West Africa – Aspects of Wonder and Wander

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…

We were to be stopping in Casablanca but earlier this past month Regent wrote saying it was cancelled out of an abundance of caution due to the war in the Middle East. Disappointing but understandable and both Alix and I have visited Morocco and other Muslim countries (I was just in the UAE, Jordan, and Turkey this past spring).

We had a relaxing sea day… we both took Bridge class, rested, she went to a lecture and I then played Bridge that afternoon.

As “solo” travelers on this trip the Social Director, Kelly, organizes a lot of nice extras. One is meeting in the bar on the Observation deck at 6:45, have a beverage, and then anyone interested goes for dinner. It’s really quite fun and we have a great group of solos. One night Kelly ate with us and another night Olly and Jackson hosted dinner – one a dancer , whose mom was a Radio City Rockette, and the other a singer, both with the entertainment crew. Delightful young men…we went to the show last night to see them after being requested to sit in the front row… they said it helps to see friendly faces!! Two nights ago Kelly and Ugo (the general manager) joined the solos for dinner – he hosting with two excellent bottles of champagne as a treat with dinner. Needless to say we are enjoying the extras of being solo and getting to meet those running the show, in one way or another! The frivolity at dinner is quite fun. We choose to share a table at the specialty restaurants and have thoroughly enjoyed that as well…sharing tables in Europe is a norm, and can be a lot of fun. I wonder if Americans will ever move into a more inviting behavior as such.

The speakers have been good and other guests are very friendly sharing stories of past cruises or an excursion. We are enjoying our suite life with periodic canapés, a full bar, and truly anything we might request. Will add a few more pictures of the suite…it’s called a Voyager Suite. About 650 sq. Feet and 1.5 bathrooms. No complaints!

Some mornings we eat in the suite and others we wander out to the many other options. Last night after a late lunch out in a cave (will post that excursion tomorrow!) we just had canapés in the room and then drinks with our little group, before the show. Tonight our excursion has us going ashore in Santa Cruz for Tapas tasting – a Thanksgiving first!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with family and friends.