Good News – Cape Verde to open again! The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correis e Silva, has announced that the Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow (08 October 2020) will approve the opening of the borders. The country closed it’s borders on 18 March with only essential international flights permitted. Some flights have started to Praia (Santiago) and São Vicente. The main tourist airports on Sal and Boa Vista have, however, remained closed.
The inability of tourists to visit Cape Verde has made life very difficult for the country and for the large number of people that rely on tourists for their living (See Cape Verde Survival). The ability of tourists to return is just the start of the recovery process. Visitors will need to feel confident about visiting and also countries in Europe still have quarantine requirements for returning travellers.
Both the islands of Sal and Boa Vista now have Covid Centres together with public and private health services that are certified internationally. This means that both islands are able to welcome tourists again. Normal precautions are necessary, such as wearing masks, social distancing and hygiene. Improvements in testing are also being introduced enabling results to be obtained quickly by mobile phone.
Internal flights and ferries have been operating for a few weeks and therefore access is possible to all islands including those without an international airport – Maio, Brava, Fogo, São Nicolau and Santo Antão.
So, we hope that after such a long hiatus, tourists will now come back to this lovely country. The country offers so much – beautiful beaches, friendly people, wonderful weather and mountains for those who like to hike. The people of Cape Verde will be very happy to see visitors return. So this is good news – Cape Verde is to open up again.
