São Vicente

New-to-us Port #20.

Mindelo — overlooking Baía do Porto Grande on Cape Verde’s São Vicente Island — our first port of call in Africa. This island country, which gained its independence from Portugal in 1975, is just 310 miles off the coast of the continent.

Today, we joined Sonia & Boris for a private tour that they had organized. Fred & Barbara, with whom we had dinner last night, also joined us. This was an especially poignant port call for Fred as his grandfather, at age 16, had left Mindelo to settle in the USA.

To meet up with our guide, David, we had to first walk to the port gate. A path had been marked for us to follow through the commercial port — a very stinky one … we are assuming from all the fishing boats clustered together along the way. The walk was fairly long, but we managed well enough.

David first took us to an overlook to view Porto Grande, the bay, and the city from high on up. The beautiful color of the water was particularly visible from this vantage point.

Then, we walked around to the other side to check out the views from that vantage point. Our jaws dropped when we spotted the amazing blue/turquoise color of the water at Praia da Laginha, the city beach. With the white sand trimming the edge of the water, it was a breathtaking view. If we ever find ourselves in Mindelo again, we know what we will be doing 😉

Next, we drove into the city for a short walk with a few quick stops. At the fishermen’s beach, we saw the men cleaning the scales off their fresh catch using a tin can like a rasp. A few steps away, fresh catch was being sold in the fish market … one woman salting the fish to preserve it. Around the corner was a fresh vegetable and fruit market. And then the handicraft market. We had about 15 minutes at this stop, but instead of shopping, Mui and I went for a wander that rewarded me with plenty of murals made with the blue and white azulejo tiles.

Back in the van, we began the long, winding ride up to the top of Monte Verde. The cobblestone road made for a bumpy ride, but the views were breathtaking. Unfortunately, the higher we went, the hazier the scenery became with filmy clouds. At the topmost overlook, the view was alternately hidden and revealed by thicker clouds moving through on the air currents. Quite spectacular — even better, I imagine, on a clear day.

Before heading back down, we walked over to the small hut where an enterprising man was offering coffee, ponche, and other liqueurs. Since I don’t drink coffee, Mui got me a ponche, which David described as being a combo of grogue (sugar cane spirit) and molasses or honey. It packed quite a wallop. I took a sip and gave the rest to Mui, who put it in his coffee and proclaimed it to be quite tasty.

From Monte Verde, we headed to the east side of the island to visit Baía das Gatas, a small beachside village whose name David translated as Catfish Bay. It’s still winter here, so the houses were all locked up tight. The only action seemed to be at a nearby restaurant … which turned out to be the lunch spot for the Oceania tours.

David had intended this as the swim break for our tour. Mui and Sonia checked out the beach and nixed the idea. The water inside the reef was very shallow (below the knee) … it would have been more like playing in the water … not swimming. Instead, they suggested going to Praia da Laginha at the end of the day. Thus, we moved on.

Following the coastal road, we enjoyed the beautiful landscape … rough surf and dunes created by the high winds. There were several pull outs along the way. We stopped at one of them for photos before continuing on to have lunch at the Hamburg Restaurant in Beire Mar do Calhau, which translates as Pebble Seaside.

David had asked for our preferences and called in our order to make sure the food would be ready without a long delay when we arrived. We were served shortly after taking a table inside … would have preferred the outside terrace, but the black flies were swarming and we didn’t want to deal with that.

Mui and Sonia ordered grilled octopus; Barbara, Fred, and I ordered shrimp; Boris ordered grilled tuna. Everything was served with sides of rice and salad. French fries and steamed veggies were also brought out to share. Sonia and I had the local beer, Strela. To wrap up our meal, each couple shared an order of ice cream — mango and passion fruit. The food was delicious … and at $35/couple, quite inexpensive.

After lunch, we began the drive back to Mindelo. Along the way, we stopped to take a gander at one of the few farms on the island. Draught is a problem here (even in the summer months, which traditionally is the wet season), so very little produce can be grown here … most is imported from abroad. We also stopped at an overlook for another view of the city and port … this time from the opposite direction.

Next up was the Cultural Center where Fred wanted to pick up some postcards and stamps to send a few quick notes to friends and family. While he and Barbara shopped, we wandered through the rooms where we enjoyed some of the cultural exhibits.

Then, onto Praia da Laginha. It was already 4:30p … too late to go to one of the beach clubs. Mui and Sonia determined that changing in the public toilet was going to be a hassle. And there was the problem of where to leave shoes and towels once they got down to the beach. So, they just made do with a walk down to the shoreline.

We had a really great time exploring Mindelo and its surroundings. That today’s high was only 77F — with no humidity — added to our delight.Read more