: Carnival. March 8th: International Women's Day. March–April: Easter. May 1st: Labour Day. July 5th: National Day. November 1st: All Saints' Day. December 25th: Christmas. In addition, there are numerous patron saint festivals on all islands.

Music

Cape Verdean music is a blend of diverse musical influences following Portuguese colonization of the island and the forced immigration of African populations. Initially rural, it has increasingly urbanized and now reflects the influence of Brazilian music.

Primarily renowned for morna, popularized by Bana, with the most internationally recognized singer being Cesária Évora, the islands of Cap-Vert are also marked by other genres.

Coladeira is similar to morna, but with a more upbeat rhythm, closer to Brazilian music;

Batuque and finaçon are the most African rhythms of the archipelago, originating from the island of Santiago. These are women's choirs using cloths wrapped in plastic and held between their thighs as percussion instruments. In finaçon, the lyrics are improvised. Nacia Gomi is its greatest representative.

Funana, also from Santiago, is the music of protest, banned under Portuguese occupation and now very popular with young people. Funana is distinguished by the use of a small accordion (the gaïta) and a piece of iron (the ferrinho). Ferro Gaita is the most popular group.

Other musical styles can still be found, such as tabanka (parade music) and batucadeira (carnival music).

There are regional variations of Creole specific to each of the 9 inhabited islands, but these differences are not significant enough to prevent mutual understanding among inhabitants. The different Creoles of Cap-Vert can be divided into two groups: the Sotavento Creoles (Brava, Fogo, Santiago, and Maio) and the Barlavento Creoles (Boa Vista, Sal, São Nicolau, São Vicente, and Santo Antão).