Today, ATW Day 91, we are once again at sea heading north to Europe. Yesterday, we were in Mindelo, Cape Verde. It marked our return to a place we saw very little of the last time we were there. I'll explain later.
Sailing in, the port did not look familiar. That might be because the terminal was only completed last year.
We had originally booked an Oceania excursion but, after looking at the details and the 7:15 am start time, we decided to just explore Mindelo on our own. We started by checking out the murals on the warehouses by the port.
We then walked into Mindelo along the waterfront.
We eventually got to the Mercado de Paixe, the fish market. We were hoping that the ship would be getting some fresh fish and bringing it on board but, after watching how the fish were being handled and sold, we're glad that they didn't!
There was one interesting fish that ChatGPT identified as a type of Triggerfish, specifically a Black Durgon.
The market was near the copy of the Torre de Belem in Lisbon.
We then came up on the Quintal des Artes with its interesting art and artist's studios.
We continued our wander and headed up into the city where we stumbled upon the Mercado da Praca Estrela.
We could see the Portuguese influence in the tile work on some of the walls.
We then walked along a street passing the church and a small park before stumbling upon the Mercado Municipal.
We passed by the closed People's Palace.
We continued on along this quiet, non-tourist street enjoying the buildings and eventually coming to a park where we sat for a bit before heading back to the ship.
It was a 2 hour walk that we really enjoyed. We love to wander and explore these "new" places. We have found that not everyone does. As we were leaving the ship, a couple was returning and the man grumbled that all they saw was a couple of open bars. To them I say, "Open your eyes!"
Docked near the ship was an interesting "yacht" - the Bad Company Support yacht. It apparently serves as a support vessel for a fleet of expedition and sport fishing boats.
So, you may be wondering why we saw so little of Cape Verde the first time we were here in 2018. Well, due to a not very serious medical issue, Oceania Medical required me to see a doctor in a local clinic to get clearance to continue on that cruise. After the port agent picked us up and took us to the clinic, we spent most of the day there, waiting to see a specialist. The one I finally saw turned out to be the wrong type of specialist who nevertheless ran a couple of tests and signed off on the form. What a memorable introduction to Cape Verde! Thankfully, there was no clinic required this time.
Peace and blessings and good health,
Linda and Larry
