Cape Verde
Local Services in Cape Verde
Cape Verde has 10,000 kilometers of road way, with 360 kilometers length of asphalt and an estimated 5,000 kilometers cobbled road as of 2007. The rest are unpaved that can be accessed by four wheel drive vehicles. The main method of road travel between villages and cities are by shared taxis called lass. There are few private vehicles but the increasing economic prosperity has made it possible for more Cape Verdeans to buy cars. There are no railways in the country.
The port in Mindelo on Sao Vicente is the primary terminal for cruise liners and ferry services to San Antao. There is also a yacht marina. The main local ferry terminal to other islands is located at Praia on Santiago. Porto Novo on San Antao is the main source of imports and exports to and from the islands. There are also smaller harbors in others islands that act as terminals for inter island services both for cargo and passengers. Several local ferries operate between the islands and they charged much lower fares than the airlines.
There are eight operational airports in the islands. Three of them, the Amilcar Cabral on Sal Island, the Praia on Santiago and the Rabil on Boa Vista are the main international airports. There are three main airlines servicing the islands. They are the TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, Cabo Verde Express and TAP Portugal. The TACV is the national airline and flies daily from Lisbon to Sal or Praia and at least once a week from Amsterdam, Boston, Fortaleza, Las Palmas, Munich, and Paris among others. TAP is Portugal’s national carrier and operates daily from Lisbon to Sal.
