Cape Verde's main international gateway, located 2 kilometres west of Espargos on Sal island. Named after the revolutionary leader Amilcar Cabral, who founded the PAIGC liberation movement that secured independence for both Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. The airport is the principal hub for national carrier Cabo Verde Airlines and the regional carrier Cabo Verde Express. During the Space Shuttle programme, the airport was designated as one of NASA's transatlantic abort landing sites for emergency Shuttle returns.

The airport serving Sao Vicente island, situated in a shallow valley in the western part of the island, approximately 5 kilometres north of the city centre of Mindelo. Named in honour of Cesaria Evora, the internationally celebrated Cape Verdean singer of morna and coladeira who was born in Mindelo in 1941 and became the defining voice of Cape Verdean music worldwide. The facility's runway measures 2,000 metres in length and 45 metres in width, handling both domestic inter-island flights and international connections.

The principal resort town on Sal island, situated on the southern coast approximately 16 kilometres from Amilcar Cabral International Airport. The town fronts a 2-kilometre crescent of golden sand with calm, shallow turquoise water naturally sheltered from Atlantic swell by the bay's orientation. Santa Maria developed from a small salt-trading settlement into Cape Verde's main beach destination and retains its original fishing pier, where local vessels still land their daily catch alongside the tourist infrastructure.

A remote beach on the northern coast of Boa Vista island, approximately 6 kilometres northeast of the island capital Sal Rei and 3 kilometres west of the settlement of Vigia. The beach is widely known for the rusting hull of the Spanish cargo vessel Cabo Santa Maria, which ran aground on this shore on 1 September 1968. The wreck lies partially submerged close to the waterline and has become a striking landmark visible along the beach's length. Exposed Atlantic currents make swimming along this stretch dangerous.

Praia de Varandinha lies on the remote southwest coast of Boa Vista, Cape Verde, north of the headland Ponta Varandinha, and forms part of the protected Morro de Areia Nature Reserve. The reserve status preserves the beach and safeguards nesting grounds for loggerhead sea turtles. Accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicle across sandy desert tracks, the beach stretches for over a kilometre in near-total isolation. Strong Atlantic swells make swimming risky, but the wild scenery and solitude are the main draw.

A small rocky islet lying just off the town of Sal Rei on the northwestern coast of Boa Vista. The shallow, sheltered passage between the islet and the shore offers calm, clear conditions with good underwater visibility, and the surrounding seabed supports diverse marine life including sea turtles, eagle rays and reef fish. Sal Rei itself takes its name from the Portuguese for 'King Salt', reflecting Boa Vista's historical role as a major salt-production island. The islet is reached by short boat crossing from the town waterfront.

A wide, crescent-shaped bay on the southwestern coast of Sal island, protected as a marine nature reserve covering 182 hectares of land and 5,925 hectares of sea. The reserve takes its name from the village of Murdeira at its shore. At the northwestern edge of the bay stand the steep volcanic cliff of Rabo de Junco and the small islet Ilheu Rabo de Junco, which falls within the protected area. The reserve is an important nesting habitat for loggerhead sea turtles and several seabird species, and its calm waters support rich benthic communities.

Ponta Preta is a powerful left-hand reef wave off the headland of the same name on the northwest coast of Santiago, Cape Verde, roughly 3 kilometres from Tarrafal. The break draws advanced surfers from Europe during the October-to-April North Atlantic swell season. The wave can reach double overhead and breaks over a shallow volcanic reef. The headland also carries the Farol da Ponta Preta lighthouse, visible from the lineup. Access is via dirt track from Tarrafal, the nearest town with accommodation.

An active stratovolcano on the island of Fogo and the highest point in Cape Verde, rising to 2,829 metres above sea level. The main summit cone last erupted in 1680, an event that triggered significant emigration from the island. A subsidiary vent within the caldera erupted in 1995 and again in November 2014, when lava flows destroyed the villages of Portela and Bangaeira inside the crater. The volcano's near-perfect conical profile dominates the entire island and is visible from neighbouring islands on clear days.

A small agricultural community of approximately 700 inhabitants living inside the caldera of the active Pico do Fogo volcano, at an elevation of around 1,700 metres -- the highest permanently inhabited locality in Cape Verde. The community is divided into two neighbourhoods: Bangaeira, founded in 1917, and Portela, founded in 1920. Both were largely destroyed by lava flows during the November 2014 eruption, yet the population returned and rebuilt on the same fertile volcanic land. Cha das Caldeiras is the only area in Cape Verde producing significant quantities of wine-quality grapes, with the resulting wines exported internationally.

Fontainhas is a dramatically situated clifftop village on Brava, the westernmost inhabited island of Cape Verde. Perched on volcanic slopes beneath Monte Fontainhas, the island's highest peak at 976 metres, the settlement overlooks sheer cliffs plunging into the Atlantic. The mountain is composed of phonolite and ignimbrite and is frequently shrouded in cloud, which feeds springs that make Brava unusually green compared to the arid Saharan islands. The village is reached by a winding cobbled road and retains traditional stone architecture.

The highest point on the island of Sao Vicente, reaching 744 metres in the eastern part of the island approximately 6 kilometres east of the city centre of Mindelo. Despite the predominantly arid and barren character of the island's landscape, Monte Verde -- meaning 'Green Mountain' in Portuguese -- intercepts sufficient moisture from the prevailing northeast trade winds to sustain patches of endemic vegetation on its upper slopes, in contrast to the desert terrain below. The summit commands panoramic views across Sao Vicente and towards the islands of Santo Antao and Sao Nicolau.

Boa Vista hosts one of the largest loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting populations in the Atlantic, with females returning annually to the same beaches between June and October. The loggerhead is the sole member of the genus Caretta and is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Females have an exceptionally low reproductive rate: they lay around four clutches of eggs per season, then enter a period of reproductive inactivity lasting two to three years. Sexual maturity is reached between 17 and 33 years of age, and individuals may survive for 47 to 67 years.

Founded in 1462 by Portuguese merchants as Ribeira Grande, this is the oldest colonial settlement in Cape Verde and one of the earliest European towns established in sub-Saharan Africa. When the colonial capital was relocated to Praia in the late 18th century, the town was renamed Cidade Velha, meaning 'Old City'. The historic centre was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. Key surviving monuments include the 16th-century Forte Real de Sao Filipe, the marble Pillory column and the 1495 church of Nossa Senhora do Rosario.

A 16th-century Portuguese fortress standing on a plateau 120 metres above the historic city of Cidade Velha on the southern coast of Santiago island. Built to defend the settlement against pirate attacks and the encroachments of rival European powers, the fort formed the centrepiece of a coastal defence network that also included six smaller fortifications along the shore and a protective wall around the port area. The wider historic centre of Cidade Velha was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2009. The battlements offer unobstructed panoramic views across the bay.

The historic neighbourhood of Cape Verde's capital city, constructed on a flat-topped plateau rising above the modern port of Praia. Known simply as 'Plateau', the district contains the principal colonial-era civic architecture: the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the main cathedral and the Alexandrino de Albuquerque central square. Praia is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, serving as the political, economic and cultural centre of the archipelago on the southern coast of Santiago island.

Known as the 'Camp of the Slow Death', this Portuguese colonial concentration camp operated from 1936 to 1954 as a facility for political prisoners opposed to the Salazar Estado Novo regime. It was reopened between 1961 and 1974 to detain African independence fighters from Cape Verde, Angola and Guinea-Bissau. Located in the village of Chao Bom within the municipality of Tarrafal on Santiago island, the camp became a symbol of colonial repression throughout the Portuguese-speaking world. The site is now preserved as a museum and memorial.

The Fogo Natural Park, established in 2003, is a protected area covering 84.69 square kilometres -- 17.8 per cent of the island's total landmass -- distributed across three municipalities. The park encompasses the active stratovolcano Pico do Fogo, which rises to 2,829 metres, and the Monte Velha cloud forest on its outer slopes. The ascent to the summit begins from the crater settlement of Cha das Caldeiras at around 1,700 metres elevation and follows a route across steep volcanic scree and exposed lava fields to reach the rim.