Cape Verdes update from Tom Sheehy, owner of the Mindelo yachtie bar “Simpatico Sports Bar” and CA honorary local representative:
“Things have changed dramatically here over the past few years. Some things of note in Mindelo:
Provisions: You can now get almost everything from a wide range of meats including South American beef, fresh fish much cheaper than in Europe, organically grown vegetables. There are also a wide range of new supermarkets including a new one – PILAR VERMELHO MADEIRAZINHO – which carries a much wider range than historically would be available here, including things such as gluten specialist products, Japanese soya and mats etc. There are now also three MEU SUPER, which are from the large Portuguese supermarket chain of Continente.
Yachtie Gathering Places: The yacht club is at the marina, Club Nautico is no longer a yacht club but now a restaurant. Simpatico Sports Bar, which is mine, is now regarded as one of the main places for sailors with fibre optic broadband (higher speed than the marina) plus a wide range of international cuisine and drinks. I am the honorary local representative for the Cruising Association (CA) – http://www.simpaticocaboverde.com.
The street of Rua Sena Barcelos, just some 100m from the marina, is now pedestrianised and is where we are located, Taverna Italian restaurant and the Cremosita ice cream parlour. There is street seating available so it’s a very popular aree for sailors and visitors to the island to congregate.
There are some new hotels due to open in 2023 with a 4 points by Sheraton opening in July. The new cruise ship terminal and new pier are in construction, expected to open in 2023 as well. On January 20th we will see the Ocean Race coming to Cabo Verde for the first time. This puts CV to the forefront as a truly great location for yachts. Carnival Mindelo is back after 3 years due to COVID and occurs on and around February 12th. This is one of the biggest and best carnivals outside of Brazil!
Santo Antao, the neighbouring island, is also getting great notoriety as being one of the best trekking locations with amazing scenery truly worth a visit. Ferries operate 4 times a day to and from the island (to Mindelo) and it takes one hour to go there.
With the arrival of the new Hotels we are also now seeing many new flights coming from Europe, which are expected to increase further in 2023. Currently it’s possible to fly from Amsterdam, Lisbon, Luxembourg and France.