Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands
This mountainous volcanic archipelago of ten islands and five islets - a Portuguese territory until independence in 1975 - is as unique and unspoilt as its remote location, 400 miles off the west coast of Senegal, would suggest.
Once a staging post on the old sailing route to South Africa, Mindelo, on Sao Vicente, is the largest port, with attractive old Portuguese colonial buildings that betray the island's intriguing pedigree.
