Atlantic islands of Africa: how to tell them apart
Off the west coast of Africa lie two small island nations that share a lot on paper. Both speak Portuguese, both drive on the right, and both use Portuguese words on their road signs. Yet they look almost nothing alike. Cabo Verde is a group of ten volcanic islands out in the open Atlantic, more than 500 kilometres west of Senegal. São Tomé and Príncipe sits far to the south-east in the Gulf of Guinea, almost exactly on the equator.
The fastest way to tell them apart is colour. Cabo Verde is mostly dry and brown: bare rocky mountains, dusty plains and sparse trees, with green valleys on only a few islands. São Tomé and Príncipe is the opposite, soaked by rain and covered in thick, dark-green rainforest, palms and old cocoa plantations, with clouds resting on the peaks.
Both use Portuguese on official signs, with words such as "Rua" (street), "Avenida" (avenue) and "Praça" (square). In everyday life, many people also speak creoles that blend Portuguese with African languages. In Cabo Verde this is Kriolu, which often writes a k where Portuguese has c or qu. In São Tomé, the best-known creole is Forro.
Roads differ too. Many of Cabo Verde's roads are paved with neat basalt cobbles, even between towns, while São Tomé's narrow roads twist through forest, past waterfalls and plantation houses.
Their main look-alikes are other Portuguese-speaking places, such as Portugal and Brazil, plus Spain's Canary Islands and the rainforest island of Bioko in nearby Equatorial Guinea.
At a glance
| Place | Drives on | Languages | Landscape |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabo Verde | the right | Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole | Dry volcanic islands and cobbled roads |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | the right | Portuguese and Forro | Rainforest peaks and cocoa plantations |
Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde, also called Cape Verde, is a chain of ten volcanic islands in the Atlantic, west of Senegal. Most of the land is dry, rocky and brown, with sharp mountains and little rain. Towns are clusters of boxy concrete houses, many painted in bright colours, and roads are often cobbled.
Language and signs
Portuguese is the language of road signs, shops and offices, with accented letters such as ã, ç and é. Look for "Câmara Municipal" (town hall), "Praça" (square) and "Rua" (street). Nearly everyone also speaks Cape Verdean Creole, or Kriolu, which turns up in murals and adverts with spellings like "kasa" for house.
Roads
Traffic drives on the right, with European-style signs much like Portugal's. A great many roads, in towns and out in the country, are paved with carefully fitted grey basalt cobbles, while busier main roads are smooth asphalt. Mountain roads climb in long zigzags, sometimes edged with low stone walls.
Landscape and towns
The climate is dry and sunny, so much of the land is bare rock, gravel and dust in shades of brown, red and black. Sal, Boa Vista and Maio are flat and sandy, with long white beaches. Santiago and Santo Antão have tall mountains and green, terraced valleys of sugar cane, bananas and maize. Fogo is one giant volcano, streaked with black lava.
Houses are mostly concrete with flat roofs, and many are painted bright yellow, pink, blue or green, while others are left as bare grey block. Mindelo, on São Vicente, has pastel colonial buildings around a sweeping bay. The capital, Praia, has an old town on a flat-topped hill called the Plateau.
Easily confused with
- São Tomé and Príncipe: São Tomé shares the Portuguese signs and right-hand traffic, but is covered in thick rainforest. Brown, bare hills mean Cabo Verde; dripping green forest means São Tomé.
- Spain: Spain's Canary Islands have similar dry volcanic scenery, but signs are in Spanish, with wider asphalt roads and many more hotels and holiday apartments.
Did you know? The singer Cesária Évora, famous for performing barefoot, came from Mindelo. The airport on São Vicente is named after her.
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe is Africa's second-smallest country, made up of two main islands in the Gulf of Guinea, right by the equator. Both are steep, volcanic and covered in dense rainforest, with misty peaks, waterfalls and quiet beaches. Old cocoa plantation estates sit beside the roads.
Language and signs
Portuguese is the official language and appears on all signs, from "Rua" and "Avenida" to "Escola" (school) and "Igreja" (church). Many people also speak Forro, a local creole. The word "roça" means plantation and appears in many place names.
Roads
Traffic drives on the right. The main road follows the coast of São Tomé island, narrow and winding, through palm groves and fishing villages, while side roads climb into the forested interior. Some stretches are smooth asphalt, others rougher.
Landscape and towns
Rain falls for much of the year, especially in the south and on the mountains, so the islands are green from top to bottom. Tall rainforest covers the interior, and in the south a giant needle of rock, Pico Cão Grande, rises straight out of the trees. Lower down grow cocoa, coffee, bananas and breadfruit, with coconut palms along the shore. The north of São Tomé is drier, with grassland and baobab trees.
The capital, also called São Tomé, has pastel colonial buildings, a cathedral and a seafront avenue. In villages, many houses are wooden, often brightly painted and raised on short stilts, with metal roofs. The old roças are groups of large buildings around a grand main house, now often homes for local families or guesthouses.
Easily confused with
- Cabo Verde: Cabo Verde has the same Portuguese signs, but its islands are mostly dry, brown and rocky, with cobbled roads and boxy concrete houses.
- Equatorial Guinea: Equatorial Guinea's island of Bioko is close by, with similar rainforest and volcanic peaks, but its signs are in Spanish.
Did you know? The equator crosses the islet of Ilhéu das Rolas, just off the southern tip of São Tomé, where a monument marks the line. In the early 1900s, São Tomé and Príncipe was one of the world's biggest cocoa growers.
Quick check: Portuguese signs with brown, bare volcanic hills and cobbled roads point to Cabo Verde. Portuguese signs with dripping rainforest, cocoa trees and wooden houses on stilts point to São Tomé and Príncipe. If the signs switch to Spanish, think of the Canary Islands for dry volcanic scenery, or Equatorial Guinea for rainforest. And if cobbled streets and Portuguese signs come with pine woods, olive groves and orange-tiled roofs, you are probably in mainland Portugal instead. Brazil's tropical coast can resemble São Tomé too, but its towns are far bigger, with busier roads and taller buildings.