Before we begin the adventures for today, we wanted to add the little bit of information we gathered about "Rasputin", the so-called Russian Orthodox priest, who left the ship, much to everyone's delight, back in Sydney. It just happened that both of the ladies we met at the Captain's Dinner lived within three or four rooms on either side of his room on deck three. Linda said she had noticed a very terrible odor coming from his room, and decided to report it daily to the front desk folks. Among other unimaginable things we cannot mention on this blog, the smell was coming from hoarding leftover food from his many meals on board. We did witness him taking a bowl with food scraps and dumping it in a bag every night at his table for one. His reason for doing this, according to a person in the know, was his religion dictated that no food should go to waste. He claimed he would be feeding these scraps to the animals when he went onshore. Apparently, he did not realize that no food like that was allowed off of the ship in most ports. Eventually, Linda's complaints along with other passenger's comments, motivated the staff to de-contaminate and disinfect his cabin, with warnings to stop the prectice.
Lisa, our other tablemate that evening told us that the priest was stalking her at different times of the day. Many days, she found him standing outside her door as she exited. As a single woman, she was very intimidated by him and his inappropriate comments he made to her. She felt in fear of her safety, and also reported the incidents to the front desk staff. They informed security, who kept a eye on him at all times from there on out. Lisa said she felt much better when he was finally gone. Being a minister herself, she always suspected something was amiss with this man claiming to be something he was not. Anyway, that's all we know.
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All aboard for everyone: 4:30pm
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OK, on with the second day in Cape Verde. We left the ship once again around 10:30 am, finding the weather was going to be a lot cooler due to a strong wind blowing. The climate stays pretty much the same year round. The islands are in a sub-Sahara climate and are naturally semi-arid. The temperatures of the air and the water remains constant, and there is always a breeze blowing. That is why these islands are such a perfect vacation destination, especially for the northern Europeans. Flights to here from Lisbon for instance is 4 hours, while from Paris and Italy, it is 6 hours. Tourists come from as close as Senegal for a 1 hour flight, and some fly from Boston on a 7 hour flight. Coming from Brazil, it is 4 plus hours.
The first stop we made from the shuttle bus was at a tourist info desk at Praca Aurelio Goncalvez Square.. We picked up a booklet and a map to have for reading later on. We would not find out until lunchtime, that the booklet was written in Portuguese.....duh. Oh well, maybe we can still figure it out.
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| A kiosk at the Praca Novia |
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| Tree-lined park |
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| Modern technology in a mostly colonial city |
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Locals in town
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This time we walked uphill first and turned left. We ended up at Placa Novia, where we ran into table mates Bill & Marianne. In the middle of our conversation, a local man stopped to talk to the four of us. He suggested that we get out of town to see better sites, and by the way, he had a van, although he was not a native, he was from Norway or something. As he was telling us about owning a yacht somewhere, we quietly slipped away, while Bill & Marianne eventually did the same thing. Figuring there was not much to see up at this end of town, we walked across the street, and found the Mindel Hotel, the one we were searching for yesterday.
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| The Midel Hotel |
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Largest hotel in town
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Turned out, it was right down the steet from where we ate lunch yesterday. The hotel also advertised pizza and other local cuisine. Looking inside the lobby, we saw many people working on their computers, although we were not sure if it was free. A couple of our buddies that live down the hall from us, stopped and asked us where we suggested to eat lunch. She had been trying to get online all morning in town, and said she was quitting, and refused to spend one more minute on it. The last thing we would do is waste time like that too. Days in ports can be all too short.
We continued on the same path we took yesterday, getting some different photos of the highlights. By the time we got to the souvenier stands, many guests from the Fred Olsen ship filled the square, also shopping for treasures.
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| They watch us, we watch them |
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| Assorted fresh fish |
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| New catch of the day |
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| Red ones |
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| Lunchtime |
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| Cute puppy in the fish market |
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| Three market cats |
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| Meaty fish |
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| Veggies |
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| Souvenier stalls in the square |
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| Produce locally grown |
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| There goes the head tub again |
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| Men playing cards near the church |
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| Local indoor market |
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| African Market |
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Vaulted ceiling of the African Market
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| Mustard-color is popular |
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So is apricot paint
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This time the vendors were busy helping other folk bargaining for things. That did give us the time we needed to decide we really did not need any more carvings. Right now, every souvenier we purchased along the way is stashed away, hidden under the bed, and in the closets. Pretty soon we will be gathering it all together and start the packing. We will be glad with the decision to pass things up at this point.
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| Good place to rest |
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| All of downtown looked like this |
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| Park goers |
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| Baby gets a ride |
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| Another hotel maybe |
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| Apartments |
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| Gazebo |
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| More apartments |
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| Arid volcanic hillsides |
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| Trees for shade |
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| Great balconies |
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Kiosk offered beer and refreshments
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As we were making our way from the Praca Estrella Square, two policemen approached us. At first we wandered if we had unknowingly taken photos of something we should not have. No, they just wanted to tell one of us to place the "machine" around our neck. Of course, they meant the camera. They motioned that it could be stolen easily, and of course, we complied. Obviously, they know something we do not.
It was already getting close to 1pm, and lunchtime. As we were heading to the same restaurant we liked yesterday, we found a neat shop that was selling artistic t-shirts. The price was right at $16. US, but the shark necklace one of us liked was way over-priced at $20. Outside OCocktail Restaurant, a street vendor was selling beaded African necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. He was making them right on the spot, so we bought a set to have a small memento of Cape Verde. Jewelry always packs easily.
Today we ordered a margherita pizza with chopped onions and tomatoes.
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| Best choice of pizza in town - O Cocktail |
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| Marianne and Bill just finished lunch |
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Waiting for the beer
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While waiting for it to arrive, we figured out some basic info on the islands from the Portuguese-written booklet. According to the 2010 census, about 492,000 residents live on the ten islands of Cape Verde, or Cabo Verde as it is called here. The names of the islands are Santiago, Boavista, Santo Antao, Sao Vicente, Sao Nicolau, Fogo, Sal, Maio, Brava, and Santa Luzia. Most of the locals are women (50.5%), while only 49.5% are men. Roman Catholic is the religion of 90% of the folks, while the other 10% are mainly Mormon and Jehovah Witnesses. The celebration of Carnaval is big here. The parade happens on Fat Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent, Ash Wednesday. The date changes every year, depending on when Easter falls. By the time we translated all of this, the pizza arrived with the Strela beers, and we were happy campers.
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| Ahhh.......beer, finally |
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| Crispy crust, good toppings |
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| Onion/tomato topped margherita pizza |
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| The kitchen |
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| Compact working space |
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This may be about the Capoeira dance....not sure. Some places it is forbidden.
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We jumped on a shuttle that was almost full and ready to go back the short distance to the ship by 2pm.
At 3:30pm, a local show was presented in the Queens Lounge by a group called Cape Verde Corda.......corda, meaning strings in Portuguese. It is possible that they are the same group that entertained everyone at the BBQ last night. We did attend the show, which was full of guests, and found the music similar to the Brazilian samba we have heard while in Rio.
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| Cape Verde Corda - local show |
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| Lead singer |
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| Guitarist |
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Mandolin player
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The mix of guitars, violin, and the mandolin along with the rhythym of the drums kept the audience clapping along with the beat. At the end of the performance, they got a standing ovation from everyone, at least on the upper level.
The Mindelo sailaway was held at 4:30pm, and it was downright cold when the ship headed out of the bay.
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Debby Bacon's aft pool performance
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| Very breezy sailaway |
Shortly after we left, the Braemer ship also sailed out of the the port. We headed west, but the Braemer turned south.
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| Braemer |
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Registered in the Bahamas
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The Fred Olsen Braemer leaving port
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Many on-lookers watching us leave
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The Braemer heading south
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The aft deck was cleared of guests within minutes after we left. The band followed, and so did the chairs and chaise lounges, which were stacked so they could not blow away.
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| The waterfront of Mindelo |
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| The Tower of Belem on the waterfront |
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| Boat harbor |
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| Hillside abodes |
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| Ilhea dos Passaros and an Alcatel Lucent ship |
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| Local ferries |
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| Interesting vessel |
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| Boats at anchor |
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| The town of Lazareto at base of mountains |
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| Dock workers |
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| Fishing boat |
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| Tugboat |
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| Ilhea dos Passaros with a lighthouse on top |
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| Ferries to nearby islands |
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| Speeding fishing boat |
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| Rough waters |
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| Wind generators on the hillsides |
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| A very tall sailing vessel |
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| The town of Mindelo |
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| And choppy waters of the bay |
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| Ferry |
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| Cable-laying boat |
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| Steep stairway to the top |
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| Catamaran |
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| Mindelo |
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| Volcanic peaks |
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| Probably old bunkers |
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| Very old cannon mounted on hillsides |
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| Ilhea dos Paasaros |
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| Nearby island of Santo Antao |
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| Looked even more desolate than Sao Vicente |
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| Totally volcanic |
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| Wind cut hills |
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| Two small fishing boats |
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| The Braemer following us out of the bay |
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| Rough waters due to wind |
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| Really made the small craft rock and roll |
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| Mindelo in the misty distance |
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Looked like a moonscape
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Checking out the entrees for dinner in the Lido, we decided on the chicken cordon bleu. The Chinese noodle vegetarian dish also looked good, so we decided to share one of these entrees too. Hmmm, we are getting daring in our "old age", ha-ha. Dinner time came quickly as always. The Stroups took a tour up to the volcanoes, and around the island. Lucky for them, the had an excellent guide who explained the secrets of farming on the arid island. They use the drip system with water from wells. All of the drinking water is provided by desalination plants, as we had already suspected.
There was no live show in the Queens lounge this evening. Instead, they showed a movie, Grudge Match, a 2013 flic with DeNiro and Stallone. Eventually, it will be on TV, where we can watch it without falling asleep.
We will have 5 days at sea now, as we head for Barbados and the Caribbean. Bet they have some busy days planned for us during this crossing. They always do......
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| Sunset |
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| Sunset |
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| End of the day |
