24 RTW Day 53 Mindelo, Cape Verde

By travelerdon on June 24, 2024

Friday, April 26, 2024

A new day and a new Country! Cape Verde it is! As we pull up to the dock, it is hard to even tell we are at a dock! The dock is only 50ish feet wide and then it is all water again! Unless you’re on top looking straight down, all you see is ocean and harbor!

So we prepare for the day, knowing we have to be back on ship by 1:30PM. That’s right, shortly after noon! Sheesh! Who planned this port? But we get our breakfast and get in the cue to leave as soon as it is announced that we can depart. We hop on the shuttles that take us a mile into town and are assured by Franklin, the shuttle guide, that the guys in the yellow vests are our friends!

We get off the shuttle and are the first to approach the guy in the yellow vest, Liam. Liam negotiates with us for $60 USD for a 3 hour taxi. Several times, he tries to get us to join a group, but we know his price won’t go down and for $60, we want our own private driver. Finally, he pairs us up with a taxi driver that speaks English and off we go!

We drive off out of town and onto the island’s tundra. This is pretty much a desert isle and natural growth is rare. But he brings us to a local farm where we walk down into the farm and get to see the plants and vegetables grow. We also see a windmill as it pumps water out of a well. The people here are very self reliant and it is amazing to see how they prosper.

Driving on, we travel along the shore where the contrasting volcanic rock and sand dunes paint a picture with the azure seas and turquoise waters in the background. We arrive at a fishing village and our cameras are assaulted with views of fishermen and their boats and colorful houses. We walk along and come to a sea turtle rehabilitation center and even see a sea turtle with a missing flipper (leg). We are told the flipper will grow back but we wonder how long that will take.

Interesting shore scenes abound as we make our way back to our taxi.. Then it is off to head up the mountain to get some panoramic views. We get about two-thirds way up the mountain and are told the road is closed. (little do we know that other passengers make it to the top) But the views are worth it and our cameras steal the show and go a bit crazy with the views!

We work our way back down and back across the island to where the ship is and all is well. We still have some time to walk about town and we find a local pub where we have a local beer and even a local white wine! We’re told that a volcano wiped out the vineyards in 2014 and had to be replanted. But the wine was better than any on our ship! We even get a taste of Grogue, a local alcohol that turns out to be grain alcohol!

So off it is to find a few souvenirs including a magnet for our map wall in our cabin. Shopping and browsing here was fun and we were not overwhelmed with vendors chasing us like in other ports. We acquire more photos and then it is back to the ship. All in all, a fun day!

Back on board, we take part in some games and trivia, dinner and a show, consisting of random crew showing their talent! Even one security guard performing as Elvis which we have heard about and he definitely stole the show!