18/4/2016 St Vincent, Cape Verde Islands

Getting to Mindelo Harbour on St Vincent,  Cape Verde after 7 days at sea has been well worth the wait. We have just read that the deep water harbour was formed by a volcanic crater.  The sea is truly intense blue, light turquoise in patches, with tiny lines of white where the wind is whipping it up. From the ship directly in front of us we can see the stunning volcanic mountain ranges, and a good feeling about sustainability as there are "wind farms" both east and west.  The scenery is very beautiful. We did what we planned and went off to Mindelo by shuttle. It feels really African, the people, markets, sounds, even though we had read about the connection with Portugal until independence in 1975. As we deduced from the port presentation the Islands don't seem to have geared up for tourism yet, but I am sure they will become a really popular destination for both sun and adventure seekers soon.  There's no signs of hotels here in Mindelo on the beach, no expensive Waterfront, no jet skis or water ski-ing anywhere to be seen.  There were many people waiting to greet us off the shuttle bus inviting us to take the island tour, and sadly quite a lot of very poor looking people around, asking for money.  We didn't think about sharing a picnic until it was too late. :(

Over the day we have taken some lovely photos - big baskets of fish and fruit being carried by the women on their heads, a strong culture of bargaining for the best price.  Tiny cafes and bars, all very dark inside without windows. Groups of men old and young sitting outside near their fishing boats, or selling their wares on street corners, lots of laughter and oh yes, lots and lots of dogs. Yet the buildings do look Portuguese -  churches and house fronts in very bright colours, colonial statues, so it's been a very interesting day piecing it all together.




     



       













We had received a letter in our cabin yesterday with WHO advice about preventing Zika, listing Cape Verde as a risk area, and explaining that these Zika carrying mosquitoes are active during the day. The letter said we should cover up with dark long sleeved trousers and tops, and spray all over with 50% Deet like Jungle Formula or Lemon Eucalyptus like Mosiguard. We have been totally complicit and we have managed to avoid any bites today. Because the temperature has fallen a little bit and the wind is quite strong, blowing many hats off, we didn't feel uncomfortable covering up. We also think the wind will have helped to keep the mosquitoes away.  On the clothes market we bought ourselves an African outfit each.  Actually they will both be mine when we get home. I might be wrong but I don't think Khachik would wear his multi coloured tie dye top after the holiday.  I will wear my royal blue and white tie dye dress in the house like a robe, as well as on any warm days we might have in the summer.  Anyway mine is getting an outing tonight.

We are back in the cabin now, I have painted part of the coastline and we are waiting for dinner, sailing away from Mindelo port towards Tenerife.  Our coordinates are now 17 degrees north and 25 degrees west. Sea state is moderate and the wind is force 6, which means the decks are quite blowy and there are warnings about the doors, but no closures as yet. The sea looks choppy Tonight our entertainment will include an all female Beatles tribute band called Sister Twist in the Curzon theatre and afterwards in Carmen's ballroom an American guitarist we remember from last year Called Zach Winningham. I will come back with the appraisal tomorrow.

I am sorry not to have been able to show off any of our recent our photos, or live message or Skype -  we couldn't find any high speed wifi. I am sure we will when we reach Tenerife, meanwhile quick catches up only from the ship today and tomorrow. Then 20th Tenerife, 21st Gran Canaria and I think 22nd Madeira.
Bye for now

17/4/2016 Final Sea Day to Cape Verde

Tonight my blog is short and sweet because I'm conscious of the time.  From the map it looks like we are almost level with Senegal, and very close to the Cape Verde Islands. our coordinates are now 14 degrees north and 23 degrees west.  There's been a noticeable change in the weather from hot to warm - more cloud cover, a drop in temperature to 24 degrees, meaning that we can be out on deck for a lot longer. As the day has progressed the wind has also increased to a force 5, and the sea state is now classed as moderate. It's not uncomfortable, though, just a gentle sway, so moderate is good, for now!

After a breezy breakfast out on the deck this morning, we went to deck 13 at the very top of the ship to a bar called the Crow's Nest and painted a coastal scene, said to be from St Vincent, but I renamed one boat after Khachik.  Very enjoyable, so I went back for the afternoon class while Khachik watched Leicester v West Ham and later Arsenal v Crystal Palace. We also watched a Historical Murders talk about the Krays, very hard to listen to, won't do that again.

                 

Lunch was a bit different today. We went for a sit down waiter service for lunch, instead of the usual buffet.  Food is lovely just the same, but I feel we might have eaten less by having portions served out on our plates.  That might be the way to go, given that exercising is such hard work ;) Dinner was a lovely sit down event tonight too, with the usual 5 courses. Tonight our choice of main was a Taste of Africa, and included a fish I'd never heard of (and now I've forgotten its name!) with a risotto style rice dish with lots of veg.

Tomorrow we will be in Mindelo port on the island on St Vincent. We have heard that the islands aren't highly populated or developed, and not yet geared up to tourism, although getting ready.  We have decided not to do an excursion, but to visit Mindelo by shuttle bus and spend a few hours just taking in the local culture, trying to learn a bit more.  More about that tomorrow.

Clocks go back again tonight so we will then be 2 hours behind UK time, but not for long. It seems there are only 8 days left, that's gone quickly!
Bye for now xx

16/4/2016 Day 6 of 7 Sea Days to Cape Verde

I have now forgotten what being in a port feels like, honestly.  When you leave the ship you have an ID card to swipe. As you swipe there's a beep and a voice from the technology as you leave the ship saying "goodbye" and when you return "welcome" - it recognises you by bar code and displays your photo. (A possibility for the future of ID's and passports I imagine)  I was just thinking about this and it seems ages away since I heard these sounds just before exploring the sand dunes in Namibia - did we really do that? Yep. That was us :).

 But happily for us in this last week a whole new world opened up, so many things to read, listen to, speakers to engage with who have made us think hard about the meaning of life. So much to look up too when we get home.

With our extra hour we just had an extra hour in bed before breakfast and art this morning. We painted "Arch 22 in Banjul" which we might have visited if we had had Yellow Fever Vaccine, and if the Gambia port stop hadn't been cancelled. We don't mind, by the way. We were going to stay on the ship that day so that we could get into Cape Verde unvaccinated, as we don't hold Yellow Fever Certificates.  Quite a satisfactory outcome for us. Anyway, back to Arch 22 where today we used a fresh technique - negative painting where a huge part of the paper was a white building, and its shape was created by leaving it blank and painting everything inside around it. Really effective.



Then after lunch, because it's Saturday Khachik was watching footy on telly, I went on my own to "Virtual Planetareum - Guided Tour of the Night Sky",for a talk given by Leon,a fellow of the Royal Astronomical society.  He used computer modelling to describe the galaxies and their relationships, including all the ancient mythology.  It was riveting, although I have to admit that there was so much new information for my brain that I think I need to listen again.  Hopefully it will be available on Channel 2 of our telly tomorrow!

So now for my daily update about where we are and what the weather's like - 28C today, so a bit more comfortable to sit in at breakfast time. A light breeze too.  We are degrees 9 degrees north and  17 degrees west, passing about 150 miles off the coast of Sierra Leone roughly level with Freetown. Still very excited about covering all this new ground.

Goodbye for tonight. Back tomorrow. xx