Santiago: 15 years of tourist discoveries with Sílvio Brito

• By Zahid
• June 5, 2024
• #diversidadeecultura #ilhadesantiago #turismo
• With 0 comments

“Wonderful” is how Sílvio Brito, a tour guide for fifteen years, describes his work.

Cape Verde.com spoke to this guide, who describes his work as a tour guide as “combining the useful with the pleasant”. In other words, while working, you can also interact with people from different countries, visit and/or get to know various places and enjoy the adventure of this interesting job.

For Brito, what tourists generally look for on the island of Santiago is the diversity and day-to-day experiences of the people, as well as the local culture and the beautiful and unique corners of the island, in addition to the sun, the outstanding sea beaches and the good climate.

“Cooking with wood”, “eating at a table in someone’s home” or seeing how a dish is prepared, or “drinking goat’s milk” or even contemplating the somewhat dry and arid environment of the country, is sometimes a spectre of wonder that arouses the curiosity of tourists.

“Tourists are looking for authentic things, things they can’t find in their own countries,” says Brito.

Being in contact with nature, for example, is an experience for which the guides never lose the “grace” of their work, even more so if travelers love mountain tourism.

I’ve opened up my horizons, whether in terms of getting to know new places or meeting new people every day, of a different race or language, it’s always new, and that’s why this job will never be boring.

When asked what the Cape Verdean tourism sector still needs to improve, Brito highlighted safety and investment, especially in mountain trails, as factors to take into account. But the biggest concern, according to him, is the need for stronger marketing of the island of Santiago.

At the end of the interview, Silvino Brito guarantees that working as a tour guide is a 100% sustainable job that allows anyone in the area to make a good living.

The friendliness, morableness and willingness to welcome tourists (even more so if it’s in their homes) on the country’s largest island, Santiago, is practically the “postcard” for visiting the island.