Blogs from Cape Verde, Africa - page 3

Hello my fellow travellers! Today we went into Espargos, the capital city of Sal, it's a quite small and quiet place really. There's no hustle and bustle here, no tourists, no stress and no sellers. Just everyday people getting on with their everyday lives, such a thing is always a pleasure to see as it feels more genuine, nothing put on spectacle to suit a tourists camera or envision of what the destination should be like, only reality. Getting there was interesting though, as we approached the minibuses we stopped in a clothing shop where Lisa found a dress she was interested in. I came inside for a while to act as taste/moral support but after a while I went outside as it wasn't quite my venue. When I looked over at the minibuses it seemed ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! Today has been a nice and calm day. Me and Lisa has pretty much just been laying around and reading all day. We did take a stroll down to the pier (dodging around the two main streets as best as possible to avoid all the sellers) to check up about going over to another island but it turns out that it costs almost as much as the whole trip combined which is just insane. We did however go down to the people that organize the glass bottomed boat tours and booked a tour on the Neptunus for tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to it even though it was a bit pricey. After we had booked our underwater adventure we sat down in a quiet restaurant and just reflected on events so far. ... read more

Hello again my fellow travellers! Today me and Lisa took a great tour of the island of Sal. We went by a minibus so we were a small and manageable group. Our guide picked us up at our hotel and then we went by a couple other hotels until the whole group was together, around eight people I think. The tour began with Monte Leão, the lion mountain, which is located in the Murdeira Bay and it is a beautiful spot. According to our guide it is the most photographed spot on Sal, I don't know if it's true but it might be. We sat down here for a while and just enjoyed the view. The waters around here are swarming with urchins, the whole seabed is littered with them. From there we went to the ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! Today, after a 7½ hour flight we finally arrived in Santa Maria, a small, charming town on the south tip of the island of Sal in beautiful Cape Verde. It is my pleasure to introduce a new travel partner to this blog as this time I have my now ex-girlfriend Elisabeth (henceforth called Lisa) with me for the trip. We actually booked this trip while we were still a couple and I can honestly say that I have no idea what to expect of this trip at this point since we haven't really spoken that much since the break-up. We're not on bad terms or anything, I guess it's just a natural effect of what's happened. I don't expect us to get the relationship back on track with this trip, I am ... read more

Author's note: Since this piece was written in 2007, Brava is now served by a modern 'Fast Ferry' which has made the island more accessable to the rest of the archipelago. But this story should give the reader an idea of how things "used to be." We weren't taking any chances. Checking out of Pensao Paulo, in the old crater town of Vila Nova Sintra, my wife, daughter and I caught a ride taking us down the narrow, winding mountain road to Furna, the port of this island of Brava. Being the most remote island in the Cape Verde's, we thought it prudent to arrive early to hang in Furna and wait for the twice weekly ship to Brava to dock. In 2007, this was to only public transport to and from the island. Schedules ... read more