Cape Verde ranked #3 in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2011 guide

Lonely Planet, a British travel magazine, ranked Cape Verde as the #3 world travel destination for 2011. Yes, I know that's old news, but what is new is that their Best in Travel 2011 travel guide is available FREE in Apple's iBooks store from June 1, 2011 till June 14, 2011 after which it will cost about $10.

In case you missed the travel guide when it was first published in November 2010, here is what Lonely Planet has to say about Cape Verde, "Cape Verdeans may have known about the wider world forever, but it seems that the wider world is only just opening its eyes to Cape Verde." And, "Cape Verde looks and feels as if it were born of a Caribbean mother and an African father."

It describes the most bizarre experience on the island of Fogo thus, "relish the excitement of sleeping in a hotel built inside the crater of a live and brooding volcano!" You can read more about Fogo in my earlier post.

The guide offers a snippet of Cape Verde and nine other top travel destinations in its 213 color pages. So what are you waiting for? Whip out your iPads and iPhones and hurry to the iBooks store!

The island of Fogo - created by God's own hands

If you are visiting Cape Verde, most likely you are headed for a sun and sand vacation on Sal or Boa Vista. That's where more than 80% of all tourists go in Cape Verde. Well let me tell you something - if you don't get off your lounge chair and explore the other islands, you would be missing out on some of the most beautiful locations in the archipelago.

First a warning. You won't find 5-star hotels on the other islands beyond Sal and Boa Vista. But what you will find is a stimulating experience unlike many of the things you might experience in other vacation destinations.

Fogo is a small island of about 55,000 people within the Cape Verde archipelago. What makes it unique is that it is literally and entirely, a volcano jutting out of the Atlantic Ocean. People essentially live all around the base and sides of this volcano, with a few daring souls living within the crater itself!

It is the highest mountain in the Cape Verde islands and the third highest peak among islands in the Atlantic. The goal of your trip here is to get to the top of the volcano to a little village called Chã das Caldeiras. And you can do that via car (hire a guide to take you there, or you can drive up yourself). The view from up there is spectacular. Especially since you are looking straight into the ocean below. It's a magical journey.

The enchanting islands of Cape Verde

Cape Verde comprises ten enchanting islands (one is uninhabited) and eight small islets. The islands are primarily volcanic in nature. The topography of the islands range from spectacular mountain ranges, to lush valleys, to sand dunes, to deserted white sandy beaches. The landscape found on these islands is too varied to do justice in a single post. But, take it from me, there is something here for everyone.

The archipelago is situated some 570 km (350 miles) off the coast of Senegal in West Africa. The islands are divided into two groups based on the weather patterns that govern the region: the Barlavento or winward islands, and the Sotavento or leeward islands.