Women in Cabo Verde
Culture Week in Cape Verde
Women in Cabo Verde balancing their baskets on their heads.

Women in Cabo Verde balancing their baskets on their heads.

Pottery in a traditional Cape Verde village
Pottery Lessons
Pottery in a traditional village

Pottery in a traditional village

Fruit and Vegetable Market in Cape Verde
Explore the markets
See the local fruits and vegetables on offer

See the local fruits and vegetables on offer

Woman shucking coconuts in Cape Verde
Shucking Coconuts
Woman preparing coconuts in the local market

Woman preparing coconuts in the local market

Mural in Cape Verde
Local Artwork
Checkout the local murals

Checkout the local murals

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Overview

The Cape Verdean islands are wonderful, interesting and special. The majority of the Cape Verdean people live in Santiago and Praia, the capital city of the archipelago. Santiago is a wonderfully balanced island. At its heart are craggy mountains cut into exotic outlines and afforested in their lower slopes. There are green valleys with agriculture, in the south, there are plantations and some awesome beaches with black and white sand in the north, where fishermen bring in a lot of fish every day. During the Culture Week, you will be participating in various activities and get acquainted with the Cape Verdean culture, study the local language and explore Tarrafal and its beautiful surrounding areas.

Objectives

  • Introduction to authentic Cape Verdean culture
  • Introduction to Cape Verdean language
  • Introduction to Cape Verdean food

Impact

Volunteer experiences have a direct and positive impact on local communities by injecting money into the local economy through the purchase of food, transportation, and tourism activities. Volunteering is a great way to give back to the comunity and make a difference in the world. Depending on the type of volunteer experience you are interested in, your time can be spent improving educational resources and opportunities, providing medical services to underserved communities, or promoting environmental conservation and sustainable farming techniques.

One Tree Planted logo

25 trees will be planted on your behalf for every experience purchased, via our partnership with One Tree Planted.

See more at onetreeplanted.org

1% for the Planet Logo

1% of gross sales will be donated to 1% for the Planet-approved charities via our partnership with 1% for the Planet.

See more at onepercentfortheplanet.org

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Location

Tarrafal, Cabo Verde
The city is named after the indigenous plant Tarrafe, (Tamarix senegalensis). Also called Mangui or Mangue, it is situated on the northern part of the island of Santiago. A fishing port situated on the northwestern coast and also is a municipality.
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Itinerary

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Sunday - Arrival
Arrive at Praia International Airport (RAI) on Sunday between 06:00 to 20:00
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Monday

On Monday, you will have breakfast and then get an introduction about the Cape Verdean traditions and culture. We will do initial documentation before your program begins including the signing of the Code of Conduct and collection of passport and visa copies. Then you will attend a Basic Kriolu class to learn about the local language. This is critical because the majority of people speak Kriolu, Portuguese or French here. So it may come in handy if you know some of these languages. Then we will leave to visit local supermarkets and ATMs and explore the surroundings of our centre. We will have lunch at the centre. After lunch, you will visit Mar De President Beach and spend some time on the beach before returning back to the centre for dinner.

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Tuesday

After breakfast, you will attend a one hour Basic Kriolu class to continue your course. Today you will learn how to talk about Days of the Week and months in Kriolu. Then you will visit the Museum, Tarrafal concentration camp, local Market. You will return to the centre for lunch. In the afternoon, you will visit Ribera Das Prat.

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Wednesday

After breakfast, you will attend another one hour Basic Kriolu class to where you will learn useful words for communication and spellings. Then you will visit Traz di Munti to learn pottery. It’s going to be a great time to learn and explore your creative skills. Then you will have lunch in the village. After lunch, you will visit a lighthouse.

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Thursday

After breakfast, you will attend one hour Basic Kriolu class and start learning how to make sentences. Then we will leave the centre and visit the Project site for the following week. You will have lunch and continue at project site till the afternoon.

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Friday

After breakfast, we will have our last Basic Kriolu classes and start making phrases. Then we will head out to go on a fishing trip with the local fishermen. We will return to the center for a Barbeque lunch. After lunch, it is your free time to relax.

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Saturday - Departure

Leave your accommodation Saturday morning and take a taxi (1.5 hours) to the PRAIA International Airport

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Inclusions

  • Arrival Transfer (included with 2 wk+ trips)
  • Shared Accomodation
  • All meals included
  • Free beverages
  • Wifi in public areas
  • Departure Transfer
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Options

  • Upgrade to Private Room for 1 week (Cape Verde)$235
  • Airport Drop Off (Cape Verde)$180
  • Extra night accomodation (before experience)$60
  • Extra night accomodation (after experience)$60
  • Pick-ups outside of the regular pickup window (Cape Verde)$180
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More Information

Requirements

  • minimum age18
  • minimum english levelBasic
  • CRB RequiredOn signup
  • passport copy requiredOn signup
  • resume copy requiredNo

Other Requirements

  • Yellow fever vaccination is mandatory

Food

The meals will contain a mix of local and various types of Western food.

Accommodation

You can expect to share a room on single gender basis. The bathroom is shared and western toilets are available.

Cancellation Policy

Bookings can be amended and cancelled 30 days before the program start date without any costs. Bookings that are cancelled less than 30 days before the program start date will be charged the first week of the booking.

Culture Week in Cape Verde

CategoryVolunteering
Stylebackpacker
AvailabilityOpen
Price per person$550/week
Minimum Duration1 week
$undefined/week