Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 13/96 - Visit #3 to Mindelo, São Vicente, Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde, Cape Verde. What is the difference? Cape Verde is the English version of Cabo Verde. But, in October 2014, the Republic of Cape Verde officially changed its name to the Republic of Cabo Verde and Cabo Verde is the preferred name. I choose to say Cabo Verde.
Cabo Verde is an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. The small country sits roughly 350 miles off the coast of Western Africa and is a member state of the African Union. Today is our third visit to Mindelo, and even though the tour description sounded a bit different from other tours that we have done, it was an exact duplicate of the first tour we did here. We drove up the 744-meter Green Mountain, stopped to walk in the Saraha sand the wind deposited here, walked on the beach, and visited a turtle rehab hospital.
Here we go...
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| As we walked past the ship, it appeared that someone on the Bridge was having a fun day |
We drove past the marina on our way out of town.
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| Along the way, we had to wait for a group of passing goats to clear the road |
We drove up Monte Verde, or Green Mountain, a 744m peak overlooking Mindelo. The road up (and down) is rough, narrow, and steep. It is everything that a nervous person would hate. We had some of those on our bus and they faced inward as the look down was unnerving.
After a brief stop atop Monte Verde, we headed down the mountain toward a stop at some natural dunes formed by Sarahan sand blown here by the strong winds off the mainland.
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| The volcanic nature of the island is on display wherever you look |
Our guide treated us to a sample of the local liquor - an 86-proof grog distilled from sugar cane.
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| The awful taste was well-complimented by the fire in the back of our throats |
We stopped for a few minutes to look at a local beach. Unfortunately, the turtles were not in season.
Those that know Arlona, know that she has to touch the water.
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| I could see what was coming - Arlona, obviously, did not, but she sure felt it |
We continued to a small turtle hospital where injured turtles are rehabbed and released.
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| Two big ones... |
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| ...and two little ones |
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| Every time we come here, Arlona looks for shells |
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| Found some! |
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| This is one of those places where you can just watch waves all day long |
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| The rocky volcanic landscape makes for great breakers and nice sounds |
From here, we headed back to Mindelo and our ship.
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| A farm with the lone working windmill on the island |
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| The outskirts of Mindelo |
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| There are murals all over the place |
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| A mural of Cabo Verde's most famous singer, Cesária Évora - it is carved into the wall rather than being painted onto the wall |
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| I think this sculpture is new as Google Lens couldn't identify it |
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| Our Seabourn Sojourn |
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| Captain Hamish Elliott, welcomed guests back to their home away from home |
We had a nice lunch from The Colonnade, eating outside on the back of the ship. We continue to meet more interesting folks and today was no exception. Then, we returned to the suite to relax for the afternoon.
We went out as we were preparing to sail and took a couple of photos of the interesting landscape in the area.
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| The mountain looks like a face looking skyward |
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| A Hershey's Kiss island or a poop emoji island? |
We went up to the Observation Bar on Deck 10, where the bartender, Djan, shook and stirred simultaneously.
After hanging out for a while, we started heading to The Restaurant for dinner. Along the way, we met friends we made on the journey and ended up sharing a table and a couple of hours of conversation with them. It was a terrific evening.
We're sailing the short distance to Praia on Santiago Island for our second Cabo Verde visit tomorrow. While it won't be a new country for us, it will be a new port, so we're looking forward to seeing new things. We have a seven-hour excursion that we booked through GetYourGuide, an independent tour company that aggregates tours in cities all over the world. It should be fun.
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