The greatest Cape?
Homes Overseas - October 2006

Can there really be an undiscovered Caribbean experience on our very doorstep? Mike Hayes heads for the Cape Verde Island to find out

The way people are talking about the 'discovery' of the Cape Verde islands, you'd think they were a cross between Neverland and the lost city of Atlantis. The truth is, this group of islands off Africa's west coast - 300 kilometres due west of Senegal, to be precise - will need a little work to become paradise&but they do have potential.

To be honest, I hadn't heard of the Cape Verde islands until a couple of years ago, when a Homes Overseas reader brought them to my attention. Feeling a tad guilty for being ignorant of this fledgling hot spot - I visited the CIA's World Factbook website (who would have thought the CIA would be so helpful?), and discovered that "Cape Verde continues to exhibit one of Africa's most stable democratic governments" - encouraging news for potential property investors.

Further investigation showed that the general case for Cape Verde is a strong one. For one thing, the islands lie to the south of the Canaries and offer a wonderful year-round climate. Furthermore, the government is making all the right noises about attracting inward investment while developing with a conscience, and direct flights from the UK (at least to the island of Sal) seem likely to be underway by the end of the year (currently flights via Lisbon are the most direct route). Of course, as is the case in many destinations - be they in developing nations or highly sophisticated markets - most properties are being sold off-plan and a leap of faith will be required when purchasing. And on the island of Sal, that leap is a hefty one.

Sal is Portuguese for salt and, other than seriously good fish, Sal naturally boasts very little else. The island is quite flat (with a few lumpy bits) and, in truth, is unlikely to grab the attention of anyone seeking an alternative to, say, Antigua. There is, however, a huge white-sand beach at the southern tip, which does bring to mind the slogan of one Cape Verdean development: "The Caribbean just got closer".

Development on Sal is at a very early stage, and Santa Maria - a rather charming town attached to the aforementioned beach - is actually reminiscent of Cuba, with pleasantly faded pastel-coloured buildings, narrow streets and a number of friendly bars and restaurants (go for the fresh fish dishes; they're always great). To the west of Santa Maria there are a number of small-scale developments and hotels, but large tracts of nearby land have been snapped up and are earmarked for more audacious development projects.

One such project is Vila Verde, a large development of villas, townhouses and apartments, with colonial-style architecture, sport and leisure facilities and the promise of botanical gardens and lush green areas - something the island could do with.

Tecnicil, a respected and well connected Cape Verdean developer, is undertaking the project, and the proposed finishes are impressive, with nice touches of marble and granite, and quality kitchen fixtures. Studios offer around 36 square metres of floor space, while three-bedroom apartments run to over 153 square metres including front and rear terrace areas. Two- or three-bedroom townhouses have total floor areas ranging from 147 to 172 square metres, and villas have three or four bedrooms, with floor areas ranging from 224 to an impressive 364 square metres, including a large pool area.

Prices on the resort start from around ?100,000 (?70,000). Having said that, Vila Verde homes are selling fast and the entire project seems likely to be sold out before the end of the year. The Vila Verde resort itself will offer residents a range of services, such as restaurants and bars, shops, health and beauty clinics, and a kindergarten, as well as pay services such as internet and cable TV, gardening, cleaning and swimming pool maintenance. Santiago is the largest Cape Verdean island, with an area of around 990 square kilometres, hosting two mountain ranges, a much greener landscape than Sal, and a number of attractive sandy coves. It also has by far the largest indigenous population and is arguably the most developed of the islands, although, in terms of holiday property, development is not as widespread as on Sal.

The most prominent building project to be found on Santiago and probably the furthest advanced of all current developments is the sprawling Sambala resort, well situated in the south-east corner of the island, located less than ten kilometres from the Cape Verdean capital, Praia, and its international airport.

At the moment there are no direct flights to Santiago from the United Kingdom, although talks are currently underway with a number of airlines. Current accessibility problems, though, have not deterred adventurous buyers from snapping up property at Sambala, and the first phase - Sambala Village, comprising over 480 units - is already sold out.

Sambala will culminate - in around ten years - in a resort comprising some 8,500 residential units, two 18-hole golf courses, three five-star hotels, a separate marina development, a spa and health centre, and a number of restaurants and bars. Much of the building material is recycled, and the building work itself is being undertaken by a team that includes 300 locals, who are all learning skills that will stand them in good stead for the future.

Two generations of the Grepne family, which owns Sambala, have finally turned a dream into a reality and their involvement in the development of the island's infrastructure as well as the resort itself is now paying dividends. The built area of Sambala lies around one kilometre from the coast, just a short walk or buggy ride from the good-sized San Francisco beach.

To the west of the site, a valley will be populated by botanical gardens, which will be sustained by Sambala s own water desalination plant.The look and feel of the resort should start to take shape next summer, when early buyers are expected to start physically using their properties.

According to Dominic McGlynn, deputy chairman of Sambala, Santiago offers the perfect holiday environment. He says: "Because the island is so lush and mountainous, there's a wide variety of tourism activity on Santiago. You can go hiking, horse riding and fishing and spend time on the beach as well. And from a cultural perspective, it's very rich on Santiago. "We have four beaches close to Sambala, although one is exclusively for the use of turtles, and we have some of the best unexploited dive sites in the world. The big game fishing is also completely untouched here." Sambala is now selling properties within Vivendas de Santiago - an exclusive neighbourhood comprising townhouses and villas.

Prices for two- and three-bedroom townhouses range from ?165,000 to ?199,000 (?115,000 to ?139,000), with villa prices from ?275,000 (?192,000) for three bedrooms and from ?335,000 (?234,000) for a five bedroom property.

Plenty more developments are now breaking ground, both on Sal and Santiago, and some intrepid developers are snapping up parcels of land on less developed islands within the archipelago, such as Boa Vista and Sao Vicente and where they build, intrepid buyers will surely follow.

Ultimately, the Cape Verde islands will be a success story, but potential buyers should take heed; unscrupulous developers and agents are drawn to hot spots such as this like pickpockets to a music festival. So, be you a next big thing investor or a sun-seeking holiday-homer, the advice is to proceed&with caution.

www.homesoverseas.co.uk

This article has been brought to you be Sambala; the developer for Cape Verde Property.

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