Mindelo, Cape Verde.. Word of the day: WATER!

So… Cape Verde is coming a few days late because Wifi onboard as we make our way to Brazil- SUCKS! Imagine “dial up days” except with a broken AOL disk and the mouse running inside your computer dying from lack of water and cheese!

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Yesterday we arrived to a glorious day with perfect weather in Mindelo, Cape Verde- one of 10 islands in Cape Verde with a population of about 95k!

We arranged a guide through Get Your Guide an app that has proven to be an incredible and affordable resource on this trip. After a walk that seemed to go on forever at the Port and through some smells that weren’t the best introduction to the island- we found Paolo who would be our guy for the day.

Paolo was originally from the island but at 12 moved with his family to Boston where he went to school and worked and much to Dre’s dismay is a die-hard Patriots fan. He’s married to a Sicilian lady he met in Boston and they have 3 boys (all named D- Dominic, Duane and David - I think!) They moved back to Porte Verde when his father passed away and he inherited some land and together with his wife founded Green Line Tours.

The language of the island is a combo of Creole/Portuguese. Fast taking and with lots of slang- the one word I’ve learnt is Obriegado! Thank you!

We started our day with some history- Mindelo had been a port island for everyone from the Portuguese to the English and fishing is their big industry. 95% of products are imported and water is their BIGGEST problem. The island went 5 years without rain and as you’ll see in this post- water is an ongoing issue for everyone. You have to buy water and it gets filled in tanks on your roof (if you’re lucky enough to afford it) and there are a myriad of ways the locals try and catch water. The locals are from just about everywhere- Portuguese, English, Irish, French, Goa India, China!

He took us first to the town square where the main drag is Lisbon Street. It was a Saturday so the streets were bustling. The fish market reminded me of Hong Kong- we watched as the fishermen literally walked their morning catch into the market where the women are in charge of selling. From cleaning on the rocks to cutting to weighing- it was quite the operation ! He showed us everything from flying fish to a certain fish where when you cut out this tiny bone towards the tail it’s used for toothache pain as an anesthetic! Who figured that out back in the day?!

From the bustle of fish to the fresh veggie and fruit market I’ve never ever seen papaya so big EVER. Everything was fresh and MASSIVE! And the only thing bigger was the smiles on the faces of the locals. Paolo should run for mayor- he knows EVERYONE and everyone knows him.

We stopped at the African market where the colors of the fabrics were as bright as the fruit in the market. Scattered along the walls were incredible blue and white tiled illustrations of the history of Cape Verde. Long docks that were badly made and where workers would have to carry the fish and coal to ships on their backs replaced with sturdy docks, dolly systems and iron crabs replaced when the British arrived. Images of slaves from Goa brought to become household help were on another tile. In just 4 or 5 images you saw the history of this very small island known for fish and coal.

He then said it was time to leave the city center and drive to the very top of the island for a view.

On long long man made cobble stone roads where we passed many a hiker- we went up and up and midway to the top he stopped at the “Tea Shop”. A shack off the side of the road where a man grew tea. And I’m not talking some big tea field- I’m talking like what you might grow in your backyard. Again the biggest issue - WATER. He showed us this incredible system for catching water. A mesh net across a wooden wall catches the “mist” from the fog and then it takes the moisture from the net and drops it into an underground barrel that holds the water. Ingenious at best! We each had a cup of tea which was delicious and it was incredible how we went from a hot hot day to suddenly it was both freezing and so misty. Paolo giving his “2 cents” to the owner’s granddaughters who weren’t in school and learning English!

The top of the mountain lived up to his promise- across the water to another island if you looked carefully you’d see the outline of a man’s face laying down made out by the mountain ridge. Below were beaches with white sand and to the other side beaches with dark dark rock of lava from a bow very extinct volcano.

Driving down the barren mountain we went to what the island is known for- a white Sandy beach with dunes made up of sand blown in from the Saharas over millions of years. Paolo told us that they’ve now had to install drones and security as locals have been taking the sand to mix with something to make bricks. All I kept thinking as we drove around the island surrounded by crystal blue water was - water was their biggest problem yet here they are surrounded by it and not a drop to drink.

Our drive down the mountain to the other side of the island Paolo took us to a very busy local restaurant on the beach. It is amazing to see the rock houses now left in ruins along the way. Most property owns for generations but now the young ones no longer wanting to either live on the island or follow their ancestors in the work of back breaking farming had left much abandoned.

Lunch was fresh fish with rice and a salad and again all I could think was how healthy the diet was and how much better I was feeling without a daily diet of processed food!

After lunch Paolo took us just to the edge of the beach where a local biologist had taken to rescuing sea turtles. Some maimed by shark attacks, or dogs on the beach or some from Pollution of trash caught on them. Leave a dollar and he left little shell made mini turtles to thank you. He had mini tiled pools right in front of his private home and on the day we went we met one who was missing a fin. Ugh so sad. Paolo said the island is also known for turtles who annually come ashore to lay their eggs and then when time, thousands of baby turtles make their way from their buried homes in the sand back to the sea under a bright full moon. Unfortunately Paolo also told us that the government had recently had to make it illegal to catch or harm these turtles which some locals had taken to catching for meat leaving behind massive shells.

Making our way back to the city center we passed several small towns where the population went from one town with just 30 people to one with about a thousand. A town needs 4 things- a school, a clinic, chapel and water. Seems simple enough but as we drove the island that day the word water was used way more than tropical paradise.

Like most places we’ve stopped so far we listened to how 2 years of Covid had been incredibly difficult for the locals dependent on tourism to get by. But as with most places we have been to- the surge of tourism post Covid couldn’t have come soon enough. Paolo had been getting requests for speed fishing and invested in a boat he’d receive in a few months to add to the many tours he and Angel(his wife) offered. Want to fish? Tour the island? Romantic beach cocktails? Hiking up the mountain- 2 hours each way? Tour the other islands? Swim with turtles? He does it all and I can’t recommend him enough. He is just a happy man who has found his calling in sharing this gorgeous island with tourists!

As our day was coming to an end Paolo took us to a local shop where I was grabbed the postcards that have become my only purchase at each stop.

Who will be getting one from Cape Verde?

We left Africa for South America are now on a 4 day at sea adventure until our next stop in Salvador Brazil. Wifi continues to get worse- almost nonexistent. I have 73 photos of Cape Verde to share but each image is taking an hour to upload! So be patient! Videos I took? Forget it- I’ll have to post those at our next port stop!

In the next few days look out for a post on life aboard an MSC Cruise ship. I haven’t shared much about why we picked this cruise- how it’s been-the good and bad of this particular cruise line. One we had never taken before and not sure we’d take again. But more on that later!