Mindelo, Cape Verde - "The Green Cape"

 May 3, 2024

Cape Verde - The Green Cape

We sailed into our last African port this morning, Mindelo, Cape Verde.  The name means "green cape", but it wasn't very green as they have not had a significant rainfall for about 7 years..  It is an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands.  The cape received it's independence from the Portuguese in 1975 and now aligns itself more closely with Africa even though it lies 385 miles off the west coast of Africa.

We are on a small private bus tour today with some friends.   Our guide today is the spitting image of Usher so that is what we will call him.  He said he has heard that before.  

He takes us up to Fort D'el Rei.  This fort was built back in the mid 1850's  by the Portuguese.  Later, the fort was used as a prison and then a school before poor upkeep caused it to be closed.  Now it is a very picturesque spot to look down on the harbor town of Mindelo. We got some great panormaic views.  

Unfortunately, as we were getting back in our van, another van parked nearby was having a major squabble.  I don't know if it was some of our people or not but it didn't sound too good.  We got out of there and headed to the downtown area.          

                               

So we went down to the city and went through the fish market where the daily catches come in to be sold to the locals.  Tuna, Mackerel and Whiting are the most common catches.  

Right down the street the local produce markets compliment the fish markets and like many poor local towns, the people shop for their meals everyday.  Water is a constant struggle and while they do use a desalinization process, most water for drinking is purchased.  

We make a quick stop at a local church, Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, and we learn that about 85% of the island nation is Catholic.  This comes directly from the Portuguese influences.  

Every year the island holds a carnival called the Mindelo Carnival.  We stopped in to a lot where a lot of the carnival pieces are stored.   It was kind of creepy seeing all these heads, bodies and float pieces just lying around looking at you.

An interesting fact on the island is that the taxi's charge you not only per the meter but they also charge you more based on the type of road you are on.  I mentioned this only because we are heading up to the highest point on the island called Mt. Verde.  

This peak is 744 meters above sea level and the road up to the top was like cobblestone or brick rolled into the bed of the road.  It was very rough.  Once on top we had some great scenery to look at when the fog would clear long enough to allow a photo or two.  

Surprisingly enough, we were treated to some tea, coffee or this rum drink which was actually pretty good. They also had what I will call a rudimentary bathroom facility.  There is no water up on the peak but they had devised an ingenious method to collect water from the fog and as it condensed on the plastic sheeting it would run into a cistern and that is how the toilets worked.

We made our way back down the bumpy road and ended up in what is called Catfish Bay.  Here you could put your feet in the water which wasn't as cold as we all thought it was going to be.  They have a big music concert there every year called Baia das Gatas Music Festival.  People come from far and wide, and it is an important event for the island.  

Just down the road a bit from Catfish Bay and you come to some sand dunes along the beach.  This is actually sand being blown in from the Sahara desert, many miles away.. This is a very fine brown sand and it gets in everywhere!

Well our sail out time today is early as we start our 4 1/2 day journey back across the Atlantic.  Our last stop is in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We all go thru immigration there as we come back into the States ... makes it much easier than in Ft. Lauderdale.  Hard to believe we are almost finished.  It has flown by and while most everyone is ready to be home, most people say they will miss life on the boat too.  It's been quite the adventure.  But stay with us.  Let's go see San Juan together.   

                                                                                                              

Vi and LeRoy