Saturday 12th September
20.00 Folclorico de Velas
21.00 T-Cla-2
23.00 Cordas do Sol
00.00 Sara Tavares
01.30 Ky-mani Marley
03.30 Vozes da Diaspora

Click here to view the official website for the event.

The hatchery is where nests are relocated that are considered at risk (flooding, predation etc)
They incubate naturally and as soon as they hatch, the babies are placed in the sea, thereby increasing the population of sea turtles.

The nests in this hatchery can be adopted by local schools, associations or private companies who would like to contribute to turtle conversations.

Tuesday 18th August, Praia Antonio de Sousa (in front of hotel Sab Sab)
17.00 Raios Vermelhos Juniors drumming group
17.30 Children’s activities
18.00 Ribbon cutting ceremony by the President of the Camara Municipal of Sal, Dr. Jorge Figueiredo

You can donate to SOS Tartarugas by using the Paypal buttons below.

PAYPAL CODE ADOPTION

Type of adoption

Adopt a hatchling €10.00 Adopt a nest €40.00

We will contact you by email

DONATE ONLY

Ideal for:
Holiday Lets
Long term rentals
Properties in Vila Verde
Apartments in Djadsal Moradias Water park resort

View the list of properties for rent in Cape Verde here

Various Fish, Seafood, Tuna fillets, Wahoo fillets, Beef fillets, pork chops, liver, beef steaks, chicken breasts, chicken wings, whole chicken, hamburgers

Behind Cafe Creole – in front of the Padaria (next to Imagine Cape Verde)

For more information contact Carlos on (00238) 9953690

Beer 100ECV

Saturday 30th May
12.00 DJ
Football & volleyball tournaments
Beach games

20:00 – Soldados de ja
21:00 – Sanca e banda
22:00 – Ary
23:00 – Nazalio Fortes e Banda

Beer 100ECV

Sunday 31st May
Music All day
16.00 Miss Sixty Competition
Dj Paty
18.00 Party

Beer 100ECV

I finally have my gas, and a new set of saucepans, so I’m glad to be cooking at home; for the first week I had to eat out every night, which obviously requires drinking as well, so eventually you end up a bit squiffy, fat and skint which is not really the intention, I’m not on holiday after all, I am living and working here. Last night I managed to find a shop selling fish, although they only had giant prawns and something called ‘choco’ which I purchased, when I put it into the frying pan it expanded and was squid! Lovely, and all for €2. They also had meat in the shop -  some chops and some very red sausages, and then the pride of the display was a chicken kind of doing a handstand with a bit of parsley in its neck. I also managed to find a potato and 2 carrots, but had no knife for chopping them –I asked the lady in the shop in my best Portuguese if she sold knives, she didn’t but sent her daughter out back and she came back and lent me her very own! Must remember to take it back today, I don’t feel that comfortable with a sharp vegetable knife in my handbag.

It’s been very busy with clients, and they have all been nice people. Thursday is the day the flights go back, so I have a little bit of time to myself…. I have started the day early with a run right down to the southern tip of the island. You have to go early, the temperature rises by 9am, this week it has been averaging about 85.

It was truly wonderful, all alone in a desert, you can imagine what the island was like before the development began. Running on sand and black rocks, hardly a soul about, one girl with her headphones on, and one man playing with his dogs. At the very tip of the island I stopped to walk up to the sea edge (no beach), and someone had made some beautiful ‘crop’ circles, about 7 circular designs, made from small black rocks and very light brown coral. Absolutely lovely, and exactly at the spot I had chosen to stop. I then ran on a bit more and found a tiny beach, and some deserted huts. So quiet, the sea crashing in, and the wind blowing very strong. You could hear all sorts of strange noises if you turned your ear to the right angle. Very spiritual, reminded me of  a beautiful song written by my late Partner, Robert Jacob, entitled ‘Stone People’. A very emotional moment, but that’s another luxury of this place, the freedom to have emotional moments, no-one around to see you, and the sun dries your tears very quickly. I love it here, and going out into the ‘desert’ like that puts everything into perspective. I am looking forward to being here and watching the whole island grow…

October 2007 – the true story of importing one’s furniture from the UK

It seemed like a good idea at the time; that is, back in July 2007, in the UK, emptying the entire contents of my home into a container, which would set sail for Cape Verde, and I would be reunited with my clothes, my music, my jewellery; in fact, my life. Didn’t seem worth buying a load of new furniture here when I had plenty at home, which would only be put into storage and loneliness for years to come.

So,family and friends gathered on 12 July, carefully wrapped everything in approximately 100 metres of bubble wrap and cardboard and brown paper, sealed the doors, and off she went on the back of a large lorry, a resplendent orange container, not to be opened until reunited with me in Cape Verde, some 3000 miles yonder. Maybe we should have paid heed when the lorry driver, upon being asked when it would arrive in Cape Verde,  muttered  ‘ might be 6 weeks, might be 6 years….’

I had confidence, I put it out of my mind, I had faith and decided not to even think about it for 6 weeks, and if it came during the suggested time, then I would be pleasantly surprised. So, I didn’t start to think about it until 8 weeks after it had left the UK. At this point I thought I would get in touch with the carrier,  and so I emailed them eagerly, about 5 times, and received no replies whatsoever. Funny, before I paid them the fee of £2200 they responded very quickly to every phone call or email, but after I paid the money I never heard from them again…

So, I tried the shipping agent in Las Palmas, which was supposed to be the first port of call, however it had already been via Hamburg (lucky little holiday for my possessions!) After having a shrieking fax siren wailing in my ear on the first few efforts, I finally got through to a lovely chap who sounded just like Manuel from Faulty Towers, who advised me that the ship with the container had arrived in Las Palmas, but that there were ‘hydraulic problems’ and that the container would have to wait there one week, but would be shipped in 7 days. I called on the 8th day… unfortunately all the containers had managed to get on to the Cape Verde ship… apart from 4, of course, mine was among these 4… they could not give me an alternative date, they didn’t know when the next ship would sail to the Cape Verdes. Nothing more could be done, except wait…..

About 10 days later I tried again, and YES… it had left Las Palmas for Sao Vicente and should be there within 2 days….

I called the port in Palmeira 4 days later, and YES (again) it had arrived in Palmeira, merely a 20 minute drive from my apartment, excitement began to mount,  but alas, no it was not to be. ‘The crane is bro-ked’ I was told, and the container had been sent back to Sao Vicente.

I tried to keep calm, breathe in, breathe out, nothing could be done, live with the power of now, accept…

One week later, I tried again… my container was here. It was a Friday. So, no, I could not collect it until Monday. (Friday, Sexta-Feira, no unloading, PUB of course!)

So, on Monday at 8am I arrived at the office of the Despachante, smiling, being polite, keeping calm.

We drove to the port, and waited for an hour while they checked my paperwork.
This, of course, after 3 and half months, was not in order. I had everything I needed, a complete listing of every item in the 138 boxes, in English and in Portuguese, the bill of lading, a letter from the council in the UK confirming that everything in the container was second-hand goods from my house. The most important thing was missing, a STAMP on the letter from the council…
I begged and pleaded and said I would get the letter stamped and forwarded, just let me have the container. I demanded to see the Head of Port who said he could help with the storage costs but not with the customs officials. Then, a momentary breakthrough. If I got the letter from the council translated into Portuguese, they would re-consider. 

So, back to the office of the Despachante, where he duly transcribed the letter for me, with the aid of a dictionary, word by word. This took another hour. Then the port was closed for lunch. A coffee and a menthol cigarette and two hours later, back to the port. The Despachante took the letter. I sat outside the customs office, smiling like a demented woman at everyone who passed, in case it helped. It didn’t. The Despachante came back shaking his head and sighing. It was not to be. No stamp, no container. On the way back to the Despachante’s office I decided to turn up the King Curtis CD playing in the car to full volume, to cheer myself up and not weep. The Despachante asked, ‘this is English music, yes?’, no, I replied, American music from 50 years ago. ‘ah, classical music’ he replied. Bless his heart.

And what is the final outcome of this story?
10 days letter, I returned with the duly stamped letter. I couldn’t go in, I waited outside customs like an expectant father.. he came out nodding, smiling, with the paperwork to release my possessions. He then left me.

I spent 25 minutes waiting by the container in 28 degrees, not knowing what I was waiting for, but not daring to speak… finally a man came and broke the seal with a huge cutting device. I looked in, I got in, I sat amongst my Buffalo Boots, my CDs, my futon and chairs… It only took another 3 hours, 2 official stamps, €350, a marvellous large operation involving a giant fork lift and a lorry, a 20 minute slow drive and then a 2 hour unloading session aided by 2 helpful and cheerful Cape Verdians. The apartment was full of 138 boxes, now to unpack!

The last words of the Despachante to me were, ‘next time it will be easier’. The last words from me to the Despachante were, ‘there will never be a next time…’

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.

Since it’s formation, RevoluSal has organised:
Beach & coastal cleanups: removing rubbish from several sites of outstanding natural beauty around Sal
Surf Events & Training: bringing surfers together from all of the islands to compete at some of the best surf spots in the world
Social events: getting kids off the streets and working together in social programs

Get involved
RevoluSal is run and funded by volunteers and is recruiting surfers and Life members .Whether you are a surfer of many years or if you simply want to be involved in something positive here in Sal, a small donation or to simply join in a Clean-Up session makes all the difference. The clean ups are a lot of fun and are a great way of meeting and interacting with the young surf community – remember the beaches are there for everyone to enjoy.

If you would like more information or to find out about the next Clean-Up day contact info@revolusal.org or visit the official site RevoluSal.org

RevoluSal Contacts

Board of Directors
+ President | Daniel Obradovic
+ Vice President | Edir Lopes
+ Secretary | Filomeno Carvalho
+ Treasurer | João Silva Almeida
+ Substitute | Fred Wilson Cruz Duarte

General Assembly
+ Table President | Fredy Harley Fortes
+ Table Vice Pres. | Roberto Espirito Santo
+ Table Secretary | Dunia S.L. Obradovic

Watch Committee
+ President | Ricardo Xavier Bettencourt
+ Vice President | Valdir Duarte Brito

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.

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…..

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