{"id":7512,"date":"2024-02-21T15:12:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T14:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workingremotely.nl\/island-hopping-with-laptop-in-tropical-cape-verde\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T15:14:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:14:45","slug":"island-hopping-with-laptop-in-tropical-cape-verde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workingremotely.nl\/en\/island-hopping-with-laptop-in-tropical-cape-verde\/","title":{"rendered":"Island hopping (with laptop) in tropical Cape Verde"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to escape winter and a guarantee of nice weather, Cape Verde is the ideal destination at the beginning of the year. These African islands are located off Senegal and it is about 26 degrees all year round. The perfect temperature, if you ask me. Previously I went to the island of Sal, this time I went island hopping (with laptop) in the lesser known S\u00e3o Vicente and Santo Ant\u00e3o. <\/p>\n

Discovering the island of S\u00e3o Vicente<\/h2>\n

S\u00e3o Vicente is not too big and not overrun by tourism (yet). You’ll find some digital nomads there, but most foreigners are just tourists going on vacation. In the capital Mindelo<\/a> there is the most to do, so that’s where I went. I had mainly asked at the accommodation if the wifi was stable, which turned out to be so. There are not really nice coworking spaces yet where you can work nicely, so I mostly worked from my apartment and cafes. A nice hotel for your stay here is Santa Cruz Boutique Hotel<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The wifi is generally not there as we are used to at home. So I asked accommodations in advance about the quality of the Internet connection and explained that I work remotely and that good wifi is therefore crucial. Even then, in a country like Cape Verde, you don’t get any guarantees, but it works well enough. As a backup, I had already bought an eSim online at home via Airalo specifically for Cape Verde, so that I would also be reachable by phone and could rely on this connection. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, it did not work on this island. <\/p>\n

\"Alieke \"crossing<\/p>\n

Carnival in Cape Verde during the workation<\/h2>\n

I had heard a lot about celebrating carnival in S\u00e3o Vicente, so I went to investigate in February. That worked out pretty well. Last year I was in Bonaire around the same time, but didn’t time my trip right and went home just before Carnival, such a shame. That wasn’t going to happen to me a second time. <\/p>\n

For Cape Verdeans, Carnival is the party of the year. Everyone is engaged in it and already days before the parade you regularly see and hear loud music and see people dressed up. On Monday evening is the practice parade and on Tuesday evening is the big moment. Then the streets are filled with spectators and beautiful large carnival floats drive through the city. This involves a lot of music, dancing and tropical costumes. <\/p>\n

\"Carnival \"View<\/p>\n

Although it really is fun to see, I think my expectations were too high. Not of the parade, but the whole party around it and the days before. Where I was hoping for a nice atmosphere with lots of musicians on the streets, that was not there. After the parade we (2 Dutch girls) went home almost immediately and didn’t linger on the streets, that didn’t feel quite comfortable. <\/p>\n