Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands The westernmost promontory of Africa, Cape Verde gives its name to the group of islands almost 400 miles to the west. Mindelo, is the main town of St Vincent with picturesque and colourful Portuguese colonial buildings. Cape Verde became independent in 1975 from the Portuguese. The islands have led a chequered history, for along time the economy of the islands was based on little else but the slave trade, the islands being on the route from West Africa to the New World. Nowadays the economy depends on the airport on Sal, the port facilities in Mindelo and agriculture. Coffee and bananas are the main exports, with salt being produced on the island do Sal. Fishing is a flourishing industry and a by product from the volcanoes is exported to make cement. Arrived ... read more

Our next trip 2016 It's starting to get a bit more real, tickets arrived last week for both cruises. We start and finish in Southampton, leaving on the Arcadia and coming home on the Queen Victoria. The first cruise taking us to Sydney via Cape Horn, after a week in Aus we embark the Queen Victoria for our cruise home via South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. The itinerary: Southampton, Tenerife, Cape Verde Islands, Salvado, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Falkland Islands, Cape Horn, Beagle Channel, Amalia & PIO X glaciers, Valparaiso, Easter Island, Papeete, Bora Bora, Tauranga, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Sydney, Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Darwin, Bali, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion Islands, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, St Helena, Ascension Island, Cape Verde, Tenerife, Madeira and then ... read more

VENICE 5th May 2015We sailed into Venice just after seven in the morning, with the prospect of sailing past St Marks square just before 8 am.... read more

CORFU Sunday 3rd May 2015 Before going to bed last night it was another time change - clocks forward an hour so we can be on Greek time. Having left Messina, we travelled along the Messina Strait around the toe of Italy and travelled towards the island of Corfu. Another glorious day greeted us, a late breakfast before heading off into Corfu Town. Corfus main income is from tourism with its main export is olive oil. The shuttle dropped us at the Spilia gate near the old port. The old quarter is likened to Venice with its tall houses and narrow alleys and the British influence is evident with the bandstand and the cricket square (an all weather strip now). Our walk took us from the 'New Fort' a 16th century Venetian construction with the British ... read more

CADIZ Approaching Cadiz on a bright Spring morning, the towers of the churches and buildings are the first thing you notice. You sail right into the heart of the city, a city that dates back to the 12th Century BC and is the oldest continuously inhabited in the Western world. After two days at sea, it was nice to get off and stretch our legs. In glorious sunshine, we took a short walk to the Plaza de San Juan de Dios where the Town Hall is and the open air brings the essence of Cadiz to life. We walked through cobbled streets out onto the main thoroughfare towards the Cathedral. A small detour took us into the municipal museum (free entry) where we took in some modern Spanish American art in the form of sculptures and ... read more