Fund-raising event for Luisa – a girl who requires visual corrective treatment in order to learn to read & write.
All donations welcome.
When: Saturday 9th May
Where: Palha Verde
13.00 Welcome cocktails
13.30 Live music from “special” guests
14.00 BBQ
16.00 Auction of Art
17.00 DJ
19.00 Event finishes
For more information & to buy tickets contact Shop 32 (in front of the Santa Maria square & Cultural Cafe) on +238 2422160
or La Paloma in Espargos
Now, all Cabocom ((Livre)) customers can play online and compete. In addition to the server Cabocom has also put online a ranking page where the players can visualize their 
statistics and overall ranking.
The main purpose of this project is to introduce the online gaming community concept in Cape Verde using a game that has become a huge worldwide hit since the early 2000’s.
Once a high enough number of players has been achieved, Cabocom will create a Pro League in which real prizes will be awarded and the opportunity to participate in international competitions will be given to the winners.
To adhere to this new concept and to the Counter Strike Source Community all that customers need to do is send an e-mail to cstrike@cabocom.cv with the subject: “I want to play!” and full instructions on how to play will be sent over.
To know more about this game go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike Source.
Something very different, a top jet air formation team from France were going to be displaying their talents over Santa Maria bay on Sunday, at 10am, we were told.
It didn’t take long for word to travel and people were planning to be in bed early on Saturday night in order to be up bright and early for the event. It was part of a series of events that have taken place to celebrate 25 years of the aviation company ASA.
Sunday morning: I left my house at 10am, even though things usually run very late here, I didn’t want to risk missing this momentous event…
I arrived at the beach, and was amazed to see it was completely full, a sight not seen before, not even at the annual music festival. Everyone who lives on the island must have 
been there; families, groups of friends, all the different communities that live here (Italian, French, Senegalese, Portuguese to name a few). Any available roof terrace was taken up, and the Beach Club Bar was full. There was a youth drum band energetically beating out Cape Verdian rhythms, there was a stage with a pa and loud music playing causing feet to tap and hips to wiggle….
The commentator kept announcing ‘the little planes will be here soon….’ (that’s how I translated it anyway), and lo, around 10.30, they arrived….
Truly incredible, 7 jets (Breitling team, from France) flew over in formation, so close together it hardly seemed possible. They thrilled us with almost half an hour of swooping and plummeting, acrobatics and feats of aeronautical skill, occasionally two or three jets broke away, and then flew at each other from separate sides of the sky to just miss each other by inches…. Well that’s how it looked to us on the beach anyway, as thousands let out a collective sigh of relief and then a giggle of amazement at the daring feat…..
There were even Lifeguards on duty on the beach, in smart orange ASA t-shirts; no-one was allowed into the sea until the show was over.
It was fabulous, I was so glad not to have missed it.
As the planes flew off over the horizon after the finale, everyone clapped, people hurled themselves into the sea, and Santa Maria beach resembled a thriving holiday resort with a crowded beach, maybe one day in the future it will always be this busy, but for now we are the lucky ones experiencing our relatively untouched long white sandy beaches, clear water and endless blue skies…..
The bus is full of Cape Verdians, crates of eggs, boxes of fanta laranja, the stereo is playing loud music, and I am at the back squeezed between two young men who are doing their best to give me space, while every time we go over a bump I bang my tall bleached head on the ceiling of the van, and every time we go around a corner I lean just a little bit too close to the boy on my right, causing him to take furtive looks at me in the darkness and wonder what this white woman is doing on the 100 escudo bus from the local village where there are no tourists. 
I had a business meeting at the airport, and feeling confident of the ways of the town, thought I would save myself 9 euros each way by taking the bus. Fine, on the way, in broad daylight, and knowing where the bus runs from. When I came out of the airport, it was dusk, and chilly, and I was just wearing a thin summer frock and sunglasses. Still, not prepared to give in and go the tourist way, and get a cab, I confidently started walking towards Espargos, thinking that I would hail the town bus, or ‘aluguer’, as it passed me by. What I didn’t bargain for, was that Espargos was in actuality quite a bit further than the 300 yards it looked, and that there was no path, and every time a lorry passed it would cover me in hot dust and almost blow me off the road.
Still, I persevered and was shortly joined by a female dog who crossed the highway to join me (this is the only tarmac road on the island), most keenly, almost getting run down, and then leapt up at me gleefully. Not being a dog person, I was unsure how to react, so asked it politely to get down please, which it eventually did, and then followed me, at a respectable distance behind. By now, it was actually dark, spooky, the town was but a distant glimmer, and two aluguers had passed me by, before I had time to realise and hail them down. I started talking to myself, loudly, and panicking slightly, after all we were only about 1 mile from where the only major crime on the island had ever been commited, 2 weeks ago, a ‘crime of passion’…
The road had suddenly become a normal carriageway, not a dual carriageway, which seemed to excite my dog friend, so now I was shouting ‘get out of the road please, bitch’, to the dog, as well as being frightened, and wondering why I hadn’t just got a cab, for the sake of 9 euros, and it was a business meeting after all…. My sense of adventure had got the best of me.
Finally, in the distance, I spotted a garage, and decided a cigarette would be in order, if not vital …. In the queue I spotted a friendly face, one of the cab drivers from Santa Maria, and tried to ask in my most casual voice, which came out as a hysterical whimper – ‘ hi, are you going into Santa Maria?’ He wasn’t , but obviously sensed my distress and offered to take me to the ‘bus stop’, hence my position in the back of the bus between the boys and eggs, music and fanta…
Another exciting adventure in the life of…
May 2007
I left the house at 9.30am, the normal time to set off for work, unless I have an early appointment. I took 2 bags to the bins, there are communal bins around the town, you have to take your rubbish and then it is collected daily by the bin lorry.
On the way, a tiny Cape Verdian girl waved and shouted ‘ola’ from the top of an unfinished apartment block, where her mother was hanging out the daily wash.
I continued into ‘town’, past the Correio, where I poked my head around the door to ask for any post, I received a shake of the head from the post lady, nothing today, she seems to know the names of all the estrangeiros without you having to tell her. Coming out of the post office was one of the girls from the local shop, we had a brief chat, in a mixture of English, Portuguese and Criole, before she went into work and I carried on the walk to my tiny beach office. As I rounded the corner to walk past the primary school, a young Cape Verdian boy, probably about six, was happily chasing round with a tyre, wearing only a T-shirt, nothing else at all. He was smiling happily to himself with his game, and gave me a wonderful grin. A few minutes later, one of the Senegalese, who I don’t think I have spoken to before called out to me.‘I want to see a photograph of you 20 years ago, you are so beautiful now…!’ This cheers me immensely, even though I am not in need of cheering.
Just as I approach my office, one of the fisherman passes with his wheelbarrow of the morning catch. He is always wearing the tiniest pants (nothing else) and carrying a huge sharp knife. He shouts out, ‘good morning baby face, you are beautiful today..’ In the UK he would have been arrested, either for indecent pants, or carrying a large dangerous weapon. Here it is just every day life.
This is life in Cape Verde, this is the commute to work. I unlock the office door and walk in, to the scent of freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked Foccacia from the Italian beach café next door. Now to start the day…..
About the Author: In January 2007 Bev Chadwick swapped gigging in the UK for a lucrative career in real estate in Cape Verde. Despite her hectic schedule, she still manages to perform two or three times a week in Santa Maria and is considered somewhat of a local celebrity, particularly with the South American contingent, who arrive in their dozens for every show.
After months of being pestered, she finally agreed to write a regular column for the AboutSal site to share with us her experiences.
The Breitling Jet Team is an acrobatic jet display of five L-39 planes which usually lasts around seventeen minutes. During the demonstration, the planes alternate figures performed while flying in formation – at around 2.5 m from each other – with formation breaks, crossovers and original figures…
This weekend the team comes to Cape Verde with the itinerary below:
Saturday 18th
Display at Sao Vicente (Mindelo Bay)
10.00 – Departure to Sao Vicente Island
15.15 – Display Mindelo Bay
18.00 – Back to Sal airport
Sunday 19th
10.30 – Display at Sal (Santa Maria Bay)
16.00 – Santiago Island
18.30 – Back to Sal airport
For more information, visit the team web site here
Door to door shipping of anything, either personal or commercial goods can be arranged from almost anywhere in the world through to most islands within Cape Verde.
For packages which need to be received rapidly and/or are relatively light, air freighting of goods is usually the most cost effective form of shipment above DHL and the standard post office prices. For items which are heavy or if you need to send a greater quantity of goods then sea freight becomes a better option. Shipping items to Cape Verde via sea freight is usually in 20ft (30 cubic meters) or 40ft (60 Cubic meters) standard containers, if you do not need to ship a full containers worth of goods then it is usually possible to send only part load containers.
If the goods being sent to Cape Verde are new then it is necessary to pay import duties upon their arrival even if they are for personal use. In order to clear the goods through customs it is necessary to have an import license for your company or to use an import agent who can act on your behalf to clear the goods.
Import tax in Cape Verde is charged as a percentage of the cost of the goods plus the cost of shipping. On top of this tax you will also have to pay 15% IVA (VAT) which is calculated on the cost of the goods + the shipping cost + the import tax.
Tax rates vary according to the product being import. Below are some examples of products and there applicable tax:
Furniture such as beds, tables and chairs, kitchen units etc generally = 50%
Crockery and kitchen electrical appliances = 30%
TV’s and Stereos = 20%
Clothing = 30%
New vehicles such as a general diesel 4×4’s = 20%
In addition to this 20% tax, for used vehicles there are further taxes. Again these are calculated on the cost of the vehicle plus shipping cost.
Examples of these are as follows:
Over 4 years and up to 6 years = 30%
Over 6 years and up to 10 years = 60%
Older than10 years = 150%
These import duty percentages are guidelines only, taxes may vary on individual products within categories.
Importation of Personal effects:
If you plan on moving to Cape Verde then you are eligible to benefit from a law which stipulates that you are entitled to import your own used personal belongings tax free if living or retiring to Cape Verde.
If you wish to import personal household effects you do not need to pay import tax providing that the goods are used and not new. As with everything being imported, new or used, Customs will inspect the goods on arrival to ensure that they are indeed used and not eligible for taxation.
Cape Verde Imports is an import and shipping agent based on the island of Sal, Cape Verde, specialising in the complete logistics for the transport of goods to any island within Cape Verde from anywhere worldwide. 
For any enquiry’s or further information on the full door to door service by either air or sea freight including customs clearance and delivery or just for import agent assistance within Cape Verde please either go to Cape Verde Imports for more information or email info@capeverdeimports.com.
This is a rare opportunity to see what the waters of Sal have to offer, while experiencing the thrill of a powerboat, with 3 hour trips from just 55 euros!
For more information visit King Boa’s web page here.
The new initiative is designed to support several non-governmental organisations in Cape Verde with protecting and monitoring nesting loggerheads. It is thought up to 25% of nesting female loggerheads are killed annually in the archipelago by illegal poaching.
Source Yubanet.com
Cabocom, the already well known wireless internet provider in Santa Maria, after sponsoring the PWA windsurfing championship by supplying wireless internet to all participants, journalists and general public, allowing all the commodity of using their laptops on the spot, in the Ponta Preta Beach, has now started upgrading the speed of its internet subscriptions.
Eight months after the start of the Cabocom ((Livre)) wireless service, the company has now started upgrading the subscriptions speed to 512kb, and also planning to extend it to all its packages within the next few months while still practicing the same prices as before.
Along with this upgrade, Cabocom has been perfecting its coverage within the area of Santa Maria as well as in the hotels, resulting in the addition of Hotel Sab Sab to the already existing list of hotels with the ((Livre)) connection, namely Hotel Dunas de Sal and Hotel Crioula.
In most of these hotels, clients can purchase their ((Livre)) vouchers which allow them internet wireless access in the reception area. In addition, the number of agents selling vouchers in Santa Maria has also increased, creating more spots where tourists can purchase their vouchers without having to go too far.
Cabocom’s main purpose is to achieve full coverage within all hotels of Santa Maria as well as within the village itself before effectively expanding to Murdeira and Espargos, which is already being planned by the company.
List of Agents selling ((Livre)) Vouchers
- Hotel Crioula
- Hotel Dunas de Sal
- Restaurant Turtle Shack
- Café Cultural
- Surf Shack Bar
- Angulo Windsurfing Centre
- Terrazza Bar
- Blue Bar
List of Tariffs
The Turtle Shack is the new name for what used to be known as the Funana Restaurant. The name change reflects a move away from what was exclusively a Cape Verdean Restaurant – into one with a more European style of Entertainment Food and Ambience.
The Funana was built some 14 years ago – and has enjoyed an enviable reputation for authentic food, music and dance. Under the new ownership – we are retaining this for Friday evenings – but 
you can now also enjoy professional Cabaret entertainment from UK and other European countries.
We have an extensive menu from a simple Toasted Sandwich – through to what is widely regarded as the best Lobster dish on the Island.
The Turtle Shack is located on the best beach on Sal – just 50 metres from the main Pier near Santa Maria Town. We have daytime Sun Loungers – so you can spend all day in the Sun .. and enjoy a Cold drink and something to eat anytime you want.
By night – the Turtle Shack becomes THE Entertainment spot on Sal. Throughout the week we have live Cabaret (See Events for full details) – we show all of the top Premier League, Champions League and International games – almost always with commentary in English.
The Turtle Shack Express travels throughout the day between Santa Maria Town, the main Tourist Hotels and the Turtle Shack – so if you see it, just hop on – its completely free and no obligation to come to see us.
We appreciate that very many of the Tourists that come to Sal Island stay at the All Inclusive Hotels – so we really do appreciate that we have to give you something special when you come here.
Steve, Angela and the whole of the Turtle Shack team will welcome you – answer any questions that you have – and do all that we can to make sure that everyone has a great time at the Turtle Shack.
For more information contact 9933 166.
