Another successful Atlantic Crossing. Smooth sailing all the way.
Port Information. Splendor is docked in the city of Mindelo situated on Porto Grande Bay (a large natural harbor) on the island of Sao Vicente. There are three low mountain ranges on the island with the highest peak in the Monte Verde range (2441 ft). With a population of approximately 70,500 people, it is the second largest city in the Cape Verde Islands an archipelago consisting of 10 islands, all formed from magma rising from the ocean. 93% of the inhabitants of this island live in Mindelo. The city has a strong historical and cultural relationship with Portugal and Brazil and has a wild Carnival along the lines of Rio and New Orleans.
I was on the veranda in La Veranda when the sun rose around opening time.
The views of Porto Grande from the veranda were fantastic and yet the place was essentially deserted.
I should mention that besides me at Table 62, there was a couple (I pegged them as Danish) that were there all the time in the booth just a few feet from me. Other than that, everyone else must have been inside (at breakfast). I had pancakes and eggs over easy this morning – another perfect breakfast.
From the open deck, I got a great panoramic shot of Porto Grande.
Another
wonderful Iced Mocha from the equally wonderful barista and servers at the Coffee
Connection was the highlight of the morning. I may not be drinking much in the way of beer
and cocktails but I am making up for it with these coffees.
We had lunch in a sheltered area near the Pool Grill - out of the wind and chill. I was not pleased with the Impossible Burger I had earlier in the cruise so I have not been ordering them. I gave it another try today and this time, only the burger came as ordered so I was able to put together the burger I wanted (without the unknown white sauce) and it was the best IB I’ve had in a long time (and I have had a lot of them on recent cruises). Since, I am not working today, I ordered a beer (I wanted a Stella but they didn't have one so the imported beer I got was a Corona).
We are touring
this afternoon – “Panoramic Cape Verde” (I guessed at the name because I don’t
remember the actual name of the tour). The
group met on the pier at 1:00 PM and walked a short way to our mini-bus (maybe
20 people on this tour). We got good
seats, in front on the right side just behind our guide, Esteban
(Steven), a nattily dressed young guy with decent English language skills. This is the route the tour will take.
We drove a
short way through Mindelo and then headed out of town to our destination, - the
summit of Monte Verde, the highest point on the island. There are no
real guard rails on the road up to the summit – just a small rock wall. The road is not all that wide so you have to
watch out for mini-buses coming the other way and with a ship in town, there is
a good chance of other tours here. It is
also a very windy road – it didn’t bother me, however. The driver did a good job of getting us to
the top (or almost to the top since the top is just a bunch of TV and microwave
relay units.
The summit is an excellent spot to see basically the whole island and especially Mindelo. However, by the time we got up there, low clouds had moved in making the views fuzzy.
Water is scarce on the Cape Verde Islands. The northern islands including Sao Vincente are essentially deserts getting about 4 inches of rain annually – the southern islands get about 6 inches and are also technically deserts. While at the Summit, Esteban pointed out what looked to be a large blanket hanging up all spread out. This, he said, was a “humidity” capture blanket.
The air is
humid at high altitudes and the blanket captures the water and it then goes
drop by drop into a container. The lack
of rain explains the generally brown or black appearance of most of the island
and the lack of vegetation. I have to admit that when I looked at that blanket all I could think of was mold.
Desalination
plants are also in use on the island to provide needed water. We didn’t see any on our excursion,
From the viewpoint, we could also see the east side of the island,
and Catfish Bay, a large volcanic lagoon on Praia Grande. There is a striking difference between the
black volcanic mountains and the brown sandy beach.
We then headed down the mountain and toward the east coast. This gave us a chance to see the brown sand up close.
We stopped at one beach frequented by surfers (the surf seemed to be challenging that day) (yellow flag) for some fantastic beach views including a panoramic shot.
Ellen put her feet in the water and it was somewhere between cold and OK.
Our next stop was at a Turtle Farm at Calhau,
where turtles of all ages are
protected so they can lay and hatch eggs. Near the turtle farm, there was a
very interesting chart alongside the road.
There were several species of fish shown and along with the pictures was
a ruler that indicated the legal size of each fish. So fishermen could measure their fish
(hopefully not each one separately) to see if they needed to be thrown back. I guess enforcement of fishing is pretty
strict in Cape Verde.
We also saw a
huge solar farm that was probably sending power to the island grid.
The bus then drove inland to the valley of Calhau, an area that has groundwater and wells – the valley has several farms and substantial vegetation (mostly palm trees) – there are also animals on these farms due to the availability of water. It was a stark contrast to the brown and barren landscape of the rest of the island.
Our next stop was a lookout point where you could see the ship, the harbor, and Mindelo. Lots of pictures here.
I asked Esteban about an unusual rock structure in the harbor.
He said it was a lighthouse - every year there is a contest to see who can swim to the lighthouse and back (seems like a long way).
Our final stop was a mini-tour of Mindelo. We saw some government buildings and a very colorful building housing the Centro Nacional de Artesanato.
The sides of the building were decorated with circles of all sorts of colors – we found out that the lids used to be on oil drums. Painted and placed on the walls made for an interesting effect.
The bus
stopped and some people went with Esteban on a mini-walk. We stayed on the bus.
I noticed that the sidewalk had these footprints installed. This is called “The
Soul of the Islands Walk of Fame”, which is kind of like the Walk of Fame
in Hollywood. These are people who have
contributed to the history, arts, and culture of the Cape Verde Islands.
Next stop –
the port. It was a very interesting
tour.
We got
ourselves ready for dinner but stopped in to see an early show (6 PM) in the Constellation
Theater starring Andy and Tammy Heath.
Andy plays the guitar and the two of them create a smooth harmony. The highlight was the full rendition of
“American Pie”, which turned into a singalong with the audience. Nice pre-dinner entertainment.
Another nice
dinner at Compass Rose (still at #115 and still with Sharina and
Christian) – a different soup for us tonight – Potato Leak Soup – it was Ok but
I am going back to my San Marsano Soup tomorrow (the soup has really helped the
soreness in my throat). Another sole got
deboned and I had the salmon with mashed potatoes and spinach. Dessert and coffee finished it off.
We were done early enough that we caught the 8:45 PM set of Rhyme and Rhythm in the Splendor Lounge. Nice post dinner entertainment. We passed on the show tonight – perhaps something rock like.
Went to the room early – comfortable and quiet.
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