Five-star pigs resort in Cape Verde

I arrive in Cabo Verde, the archipelago west of Africa.

It is late afternoon in Praia, the capital. I change airplanes in the country's main airport. I wait forty-five minutes in the check-in line. There is five of us in the line and we are all quite patient. The officer is tired and frustrated: "So many flights today, it is insane". I look around, the hallway is almost empty. "How many flights do you have today? I don't see anyone". "You don't see any, because this is the last flight, the other ones left. Today we had three flights!"

After Senegal, the first shock is how clean the country is. No garbage on the streets. The second shock: how many people are drunk. In every town and every village, every evening, drunk men stagger and wobble on the street. "We don't have organized crime, but we like to drink" smiles Tito, a musician with whom I stay in Praia. Clearly, culturally we are in Europe, eventhough geographically it is still Africa.

This European sentiment disappeared when I came in Unitel mobile operator office in Ribeira Grande to buy mobile data. The data packages were confusing. The lady explained: "Here, in Cabo Verde, megabytes and gigabytes is the same thing. There is no difference."

I thought for a while and instead of arguing, I asked my balance. The balance was 10,000 megabytes, that was about 10 times more than I bought. "Okay, I am still in Africa" I thought to myself, leaving the office.

In Paul, a tiny town in the island of Santo Antão I walk along waterfront. It is amazingly beautiful. I approach the beach under the palm trees where I should expect the five-star resort. Some small sheds are there. They appear to be pigsties (small houses for pigs). The pigs enjoy the five-star sea view and are put to sleep by the waves. I laugh to myself. It's good that places like this still exist on Earth.

I love Cabo Verde.