Cape Verde on a package tour (1 Viewer)

Am thinking of booking an all-inclusive package to Cape Verde for some winter sun. The two possibilities seem to be either Sal or Boavista and I know these islands have a pretty limited number of the Cape Verde endemics and other species.
I was wondering how practical (and expensive !) it might be to have a couple of trips to other islands in the group. I will be with my non-birding wife ,so they will have to be day trips. Does anyone have experience of doing anything like this ? There are some reports of "serious" birding tours to Cape Verde, but they all seem to be trips involving staying on 4 or so different islands.
I'm not bothered about seeing ALL the endemics , but the two packaged islands seem to have few of them.
Thanks, Bill.

My wife and I spent a fortnight birding Cape Verde in March 2006, visiting Santiago, São Nicolau (including Ilhéu Raso and Ilhéu Branco), São Vicente, Boavista and Sal.

Given a choice between Sal and Boavista, I'd definitely choose the latter. Sal is a particularly uninspiring island, with few specialities. On Boavista, you should see White-faced Petrel (stay a night on Ilhéu dos Pássaros), Red-billed Tropicbird, Magnificent Frigatebird (on Ilhéu Curral Velho), Brown Booby, Alexander's Kestrel, Black-crowned Finch Lark, Iago Sparrow.

It should be easy to add a few days on Santiago - for Helmeted Guineafowl, Boyd's Shearwater, CV Purple Heron, CV Buzzard, CV Peregrine (v rare), CV Barn Owl, CV Swift, Grey-headed Kingfisher, CV Cane Warbler, Common Waxbill.

More logistically difficult (few flights, limited accommodation) would be a visit to São Nicolau (Helmeted Guineafowl, Neglected Kestrel, CV Swift), and chartering a fishing boat to Raso (Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Booby, Raso Lark) with an overnight stay on Branco (CV Shearwater, Boyd's Shearwater, White-faced Petrel, CV Storm Petrel).

CV Shearwater and Fea's Petrel can be seen from various islands.

Richard

Thanks for the quick reply, Richard. So Boavista is the better of the two. Is a day trip to Santiago possible ? Remember, I wouldn't be staying overnight there.

cheshirebirder said:

Thanks for the quick reply, Richard. So Boavista is the better of the two. Is a day trip to Santiago possible ? Remember, I wouldn't be staying overnight there.

Click to expand...

A day trip from Boavista to Santiago/Praia isn't feasible (you'd have to fly via Sal), but there's reasonably-priced accommodation in Praia. I'm not sure I'd recommend a day trip from Sal either, given TACV's famously erratic performance!

You can check the 'theoretical' timetable here (disregard the 'pleasurable way of flying' bit):
www.caboverde.com/pages/615813.htm

Richard