Shopping in Cape Verde

Shop 'til you drop?? Forget it! The island capitals have a good supply of general items such as razors, sanitary towels (tampons are not always guaranteed to be found!), hair conditioner and painkillers; a supermarket can almost always be found, but shopping outside the towns is very difficult.

LET'S GO 'INDIVIDUAL'

Cape Verde is characterized by lots of little shops hidden away behind seemingly innocuous doors selling from some local crafts, including pottery, lacework and basketry to beachwear and gifts. 

MARKETS

Have a browse at the indoor and open markets across the islands where you can find coconut shells, carved by local craftspeople, wood carvings, brightly coloured canvas painted by local artists, African masks, batiks, bongos, jewellery, clothing and edible specialities. And don't forget to barter over the price!

The most colorful market is in Assomada, on Santiago, where you get a real taste of Africa; fruit and vegetable markets are found on most island capitals but the most interesting for tourists to visit is found on the Plateau in Praia on Santiago.

MARKET IN PRAIA

                                                    Photo sourced from peacecorpsonline.org

SOUVENIRS

Excellent souvenirs of the islands include: bottles of grogue, the famous Cape Verdian rum, made from the sugar cane grown on the island (available in any small shop in a town), Fogo wine and coffee beans and CDs of Cape Verdean music.  

  
                                                                             Example of FOGO WINE