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To: westpacific who wrote (75018)	12/8/2006 8:01:29 AM
From: Mike Johnston	Respond to of 110194

I had a pleasure of visiting Cape Verde recently, namely islands of Sao Vicente and Santiago. Friendly people, but there is a lot of poverty. On one road, a bunch of kids have built a mound of dirt across the pavement in order to stop the drivers and beg for money. Cape Verde is so poor that it cannot afford to remove shipwrecks off its beaches, i even saw squatters living on one of the busted and corroded ships. Some of the islands there, like Santo Antao, are so dry and rocky that no agriculture is possible there. You wonder how can that island even be inhabited. That particular island doesn't even have beaches, it is mostly rocky coast. There is limited infrastructure and almost no industry. Only fishing and a little bit of tourism. The biggest source of income for the islands and its citizens are money sent home from Cape Verdeans who immigrated to Europe or the US. During recent drought, the islands had to import most of the food. Sal Island is better off, since it has a lot of nice sandy beaches, some resort-hotels catering to europeans have been built there, but i can't comment much since i haven't been on that island. Many locals don't even have resources to purchase a ferry ticket and visit another island, let alone go to Senegal 600 miles away. And Senegal is a separate country, Cape Verdeans need a visa to be allowed to travel to Senegal. I have seen some decently looking houses close to the beach, some recently built, but with limited commerce and access to services, what is the quality of life ?