Mindelo, Cape Verde

Booked a local flight to travel to San Vicente where I would catch a ferry to San Antao. There are often cancellations with local flights however its not always easy to book one last minute. You can book a local flight from an agent in the 'square' in Santa Maria but they do charge a fee . You can also book flights from Sal airport.
The vibe in Mindelo is so much more relaxed and cultured than that of Sal but you can see it all in a day...alright then, a day and a half.
 The people of Mindelo  are certainly more friendly, more lively and more outgoing than Sal locals. But the majority of people seem either really young under 23 or over 50. 

More Cape Verdians live outside of Cape Verde than in it, and now I understand why. 
There is a huge foreign boating community that has lots of love for the islands...an international clientele who anchor their boats in her harbours and shores, exploring the waters, diving and seeking adventure.

This is probably one of the best ways to enjoy this place, simply bring your yacht and own  community along with you as Cape Verdian culture is still under construction. 

I think that it's the 'African' in the people that inject colour vibrancy and life in to Cape Verdians, however not all CV seem interested in embracing their African side and you could argue that Cape Verdeans are people who consider themselves neither African or Portuguese  but a combination of the two and may be trying to find their own   voice. 

The lovely stretch of road by the harbour 
outlines gorgeous colonial style buildings, quaint and modern restaurants and bars mostly owned by Italians, a nice strip of beach with pretty young girls lounging around and young men pumping iron, a cool African market and a gorgeous view of the yachts in the harbour all await you. 

Apart from this small stretch to keep you occupied and stimulated there is nothing much to do or see and the language barrier and lack of education make Cape Verdeans  uninteresting people to deal with. To illustrate my point, whilst out one evening, my hosts said, "oh my guests speak French and English" and my host said teasing "maybe you should learn to speak English" and the local replied "maybe your guests should learn to speak Crioulu". 

Crio-who? 

Mind you, they managed to ram out enough English from their sarcastic mouths to ask us to pay for their drinks. Unbelievable!

Casa Colonial, ahhh an absolutely charming 3 star B&B set in a central but pretty rough looking street in Mindelo. The house opposite was pretty rough looking and had some vulnerable type people staying there. I could tell there was something different about our neighbours, some looked and behaved as if they were mentally ill, and I could not figure out whether it was a hostel or shelter of sorts but they were not threatening and gave no problems what so ever.  

Casa Colonial has a really nice energy about it but could use some maintenance. There are little things you will notice need attention around the house if you stay there such as the bathroom. You can't flush toilet paper down the loo and have to put it in a little plastic bin  next to the pan after you have.....well wiped your botty or your tinkle with it. hmmm.  I was used to this though and have sat on many a compost toilet but the idea of not covering my waste toilet paper with sawdust felt quite odd. I doubt they recycled human waste and dread to think where they put it all. Also, the water would sometimes come back up through the shower drain or takes ages to drain away, which left a not very nice puddle on the bathroom floor which is really a wet room. You may get  the odd splurge of brown water coming out of the bathroom sink taps too, but it soon clears up. 

It's no secret that previous reviews have revealed that the pool at Casa Colonial looks more like a pond, and I was wishing that when I got there that  it would have been cleaned up so I could have a refreshing dip, but no luck there I'm afraid. As I was not feeling very fishy, I decided not to go in but the service here was the best yet so how could I complain?

Samira house Manger of Casa Colonial in Mindelo, has fantastic and instinctive customer service skills. The house has two resident cats, Fogo and Brava and one ( I think it's  Fogo )  is so lovely and friendly, but beware, there is a one eyed impostor next door, who impersonates our dear cats and flies like lightning through the house. This stray cat lives next door and manages to sneak it's way in. It also bit one of our group so if we drop dead with rabies, we'll let you know but so far, so good :)
Would I recommend staying there? Well we paid €40 per night each so for the price you can't complain and Samira will make you breakfast every morning, and take care of you with such warmth that you will forget about all the other annoyances, so bearing in mind all I've mentioned, yes, you will be ok If you stay there.