British Expats - Cape Verde

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- - Cape Verde (https://britishexpats.com/forum/africa-84/cape-verde-910216/)

Can anyone give me more information on moving to Cape Verde from the UK
I have a young child (under3) and want to know how safe it would be for my family, the best island, has anyone relocated with dogs? Where can I find a long term rental? I am sure there are many more questions but would love to hear from another expat's experience of Cape Verde.

Any particular reason for selecting Cape Verde ? You found a job there ? Do you speak Portuguese ?

This makes interesting reading. Apparently the only thing anyone is likely to get is a temporary residence permit, to be renewed annually, but in order to apply you need a stamp in your passport "Permanente", tourist visa stamps are not acceptable.

It has been trying to attract people. Ive been there a few times - what i know -

There is crime against oeople in some tourist areas, with muggings and a lot of prostitution. Sal is a moonscape, as is boa vista, nothing grows there, but i understand this isnt entirely true of the southern islands, they are at least green-ish.

The climates nice in winter but not so much in summer, it suffers from long periods of windless cloudy days.

Cost of housing is low, cost of most tnings is reasonable, but t=while corruption in govt is rare, procedures to do most admin things are byzantine in complexity and time to carry out. There is also a lot of compkexity and some dodgy dealings round property transactions.

The economy is entirely dependant on tourism, in the winter, and one terrorist incident [closest to the gambia] and implosion could result, so i think personally its a bit risky to have money invested there in property, but renting is perfectly do-able. What happens if tui stops flying? Actually how is the flight service in low season?

Interesting factoid - sal has a mountain - on it are radar installations - its the the south western edge of eurocontrol radar coverage - how europe controls air travel.

Theres a great rule applicable eveywhere. If you want to live abroad, its NOTHING LIKE being there on holiday. Live there for a year without leaving at all first, without any personal investment in property, you have to know you like it more than .... to then later invest and make that move. Incidentally, i think uk flights only go to sal or boa vista, and not all year round, neither are the nicest to live on i suspect unless you are going to work in or are happy to be associated with the financial and other issues round locality to the tourist industry.

If you do not speak Portuguese, German could be very useful.

Why german scot47? Never heard /saw them there, brits and scandanavians mostly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by uk_grenada (Post 12460240)

Interesting factoid - sal has a mountain - on it are radar installations - its the the south western edge of eurocontrol radar coverage - how europe controls air travel.

SAL Oceanic flight information region, services inc. radar coverage provided by the Airport and Air Navigation Authority of Cape Verde (ASA).

When I was there, it was all French people working for eurocontrol in Bruxelles l doing the techie stuff which was about data reduction and feeding it to several euro centres, you know more ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by uk_grenada (Post 12460389)

When I was there, it was all French people working for eurocontrol in Bruxelles l doing the techie stuff which was about data reduction and feeding it to several euro centres, you know more ?

I did work with (& for) Eurocontrol in Brussels and Budapest. The Eurocontrol staff you refer to are primarily concerned with ATM as the "Network Manager" (which superseded the Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU)) & the considerable amount of data management & integration that involves. The only "controlling" done by Eurocontrol is at Maastricht (Maastricht Upper Air Control).

When I saw that TUI was involved in the tourist trade there I just assumed that the Heinies would be there in force.

SCot - you know Thompson holidays are no more, TUI is now the name throughout europe, but of course I think condor still exists in europe.

I live in the Past !

For what it's worth, Portuguese-speaking DD2 worked in Eco-Tourism for a German company, and we once visited Santiago and Maio in January. DD1 and other family also visited Sao Vicente, Fogo, Sao Filipe at other times. No idea for the big-hotel non-Eco islands... Beautiful, but very dry, poor, stray dogs all over the place, and air connections between the islands unreliable, not to mention internet.
DD2 adored her work, but only lived there for 2 years. She found it claustrophobic, living on small islands, and she wanted to return to Europe.