Cape Verde Ultimate Winter Sun Destination? Article Published: 11:30 04/12/2006 Article Classification: Sal Beach Resort Cape Verde
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25 November 2006 Daily Mirror

WINTER WINNER

NO JET-LAG, GREAT WEATHER, GREAT BEACHES AND IT'S CHEAP, THE NEW DESTINATION TO BEAT THE COLD IS...?Edited By Iain Mayhew

It's being hailed as the ultimate winter sun destination. The new Caribbean or Canary Islands, but much hotter.Barely a six-hour flight from the UK and no jet lag. Sandy beaches, stunning scenery. Friendly locals. Cheap food and drink.Wow. I can see the breakfast cornflakes suddenly halted mid-spoonful, the bacon left burning to a frazzle.

Can it be true? Where is this place? How do we get there?Well, yes it is true.

From November to June there's eight hours of sunshine a day, the time difference is one hour behind GMT and there are superb stretches of white-sand beach.

The scenery varies from arid desert to steep cliffs, pine-clad Alpine peaks to Caribbean rainforest.

The locals are warm and generous and you can get a three-course meal for £10.

Beer, if you're interested, costs less than 70p.

Technically, this is a holidaymaker's paradise. And yet, and yet...These are the Cape Verde Islands and if you look on your atlas you'll find them in the Atlantic about 400 miles off the coast of Senegal in West Africa.

Until independence in 1975 they were a Portuguese colony and since then the Portuguese, Italians and French have come here for hiking, windsurfing and spending their euros in the bars and restaurants.

The reason we Brits haven't taken over the place is that, until now, there have been no direct flights from the UK (determined travellers could reach the islands only via a fivehour stopover in Lisbon) and so it was largely ignored by British tour operators.From this month, that's all changed.

There are now weekly charter flights direct from Manchester and Gatwick and already the hotel-owners, restaurateurs and property developers are sniffing the air for the unmistakeable smell of British ten pound notes.

All the land around the southern coast of Sal, the island with the only international airport so far, has already been snapped up by developers and hotel chains.

Apartments are being sold off-plan for around £100,000. And a government official - as yet, there is no tourist board - made it clear to me that, frankly, if you've got the cash and you want to build something then anything goes.

It's a bit like the Canary Islands were 50 years ago. Indeed, Sal itself is a dead ringer for Fuerteventura - no trees, hardly a blade of grass, just a couple of dusty towns yet blessed with some glorious beaches.Other islands - Sao Antao, for example - are as lush, green and mountainous as northern Tenerife and, because they are less developed, twice as beautiful.Unlike the Canaries, however, this is unmistakably part of Africa.Now, I find this a bonus.

There is a natural vibrancy and spontaneity about the place that is hard to find in the fleshpots of Playa del Ingles or Playa de las Americas. In the towns, many of them backed by a warren of gimcrack houses, you'll see women carrying baskets of bananas on their heads. In villages you'll find kids wearing barely a stitch of clothing and no shoes.

Cape Verde is a delightful sunny adventure for UK winter tourists. But don't expect wall-to-wall bars showing Sky Sports or cafes serving up English breakfasts.The only hotel that's anything like that is the Spanish-run, all-inclusive Riu Funana on Sal.