Sal Rei Warnings Or Dangers

Prior to our visit to Boa Vista in May 2011, we had read a few stories of visitors being hassled by touts in the streets of the island's capital, Sal Rei.

We weren't sure how big a problem this would be; whether it was just a case of a few less experienced tourists feeling a bit uncomfortable being approached in the streets or whether it was more threatening. The stories pointed out (as did the Cape Verde forums that we were monitoring) that the touts were not locals but people who had moved over from the mainland, from the nearby countries of Senegal and Mauritania, specifically to target the tourist market in Cape Verde.

During a tour of Sal Rei, we had a little free time to explore the town independently. We decided to have a look through the souvenir shops and general stores that line the edge of Largo Santa Isabel, Sal Rei's main square and centre of commercial activity. Our guide warned us to be careful and not to stray too far away from the cafe where we had arranged to meet back. I suspected that he was just being protective and a little over-cautious.

We were clearly being monitored by the groups of touts that were standing around the square. No sooner had we left our guide behind, we were approached by young men beckoning us into their shops or asking if we'd like to take a taxi ride. Generally, a smile and a polite but firm "no thank you" was enough to ward them off, and we certainly didn't feel threatened. Some of the touts were more persistent; one young man followed me for a few hundred metres attempting to sell me a Cape Verde baseball cap. He was difficult to shake off, but again, we didn't feel threatened.

If you do choose to purchase anything from these touts, be sure to find out the actual value of the items in the shops and be prepared to haggle. We were approached by one man who was attempting to sell us a picture created from sand. It looked nice and we agreed that it would be an ideal souvenir to take home. He wanted 10 Euros for it. We declined and moved on. Had he asked for 5 Euros, we may have been tempted to buy it from him. Instead, we found the same picture in a souvenir shop for just 3 Euros and purchased it from there.

Maybe we were lucky. Maybe there have been serious incidents involving tourists in Sal Rei. However, the hassle we encountered was nothing more than slightly irritating. Nobody manhandled us and tried to force us into their stores – which has happened to me in several other countries! Likewise, nobody tried to sell us anything more questionable than souvenirs – again, this has happened to me in several other countries.

I understand that certain parts of Sal Rei, notably the Barraca shantytown area which houses poor workers from the African mainland, have a reputation for being more dangerous, but we didn't venture into any such areas.