I went on holiday to Cape Verde, Sal, and had a great time. But I noticed a few of the guys selling things in Santa Maria would call over to us as "brothers". I just wondered whether they knew we were gay or not? We are two white European guys. It just made me slightly laugh about it, to be honest. I wondered if they actually though we were brothers or whether they were guessing we were gay? I know Cape Verde is pretty progressive on gay rights and I assume you must get quite a few gay European couples in Sal and Boa Vista now with the European holiday companies... I certainly saw a number of gay people in our hotel.

I’m curious to hear from locals what life was like pre-1974. I read a lot about the Salazar regime and how the prolonged colonial wars dragged Portugal into an extreme depth of economic crisis but I’d particularly like to understand what life looked like for the average Cabo Verde citizen. Was there noticeable oppression? How did most people get by? How was the connection between mainland Portuguese and local Cabo Verdeans?

Hello,

We are looking for a high quality coffee to buy. Do you have any recommendations? Which brand is good?

Thanks!

Seen a few peddlers with a monkey on a leash or a bottle sized puppy. Lots of stray dogs too. Police just move them away from the tourists. Anything happening with this issue?

Everyday been chatted to an asked to go to the market. Friendly but a little annoying especially as they come right up and get mildly offended if you don't high five or shake hands.

Always rebuffed the offers but what is this mysterious market off the beaten track?

How many hours before my flight should I go to Sal Airport? There's nothing to do there from what I can see so I'd like to cut it as fine as I can safely. Is the standard 3 hours before flying about right for international flights.

I'd like to buy some duty free but other than that is there anything I can do there?

We are a 20 min car ride away.

Hey,

Almost ready to give up but I thought asking here might not hurt:

We were on Boa Vista and Santiago recently for two weeks and enjoyed it quite a lot.

My girlfriend really liked the 'strela' shirts worn by some of the staff at the bars. We looked around but never saw a possibility to buy such shirts at the shops.

I contacted the 'strela' account on Insta and Facebook but they don't answer.

Anybody has an idea how to get such shirt?

Would be willing to paypal some money if somebody would be able sent one to me to Germany

I will be in Praia for a few days in February. Can I use euros to pay for everything in cash or will I need escudos for some things? If I pay in euros, will I be given change in euros or escudos?

Hello,

We are currently in Boa Vista and are wondering how easy/difficult it is to move around. We were thinking about going to the shipwreck and to Santa Monica. Are there aluguers going there from Sal Rei? Also, where do the aluguers start from?

Thanks!

So basically I have to do a project on culture of a Portuguese-speaking country for school. I wanted to pick Cabo Verde because I lived there when I was a toddler as part of my parents' work. Nowadays, I live in the USA and I have never known your culture very well. To get to the point, I noticed this Batuco video on TikTok and I want to do one of my parts on this but first I would like the name of this song. If you know the name of this song, please comment it and if you have anything else to help the search that would be great also. Thank you Cape Verde! 💙❤️💛🤍

https://reddit.com/link/1ia29je/video/ufgffjekqgfe1/player

whay is the tap water in santa maria, sal yellow, in espargos its not like that but when i moved to santa maria its very vissible, and is it bad health wise to bath in it

Hello everyone, I've recently started learning Portuguese and I'm planning to visit Cape Verde this summer. The goal of my trip would be to learn Portuguese, but I don't know where can I do so in Cape Verde. I've seen that there is a language school in Praia (CVBabel) but I can't find any information on their Portuguese courses.

Do anyone knows another school/way to learn Portuguese on the islands?

Thanks

Hello,

After almost a week in CV, we noticed that supermarkets keep the yogurt outside of the fridge. Is there a specific reason for that and how safe is it? Has anyone else noticed it?

Thanks!

My Wife has roots to Cabo Verde, it is by great-great-great grandparents, do we need her father to claim citizenship, or can she directly? Thanks

So I want to bring a small snake, I was wondering if there would be any legal issues, I've searched on the web can't find anything on it. I know they are legal in Portugal, and since Cabo Verde and PT have a similar constitution I'm hoping it would be fine here.

Can anyone help me with that?

Hi everyone,

I’m planning a trip to Cabo Verde in August 2025 and was wondering if anyone has experience with booking inter-island flights during that period.

I reached out to Cabo Verde Airlines to ask when their schedules for August will be released, but unfortunately, I haven’t received a response (which I was expecting given their not so good reputation when it comes to customer service).

We are forced to land first in Praia as we will be traveling from the Azores and are hoping to visit Boa Vista (or Sal, still deciding) and São Vicente.

My questions: 1- Does anyone know how far in advance these flights are typically made available—one month, two months, a couple of weeks? 2- Are there daily flights from Praia to Sal or Boa Vista and then from Boa Vista to São Vincente during that period (or the other way around)? We're basically trying to determine whether we'll be in a bad position if a flight is cancelled, or whether it's not the end of the world as there are several flights a day/week that we could catch if that happens. 3- any tips for island hopping or advice on how to get around given the lack of reliability of CV airline?

Would love to hear any recommendations in general. We will have 12 days and will be there for our honeymoon. ☺️ We love beautiful beaches (crystal clear waters), sea activities (boat rides) nature, good food and like to do easy/moderate hiking (although not an essential activity for our honeymoon).

Thanks

Hi,

We will be visiting CV in about a month, for 6 days/5 nights. We're arriving/departing into/from Praia. Is there an option to rent a crewed/skipepered catamaran/sail boat for the period we are there, and maybe sail to a couple of the closer islands?

Hello,

I have been in CV for two days now and I noticed that some mini markets sell bottles of water that seem to have be opened before.

They make this crack noise when you open them but the odd thing is water and air is coming out when you squeeze them before opening it for the first time.

I was wondering if this is a trick and they are trying to resell tap water.

Has anyone noticed that?

Hi everybody

Is Zika virus on Sal risk?

I know Cape Verde is registered as a risk, but no cases in nearly 10 years and never in Sal. Any recent information would be kindly appreciated, everything I find seems years old

Hi! Me and my partner booked a flight to Cape Verde for August. We’ll stay there 10 days.

We’ll arrive in Praia and return from Praia. We’re planning on visiting two islands. The choice is between Santiago (since we land there anyway), Boa Vista and Sal.

Do you have any info, tips, suggestions to choose between them? Is there any other island you recommend checking out?

What we’re looking for: beaches, sun, relax, but also experiencing the local culture, maybe a trek or two, sightseeing. A mix between adventure and comfort, let’s say.

Thank you in advance for any tips!

Hello. I understand that before arrival in Cabo Verde (I’ll go to Boa Vista) it’s mandatory registration with EASE and paying the TSA fee.

But I am from a country that is not visa exempt. Do I need to apply for an e-Visa in advance or do I pay it on arrival? Costs and info online are conflicting.

Thanks all in advance.

We are planning to stay in Praia for a week. We like to walk everywhere but I am wondering if it is safe to do so in Praia. We are a couple and we will not walk alone but still, is it safe to walk around and explore and are there places to avoid?

Hello,

We are planning our trip to Sao Vicente and we were wondering about the aluguers in Mindelo. We saw that for the southern part of the island (Calhau and Sao Pedro) the aluguers leave from praça estrela. Do you know if they leave for the rest of the island from there too? We would like to visit Monte Verde and Salamansa.

Also, where can we find the timetable and stops of the buses.

Thanks a lot!

I just arrived on the island of Mindelo a week ago. Wanted to know if there is a Shisha/hookah place that is not a club. I just want to chill out and smoke shisha somewhere like a chill lounge without the club. Can anyone recommend a spot?