An archipelago of islands off the west coast of Africa. It has a strong blend of Africa and Portugal. Once a Portuguese colony but now independent and officially part of the African continent of countries.
We were in port for a day visiting Mindelo – the Cultural Capital. It was a Sunday so much quieter than a weekday but quite pleasant and a wonderful guide and tour. We started with a birds eye view of the city from what used to be a fortress and then a prison. The road was dusty and pot holed and not maintained but the view was great…when I’m lived in Kenya, during Peace Corps, we had a saying “TIA” which meant “this is Africa”. I have started using it again, regularly, now that I am back in Africa. Some things don’t seem to change and it is notable that many of the places we visit and that I have visited over the years in various countries, would never allow tourists, if in the USA, for safety reasons.
Our ship… the Regent SS Voyager – great size ship soon to be refurbished. Regent is just the best overall… in my opinion.
From there we went to visit a delightful handicrafts museum – The National Center of Art and Design. It was very creative, colorful, and showed an amazing array of handicrafts from the area. Most interesting to me were the walls that were painted to look like wood and the weaving.
The rest of the tour included some traditional dancing, music, meeting and learning about an amazing artist who builds guitars and violins. Last but not least, we visited an eccentric and eclectic museum celebrating the singer who put Cape Verde on the map…Cessaria Evora.
On a side note the flavor of the tour and the city, reminded me of our visit to Cuba back in 2015. If you have not been to Cuba, well worth a visit and probably easier to get to than Cape Verde…
We really liked Cape Verde – very comfortable and a friendly culture – everyone seems “happy”. Including some random picture of things we saw…
Aspects of Wonder and Wander 