1st time I heard this song was by Bonga from his Bonga 74 album, back in 1975ish.  You can see Bonga and Cesaria traveled and performed the song together many times.  He acquiesced to her version as well. She came to the States and sold out concerts.  My Mom and Dad were fortunate enough to see her 06ish(?) in Bean Town (Boston).  Tickets were tough to come by.
     I prefer the Bonga version, myself.  Probably 'cause I heard that one first and was accustomed to it.  You'll notice in his version he sings "este nha terra de Cabo Verde" as opposed to Sao Nic'lau.  I believe Sao Nic'lau is probably the way the composer wrote it.  Since the composer was born there.  (According to Wiki).