Before travelling to Cape Verde, I read just about every blog and website written about the islands and connected with some who had been there and others who had been burnt and lost tens of thousands investing there. Most didn't have many positive things to say about the place apart from tour operators and travel companies but like the stubborn moo that I am, I wanted to come to my own conclusions.
It was to be my first time on the islands and upon arriving at Sal International airport everyone seemed polite enough and eager to get to their hotels. The airport was very small and I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed the atmosphere was. Clearing customs was a doddle and after parting with €25 euros for a visa and €10 for a taxi ride to my accommodation, I felt happy and excited to be there.
So here I was in Africa, Cape Verde, Sal; an archipelago of ten of islands off the east coast of the continent and Santa Maria, the touristic town set among uneven cobbled stone streets was my stopping point for the next few days.
Pulling up in a taxi in the Santa Maria square where my accommodation was located, I could not help get the feeling that something was not quite right about this place. There was a surreal feel about it almost like being on the set of a film (not that I have ever been on one but you get my drift!). My self catering apartment ( a terribly overpriced but spacious, 2 double bed) was nice enough but for €120 per night was not worth it. I paid around €40 for a gorgeous 4 star hotel room in central Portugal which included breakfast had many more amenities nearby, and was much better value for money all round.
The overall experience of Sal is so poor. I would suggest you stay in a guest house with expats or locals and pay no more than €25-40 euros a night or you could stay at the Morabezza, they have rooms at around €120 per night as well as self catering apartments to rent but their customer service in true CV style was somewhat pathetic also.
Santa Maria is a small town in Sal and is what you would call the 'capital' of Sal. It is the most built up and modern part of Sal which is more or less a dusty barren place albeit with beautiful beaches. The only issue is that Santa Maria consists of a 'square' with a few shops littered around it and that's about it. Some hotel companies have built unfinished constructions outside Santa Maria (maybe 10 minutes drive away) which resemble economic carcasses of recession and business deals gone bad. Travel companies may try to get you to stay in some of these constructions on the outskirts of Santa Maria but don't go. Outside Santa Maria is dead, and dead ugly.
There are a number of humble traditional and fairly modern cafes, bars and restaurants in Santa Maria town square. A beauty spa nearby offers massage treatments and manicures etc and shops sell somewhat over priced clothing, baby items, groceries and food for your convenience. There is also different types of accommodation on offer as well as a Thompson Holidays tourist information kiosk prominently placed as well as a modern post office, bank and cash machines dotted around for easy access. Santa Maria feels safe, Santa Maria is pretty boring and it is undoubtedly the worst place I have ever visited. There are beautiful beaches all over the world and I feel that what separates one tourist destination from another is its 'people' and the Cape Verde locals are well, pretty awful.
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| Leonardo's Italian restaurant, very tense serve from staff |
The first three or four horizontal streets of Santa Maria square are sprinkled with shops but from the fourth street back, Santa Maria is littered with derelict buildings, dirt and poverty stricken angry looking locals, almost resembling a scene from a war torn country. I doubt the locals would harm you but they are certainly very unfriendly.
Santa Maria receives coach loads of mostly retired or semi retired, Italian, English, German and French tourists wanting to escape the cold.
Many of these would sit at the hotel restaurant and stare into space sharing very little conversation between each other. Very depressing indeed.
Many of these would sit at the hotel restaurant and stare into space sharing very little conversation between each other. Very depressing indeed.
Now let's face it, there is an air of 'cheap packaged holiday' about the place as travel companies struggle to get people interested in Cape Verde, and I can only wonder how many tourists felt ripped off by tour operators as I did, alas, I had been warned about Cape Verde and going there was a waste of money.
In Santa Maria Square, there were far too many Senegalese traders enthusiastically trying to sell you typically African arts and crafts. There are many beautiful things to buy from these traders but they can be a tad too persistent for my taste. Momo the 'Butterfly Artist' caught my attention; a sweet man from Senegal who makes pictures from dead butterfly wings. Hmm. After bartering momo down from a whopping €40 for an unframed slightly mouldy picture, he let me take the artwork away after having paid him only €10.
It seems that you have three cultural extremes in Cape Verde. The white Italian and Portuguese citizens and business owners, the immigrant, mostly Senegalese independent traders, trying harder and working smarter than the third; the local Cape Verdeans, who just don't seem to care enough to capitalise on the tourist trade.
The fact that many Cape Verdeans are uneducated and do not speak English or seem to want to, is no excuse for their poor and often rude attitude. You'll find the Senegalese are in a similar position but this does not stop them getting up and making the most of the tourist trade in Santa Maria. On the surface it would seem that the immigrant traders are the problem with Santa Maria, pestering tourists non stop, but the problem with Santa Maria is the attitude of the local Cape Verdeans, the overbearing immigrant traders and the tourist board not stepping in to regulate things and improve standards all round.
The hype peddled by tour operators describing the place as an undiscovered paradise on par with the Caribbean is simply not true but having said all of that, there is a loyal surfing community that travels there and this does not stop them heading to Sal and boa Vista to catch a wave and it really is wonderful to watch them in action.
It has been whispered that there is unvoiced anger towards white Portuguese and Italian business owners who talk to staff and locals "like animals". I don't know how true this is but these were the comments uttered by some of the local workers in Santa Maria. Could this have something to do with their poor attitude or reluctance to serve foreigners and go the extra mile? Maybe so, as I certainly found better working relationships between Chinese business owners and their Cape Verdean staff.
She had little training but loads of instinct and with the right training she would excel. Needless to say, upon leaving I gave her what I could, all my change in euros and some nice party dresses, and I stood back and watched her gratitude which brought a smile to my face and heart.
Santa Maria has lots of potential, which means of course there is plenty of room for improvement. The beach is stunning but so are so many other beaches around the world, and if you are to come here again and again, you'll need a very good reason to do so.
Going to Cape Verde is expensive and what you get in return is a poor holiday experience. The place lacks passion and there is a huge lack of investment into 'Cape Verde' arts and culture along with a failure to strategically work with businesses to educate and develop staff across tourism sectors to deliver a better level of customer service which would significantly improve the bottom line.
