Assomada Market and Tarrafal's concentration camp

For my last day in Tarrafal, I decided to go to the Assomada Market and the concentration camp museum. 

The market is just 40 minutes drive away from Tarrafal, so it’s a fairly quick drive. I initially wanted to take the taxi van but because they were almost empty, I didn't want to wait for it to get full, so I just took an individual taxi.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/599b48_657556eb48864fce833600c92249de26/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The market definitely lives up to the hype! You can find everything there, food, clothes, tailors, souvenirs, there are even women who cook for the vendors and regular customers. The market is well organized, each specialty has its own section: fashion items are on the upper floor, and food is sold inside, on the ground level. Souvenirs are sold outside, Senegalese tailors are also outside, etc. 

Trying out dresses

I left the market with a dress, a skirt, a few souvenirs, and of course mangoes. I love mangoes too much! I also bought small bananas, they tasted so different from the regular bananas, they had a sweeter flavor. Honestly, the food was so good in Cabo Verde.

On my way back to Tarrafal, I stopped at the concentration camp museum of Tarrafal. I learn a lot about the cabo verdean history. When it was still a Portuguese colony, Portugal used it to send its own prisoners, but also people from its colonies that were involved in independence organized groups. Portugal was sending independentists from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique, to Tarrafal’s prison, in the hope of killing the independent movement. But fortunately, the government tactic didn’t work.

Kriolo language forbidden in school

During my visit, I also learned how Portugal forbade Cap-Verdean to speak Kriolo in school; students that spoke it were reprimanded! It’s crazy to see how colonizers had the same tactics all around the world. This was definitely enforced in Canadian residential schools, to strip away indigenous people from their culture. A very dark part of the world’s history.

I did not take a lot of pictures at the Museum but I would encourage you to visit it; there are pictures, mini documentaries you can watch, and signs you can read to learn about the political prisoners of Tarrafal's concentration camp but also the Cabo Verdean history overall.