Cape Verde

With only 12 hours in port I don’t have a whole lot to report about Saint Vincent Island in Cape Verde. I spent the morning on a tour of Mandelo (the main town on the island) and surrounding area. We walked the streets, visited a fish market and vegetable market, had snacks and listened to local music at a restaurant and drove up to the look out point on Mount Verde. I spent the afternoon and early evening hanging out with friends from the ship – eating good food and just relaxing at two different local restaurants.

Saint Vincent (and all the other islands that make up Cape Verde) is a volcanic island that so rarely gets rain that the entire island is dry and barren. I’ve never been to an island that is so…well…brown and desert-like. I know understand why we couldn’t find a travel guide for Cape Verde – I don’t think it would be on the top of anyone’s list of tourist destinations.

Even though it wasn’t the prettiest island I had ever seen it did have a comfortable, small town feel and the people were very friendly and helpful. In many ways the culture reminded me of Brazil. Not too surprising because, like Brazil, Cape Verde was originally a Portuguese colony.

It was a brief stay but a much needed break from sea travel. We just finished a 10 day leg and now we have 5 days until Spain (I miss counted the days in my last posting – it’s 5 not 6 days to Barcelona).

For those who celebrate – have a Happy Easter!