However it is after dark that the islands really come alive. A variety of great entertainment including good quality restaurants, bars, nightclubs, live musical events, festivals and carnivals can all be found and there is something to suit every taste and pocket.

The Cape Verde government are currently enhancing the island economy and tourism is their top priority. Cape Verde is in the early stages of development as a top international tourist destination and this makes it an ideal time to invest. In fact the Islands have been picked out to be the next "potential holiday hotspot" by the BBC Holiday Programme.

A direct flight from the UK to Cape Verde International Airport on the island of Sal is a comfortable five and a half hours flight. These are the closest tropical islands to Europe, heralded as the new Canaries but with the advantage ninety nine percent guaranteed year round temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees tempered with cooling sea breezes.

Culture
Cape Verdean cuisine centres on the sea with lobster, tuna, squid and octopus widely available. The local dish is of Portuguese influence and is called 'Cachupa' - a form of stew typically made with meat or fish, coconut, maize, beans, cassava and sweet potato. Papaya, mango, banana, coconut, date and sugar cane are plentiful. Red and white wine are produced though most is imported from Portugal. The local made drink is called 'Grogue', which is a type of rum. Music underpins Cape Verdean life - Traditional music includes the Morna as sung by Cesária Evora.

Climate
With its year round climate, Cape Verde is an ideal holiday destination. On the same latitude as Barbados, it has a perfect tropical dry climate with very little rainfall. There is low humidity and a long dry season from November to July, equally there is no history of hurricanes. The average air temperature is 25-30C and the sea temperature is 21-26C, (3 degrees warmer than the Canaries) with sunshine levels at 10 to 12 hours per day.

Environment
The natural environment has always been important in Cape Verde. The large green turtles, now synonymous with the islands frequent its beaches to lay eggs. Colourful and unusual birds like the Passarinha kingfisher also call the islands home. There are no large mammals or snakes, but there are green monkeys and geckos. Offshore the ocean is stocked with dolphins, whales and yellow fin tuna.

Though Cape Verde will experience more development in the next decade some of the islands have been earmarked for eco-tourism which means that they will never have many tourist resorts. Equally on the more developed islands like Sal the government has strict planning regulations in place which not only stipulate high quality, low rise structures but also require all developments to have their own desalination and sewerage plants along with back up generators.

There are no mandatory inoculations required for Cape Verde and Visas can be purchased on arrival.

Services
There are private health clinics, dentistry clinics and pharmacies in Cape Verde. There is a good but expensive telecommunications infrastructure which includes broadband. There is also a mobile network which has roaming agreements with most continental European carriers. Though the currency is The Cape Verdean Escudo, the Euro is the most widely accepted and easy to use currency. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in most hotels and banks.