New to the Group

Hi Mathias,

I am fascinated by your fascination with CV. LOL. Most Americans have never heard of Cape Verde. I can answer some of your initial questions.

The first stage of the process will be to visit and confront my imagination with the ground reality.
Don't get too carried away by your imagination. This is Africa. Be prepared for the reality.

I am interested in all I can find on the country: Cost of living, cost of accommodation both short term (a few weeks visit)
A short term visit can be quite expensive (but no more so than any other tropical holiday destination, e.g., Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, etc) if you stay in a hotel and eat at fine restaurants (with the costs obviously depending on the particular class of hotel AND ON THE PARTICULAR ISLAND you choose to spend a short term visit). You can get your costs down accordingly (checkout Trip Advisor and even Booking.com but be aware that on Booking, it is very difficult to know what you're really getting and whether or not you'll be in a good/safe location. Also be aware that Sal and Boavista are the TOURIST TRAP islands, so your costs there will be quite high relative to all the other islands.

...as well as long term...
The cost of long term stays also depends on which island you settle on/in. Again, Sal and Boavista will be quite expensive. The main island of Santiago which contains the capital is actually not expensive at all. You can live really well on US$1,000 per month including all living expenses. But if you want to have a very active lifestyle with lots of entertainment, eating out, and inter island travel, you'll need around $1,500. If you're the frugal type and pretty much relax at the pad, you can have the basics for $800 per month. In Sal or Boavista, you should increase these numbers by 50%. The other islands are a bit more expensive than Santiago (add about 20%) because Cape Verde imports everything and most of it comes through Santiago but there are additional costs of transporting to the other islands.

...(do people buy houses already built as in the US or do they buy land and build themselves as in most part of Africa)?
You can readily find already built houses (older or new construction). You can easily purchase property here and build your own (you'll have to hire a construction company). You will find that the quality of construction in Cape Verde is not what you're used to in the US. Also, the costs will be much lower than you are used to (because the quality of the materials is very low and the cost of labor is much lower than you can possibly imagine). However, the properties in Sal are very expensive because of the high demand (lots of expats), higher construction quality demanded by expats and foreigners, and because the labor costs there are higher. However, only buy in Sal if you want to be surrounded by expats, mostly Europeans. Do NOT buy in Boavista because there is nothing there...just large all inclusive hotels. Not much of an expat community lives there.

Which island is better to visit first. My primary goal is to immerse myself into the local population, learn the language (I am using Duolingo to get familiar with Portuguese), be in an island where most food is grown locally and ideally have a decent city is possible.
If you want to immerse yourself in the culture, you will clearly not want to go to Sal or Boavista. Those are for tourists and expats. The best cultural experience for a foreigner who is trying to learn about Cape Verde is the island of Santiago. It holds half the population including residents of all the other islands who have come there for jobs. There are also strong communities of Africans from the continent who have migrated here usually for work or business. There is simply more of Cape Verde and of Africa to see and do in Santiago.

You could also try any of the other islands (excluding Sal and Boavista unless you want a tourist type vacation) but they are much smaller and can be excruciatingly boring after a very short time...of course you can always island hop on the domestic airline (about €120 for each leg) and spend a few days in various islands. In that case, it doesn't really matter which you visit first.

Just a quick correction in your thought process. There is no island where "most" of the food is grown locally. Most of the food here is imported from Europe because this country is a desert. There is hardly any rainfall. So very little is grown here; at least it is not sufficient to sustain the local demand for food. Yet, the islands which are the breadbasket of the country are Santiago, Fogo, São Nicolau. The others are barren, but local foods is transported from the islands which grow food to the islands which don't. So you can get local fare on every island with the caveat that most of what you'll be consuming is imported but you might not even realize it.

If there is an American in the forum that lives part-time in Cap Verde, I would love to establish contact to learn more. I live in Houston TX and can share my private phone with such a person.  My email is XXXXXXX.
I'm one American on the forum. I lived in Vermont. Cali, Kentucky, Washington, Mass and Florida. I also lived in Canada. There are very few Americas on this forum. They do't know Cape Verde exists. And most of the US expats who live here were either born in Cape Verde and immigrated to the US before eventually finding their way back, or they were born in the US to Cape Verdean parents or ancestors. I have not met a single American here who came and lived here "just because" (a few have come and spent short periods, i.e. more than a vacation, but they all eventually left...as I said, the reality was not consistent with the expectations most had). I have been here for over 12 years and I'm not planning to go anywhere although living here can sometimes be extremely frustrating because the place is so backward and moves so slowly. That can often be a blessing...but not when you're trying to make a good living or simply trying to get the simplest things done.

Send me a private message if you wish to connect. P.S. Don't post your email on the public forum.

Regards,

Angelo

Mathias1971 wrote:

Good morning to the forum.

I am an American businessman in my forties. I am fascinated by Cap Verde and dream of retiring there although I have never visited the country.

The first stage of the process will be to visit and confront my imagination with the ground reality. I am interested in all I can find on the country: Cost of living, cost of accommodation both short term (a few weeks visit) as well as long term (do people buy houses already built as in the US or do they buy land and build themselves as in most part of Africa).

Which island is better to visit first. My primary goal is to immerse myself into the local population, learn the language (I am using Duolingo to get familiar with Portuguese), be in an island where most food is grown locally and ideally have a decent city is possible.

If there is an American in the forum that lives part-time in Cap Verde, I would love to establish contact to learn more. I live in Houston TX and can share my private phone with such a person.  My email is XXXXXXXXX.