Unless
you are a surfer or a kizomba dancer, you may have just
about heard of the existence of Cape Verde. So I will start
by saying that the 10 islands in this archipelago are located just off
the west coast of Africa and are considered an African country.
But not just any African country - the one with the highest standard of living on the continent and in the top 3 in all indeces: from per capita GDP to freedom of press to percentage of energy provided by renewable sources (in the latter, it is in the top in the world). Yet they have very limited natural resources - more than 90% of the food is imported and fresh water is as scarce as is average for this latitude. So how do they achieve that?
Tourism. Each island specializes in some type of tourism. Sal and Boa Vista are the windiest and have the longest sandy beaches, so they are favoured by surfers from around the world. Fogo has a volcano peak for adventurous climbers. Santo Antão has lush vegetation and blossoming grogue (a type of rum) production. São Vicente is popular for the musical and dance scene.
I spent two weeks in Sal - the island famous for its endless fine-sand beaches and surf-friendly waves - along with hundreds of other tourists from Italy, Spain, England, Holland, France and Russia (virtually no Americans). Life was made easy for us: communication was always possible: in a pleasant mixture between Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Criole, plus most people spoke English and French. Eating, accommodation, transportation - everything on the island was hospitality service-oriented and everyone wanted to make sure you "didn't just have e good holiday, but an excellent one".
So how does an island with virtually not a drop of fresh water support the horde of tourists plus the local population? Desalination. A large underground desalination plant is located in Palmeira - in the north of Sal, which is responsible for the entire formidable water supply required on the island. Household water is pumped via an underground pipe system, and table water is delivered in bottles. But desalinating vasts amounts of water is not cheap - in economic or energy terms. The process is predominantly fueled by gas imported by Shell. Gas is also used for cooking and electricity production (no house heating is required).
But gas is not the only energy source. With the constant wind and solar supply on Sal, the government providently built wind and PV installations, which provide up to a quarter of the island's energy supply. My landlord is the one who tells me about these development projects. "Ah, you want to be more sustainable?" - I inquire. He asks what sustainable means, I explain. "Oh, no, it is just because it is free energy..." - he replies humbly.
As I said, Enjoy-the-Good-Life islands...
But not just any African country - the one with the highest standard of living on the continent and in the top 3 in all indeces: from per capita GDP to freedom of press to percentage of energy provided by renewable sources (in the latter, it is in the top in the world). Yet they have very limited natural resources - more than 90% of the food is imported and fresh water is as scarce as is average for this latitude. So how do they achieve that?
Tourism. Each island specializes in some type of tourism. Sal and Boa Vista are the windiest and have the longest sandy beaches, so they are favoured by surfers from around the world. Fogo has a volcano peak for adventurous climbers. Santo Antão has lush vegetation and blossoming grogue (a type of rum) production. São Vicente is popular for the musical and dance scene.
I spent two weeks in Sal - the island famous for its endless fine-sand beaches and surf-friendly waves - along with hundreds of other tourists from Italy, Spain, England, Holland, France and Russia (virtually no Americans). Life was made easy for us: communication was always possible: in a pleasant mixture between Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Criole, plus most people spoke English and French. Eating, accommodation, transportation - everything on the island was hospitality service-oriented and everyone wanted to make sure you "didn't just have e good holiday, but an excellent one".
So how does an island with virtually not a drop of fresh water support the horde of tourists plus the local population? Desalination. A large underground desalination plant is located in Palmeira - in the north of Sal, which is responsible for the entire formidable water supply required on the island. Household water is pumped via an underground pipe system, and table water is delivered in bottles. But desalinating vasts amounts of water is not cheap - in economic or energy terms. The process is predominantly fueled by gas imported by Shell. Gas is also used for cooking and electricity production (no house heating is required).
But gas is not the only energy source. With the constant wind and solar supply on Sal, the government providently built wind and PV installations, which provide up to a quarter of the island's energy supply. My landlord is the one who tells me about these development projects. "Ah, you want to be more sustainable?" - I inquire. He asks what sustainable means, I explain. "Oh, no, it is just because it is free energy..." - he replies humbly.
As I said, Enjoy-the-Good-Life islands...
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