Mustapha Aminu
14 October 2007
opinion
Abuja — The aim of these my travelogues is to encourage people to discover the joy in travel.
If at the end of the day I encourage even only a couple to pack their bags and venture out, the effort would have been worthwhile. The subject of today is my journey to the volcanic islands of Cape Verde (Capo Verdo) where I eventually visited after missing the first opportunity, as explained in my last piece.
Cape Verdian airline has a daily flight from Dakar, and I think Air Senegal also has a flight every other day. For my trip I took their airline which has different fares depending on the number of days you intend to stay on the islands, [the longer you stay the less the air fare] just to encourage people to stay and in doing so spend more money which translates to higher revenue for that country. Cape Verde is a small island state, located in the middle of the Atlantic at some 445km off the West African coast.
This archipelago of volcanic origin consists of 10 islands, nine of which are inhabited. Its total land area is about 4000km2 with a population of about 600, 000 as of last count. The islands are of two types; the flat which are surrounded by beautiful white sandy beaches and the rocky undulating ones full of contrasting landscapes.
They have only two seasons, the dry and rainy with an average annual temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius. In my last piece, I said I missed two presidential handshakes by not flying with Ambassador Bala who went to receive our then president. Well, the president wasn't there on a state visit; he just stopped over to re- fuel his aircraft. A lot of aircraft do that on the islands because the country finds itself at the crossroads of the continents of Africa, Europe and America which is the centre of the world's main air traffic routes.
The country is of mixed race [Portuguese and African] and their main attraction is their friendliness which they call 'MORABEZA'. They are also very musical with a cuisine that offers a variety of fish, meat and shellfish, some of which I tasted in a nice restaurant named BATUKU.
A day before the trip I called Mr. Sylvanus Aguwa [an Igbo friend] introduced by a mutual friend, who has been living on the islands for upwards of 17 years to inform him of my coming. He was a bit aggressive on the phone when I introduced myself and told him I was coming in the following day which made me equally angry. We later discovered there was a mix up and apologized to each other.
Our friend that was supposed to call from Nigeria to inform him about my visit apparently couldn't reach him. We later laughed over it, telling each other "you can't be too careful nowadays", and he said he would be in the Airport to pick me up, but not before giving me some tips on what to expect from immigration officials on arrival. He told me to hold enough cash to convince the immigration officials that I could support myself for the period I intended to stay, this is because people have started taking advantage of -- "you know what".
That was exactly what happened before I was allowed in. In fact, some people were refused entry just because of that. Later I discovered the officer stamped "Estrada" [entry] on my expired passport which was attached to the valid one then. [Just to put the records straight]. Done with immigration, I now came out to look for Mr. Aguwa whom I never met, and so had no idea what he looked like.
After waiting and going round the Airport for about 15 minutes without anybody coming to ask if I were me, I looked for a phone booth and placed a call to him. He asked "where are you?", and I told him. He just said 'STAY THERE'. Apparently he was also exasperated from looking out for me. He showed up 2 to 3 minutes later and we greeted. I could immediately tell he felt comfortable with me as I felt with him also. You know how it is when you meet someone for the first time and you could immediately tell. We drove to town in a chartered taxi straight to his office. As we settled in the taxi I noticed it was new and very neat, and that all their taxis are like that, painted in the same colour with illuminated signs on top to make them easily identifiable at night.
These are not difficult standards to be set and enforced here also, I thought. This created a very good impression, and started me thinking of how organized the country might be. And believe me, I wasn't disappointed. Some might argue that with a population of just 600,000 they don't have any excuse not to be, but then, there are countries that are poles apart with them in terms of population [Sunyi Hannun Riga] that are more organized. Let's just put our house in order. No excuses.
In the office I met his wife Helen and the kids, just back from school on their way home and they all asked how long I intended to stay. I said 2 to which he responded by saying we should move so I could see as much as possible because there was no time. While he was putting finishing touches on some businesses, I decided to look around the office which is fully automated and had both Igbo and Cape Verdian staff all appropriately dressed in company overalls which read silo investments manning it. All could speak Portuguese fluently also.
They sell all sorts of materials to do with buildings, from sanitary wares to tiles, doors and windows, door knobs, nails, hinges, hardware tools, electrical materials, furniture, in short, you name it and its there, and I tell you of the highest quality, the like of which I have not seen anywhere in Nigeria, especially the windows and sanitary wares which he told me were from Brazil and Spain. After about 10 minutes he placed a call to the same taxi driver who showed up about five minutes later.
We drove round the town leisurely stopping at major landmarks to take them in. We were at a big mechanical workshop manned by the Chinese, yes, the Chinese, they are everywhere, where his car was being fixed, his second shop and warehouse [Dona Helena] named after his wife Helen, strategically located in the most expensive part of town called Palmeraco, where a lot of building projects were going on. I was generally impressed with both the neatness of the city [Praia] which is the capital and the friendliness of the people which was quite on display in all the places we visited.
Some of the places worth checking are Plato, a privileged place that constitutes the city's architectural and cultural heritage, Alexandre Albuquerque Square located in the heart of Plato with their well paved floors and artistic plaques.
Buracona which is on Sal island is also one of the most attractive tourist stops. It is a hole that looks like a magic caldron, which forms a natural pool that is 20 meters deep, its water is renewed permanently by the movement of the waters that break furiously against the rocks. It was on these islands that I first saw black beaches. The sea continuously pushes small black cobbled rocks which they use to construct their roads and houses.
I also saw several resorts under construction which offer off- plan buyers' opportunity to invest in tropical island homes. At the close of business around 6.30pm we drove back to his house where he insisted I must stay.
He gave me a tour of the house which consists of three levels [gym on the 1st, kids/maids on 2nd, parents on the 3rd] and a penthouse guest room en- suite. I wasn't surprised about the quality considering that he sells building materials, but all the same you have to give it to the skilled works men who are as good if not better than those in French speaking West Africa.
One other good thing about their buildings is the maximum utilization of space, they almost all have a decking at the last level which is utilized for things like washing machines, guest wings and a sitting recreation area, where we sat down to catch up on the latest happenings back home.
It was then I asked how he got into the country. He said: "I first read about the country in a magazine in 1988 and decided to check it out to try my luck, as they would say." He went by road from Kano through Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali to Dakar from where he flew to Praia its capital.
He started by buying plastic products from Praia in his 'Ghana-Must-Go' to go hawk in a town called Santiago which is about 30 minutes drive away, and that he did that for about five years before he first ventured out of the Islands. He then became a dealer to an electronics importer, opening a shop in that same town.
All this while, he was just sending photographs and letters back home. Anyway, to cut a long story short this young man now has a small hotel of his own, commissioned by Cape Verde's Prime Minister [just to encourage businesses from outside who re invest in the country] in Santiago, and is a well known business man on the Islands.
As I asked him questions, I felt more and more like a journalist, which I am not. But it surely felt good, especially when I felt in charge of where the conversation was going. His very interesting story which is full of ups and downs will probably be told in detail if or when I decide to compile my travel experiences in book form.
The important lesson here is the sheer determination and resilience of some of our young men, which can be better harnessed here given the right business environment. About an hour later we freshened up and went out to visit his friend who was hosting their community that day. He explained that they do that quite often, that is rotate visits just to keep themselves abreast with happenings both within and outside the islands. On getting to the house, I found myself in the midst of about six or seven slightly tipsy Igbo chaps. Introductions were made after which the host approached me with a wide grin on his face and said, "Alhaji, what will I offer you?" I said I was a teetotaler, just to answer the unasked question displayed by his grin, and that anything soft would do.
I was offered a full bottle of grape juice and a plate of very nice isewu, [kan akuya, for those of you that don't know] complete with the green that usually comes with it, prepared by his Cape Verdian wife who had obviously been Nigerianised [judging from the taste of that isewu] which I did justice to.
I really enjoyed it because I hadn't taken it before then in a very long time. Our conversations, mostly on politics and business were very informative; particularly because of the presence of someone [whose name I can't remember now] very current and widely traveled within the continent. In the course of our discussions I noticed they were always referring to my friend as president, and I asked, why?
It was then I found out he is the president of all Igbos on the Islands. Such modesty! Deep into the night we said goodbye, dispersed and drove back home in his pick up truck. I was surprised to see dinner waiting in my room, but I touched small sha.
In the morning we set out early and passed by the office where that same taxi was waiting. We just popped in, and before I knew it we were on our way to Santiago, the town which gave him his first break and to which he has given back by building a hotel plus a shop/warehouse.
The cobbled road to the place with its sharp and scary bends in between mountains and volcanic rocks coupled with the breathtaking scenery is truly a memorable and unforgettable experience for me. We spent time in the town and the surrounding villages, it seemed as if everybody knew us, as we just kept waving and stopping at intervals just to say hello to all classes of people. As we drove back on that cobbled road I couldn't help thinking about God's favours to his creation where ever they may be.
He provides them the Islands in which to stay, and made the sea to push the materials required in constructing their roads. We came back to Praia in good time to have lunch in a nice restaurant; it was there I discovered my friend hadn't even been to Abuja before.
I encouraged him to come see it when next time he's in Nigeria and promised to personally be his guide.
Well, it came to pass. As I write this travelogue now, he has visited twice, the second time with two of his Cape Verdian friends and I hosted him.
I encouraged him to visit with the hope that he might start thinking of investing here when he sees our new and improved capital city, and I have a feeling it has worked. Now that he and his Cape Verdian friends have extended an invitation for me to visit with my family with a promise to make his hotel at my disposal, [a good incentive] I just have to struggle and save in order to make it come to pass also.
I promise to feed you back on the other inhabited islands I wasn't privileged to see this time because of time constrain, if or when. I think it's more of when with this mouth watering offer. He dropped me off around 4. 30pm for my almost two hour flight back to Dakar, and believe me, it was only then, that I came out of the feeling of being surrounded by the vast Atlantic ocean on a tiny island. I felt a little like Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway, but with a lot of interesting people keeping you company.
Mustapha Aminu is a Nigerian tourist living and doing business in Kaduna.
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