By now, EVERYONE has heard of Cape Verde.

View of the island Fogo from my plane to the States
Originally uploaded by mralles

Our whirlwind tour of the USA is complete and we are back in Praia. I made a lot of promises to update the blog when I returned so I am happy to report that I am back. We had a fantastic trip Stateside and saw a whole lot of our very large country (any country is large after living in Cape Verde). In one month, I was in Florida, NJ, NY, DC, Arizona, and Minnesota! Since you all do not read the blog to hear of our adventures in America, I will not revisit the highlights, of which there were way too many to count.

At one point Mike and I realized we were actually visiting on official business from the Cape Verde Department of Tourism. Everyone wanted to know when they could come visit that I should have made up brochures. Our personal presentations must have been enticing enough, because we did score a few new visitors for the coming months, and have had some interest from past visitors on a second trip. Check out our revised visitor schedule- you know you want your name up there!

Mike and I thought that on that note, you should all know that Cape Verde has been in the news lately as quite the prestigious destination. Many of you have asked what we would do when you get here. Well, until I have my brochure ready, these articles can whet your appetite.

First, Cape Verde scored number THREE in Lonely Planet's top 10 destinations to visit in 2011. Who knew?! Having been to #1 (and not having any idea why you would go there unless you are a huge fan of Cheers, like Mike) and #2 (which maybe you are saving until we- fingers crossed- end up there some day?), I can tell you starting at #3 is not such a bad idea. This article from The Independent also shows off some of the diversity of the different islands and is available as reading material in our guest room as well.

Our American friends that stayed with Strela during our jaunt in the States (and did a phenomenal job training her as well, phew) named our home the Ralles Resort and Spa. So please let me know when you want to book your reservation!

All the best from Praia and more of our adventures to come!