Cape Verde: Porto Grande

 Thursday, March 16, 2023, Porto Grande, Cape Verde

Now that we’re on the coast of West Africa, we have 4 navy seals on board in case we encounter pirates. They are easily identified because they are a) new, b) younger and fitter than most of this crowd (although we do have some younger fitter adults on board), and c) can be seen walking on the fitness track doing curls with 50 pound dumbbells.

We docked at Porto Grande, the port for Mindelo in the Cape Verde archipelago about 10:00 am. There were two other cruise ships in port when we arrived. We’d tried to get a tour that went to the top of the highest mountain, but they were sold out.

Walking off the pier soon after the ship was cleared by local authorities (no customs office to go through here), we noted other people walking back toward the ship. We asked where they were going. “We’ve been here before, and we’ve seen enough,” said one woman. Another man who spoke French pointed toward his nose and shook his head. The strong smell of fish was evident. 

A taxi going our direction slowed to see if we needed a ride. He spoke a little English, a little Spanish, and we had Google translate, so off we went to the top of the mountain. His name was Lenine.

Lenine, our taxi driver

The first interesting thing we saw was a military exercise in front of an impressive building. They were lining up with rifles. Throughout the day we would see individual soldiers keeping an eye on things. They probably didn’t want any problems with 3 cruise ships in town.

Next we went by a large soccer stadium. We found out Lenine was on a local team, the Ravens. The stadium was impressive for a small 3rd world country. The road went from paved to dirt, then to cobblestone, and stayed cobblestone to the top. Periodically there would be goats trotting alongside the road, occasionally on the hillside. We stopped a couple of times on the way up for views.

Detail of cobblestone road

Gorgeous arid countryside

When the mist dissipated, 

When we got to the top, all the tour buses were already there. Fog moved in, then out again, first obscuring the view, then a few minutes later it would dissipate and beaches, ocean, Mindelo, and even our ship were visible. 

Lots of tour buses when we got to the top (and fog)!

Lenine said it had not rained on the island for 6 years. At the mountain top was a test garden next to gauzy mesh in a framework, the gauze collecting mist from the fog and directing it toward the plants via plastic pipes. A passion fruit vine was there, and several herbs and other vegetables. The only other things growing were desert plants, so this looked promising. We climbed as high as we could, admired the views and were out of there before the buses were loaded. 

Gauzy fabric collecting moisture from the fog for demonstration garden

Lenine dropped us at a restaurant once we were back in town. It wasn’t our best lunch experience but it gave us a chance to talk to a nice woman and her daughter. From there, we walked to the main market, and bought some coconut-honey treats, and treats for our room stewards. It had a little of everything.

We started looking for the post office. We were directed to a nice air-conditioned building and told to wait for the next worker. It was taking a long time, and we began doubting this was a post office. It seemed more like another kind of government building. We got out google translate and asked again. This time we were directed somewhere else. Not a post office. Finally, a young man was dispatched to lead us to the actual post office, which had an armed guard at the door. We bought post cards and mailed them.

From here we started looking for the fish market. On the way, we passed many fishing boats and impromptu fish markets, and vendors selling various crafts (Charlie bought a wooden mask). 

Then we came across an interesting maritime museum in an 1929 well-preserved building with deco touches, and toured it. It had 3 floors, and a ladder that went to the roof (Charlie climbed it). An eclectic collection of things from colonial days, mixed with ancient amphorae.

Mindelo proper is very walkable, so we started walking back to the ship. We came across a shuttle bus for one of the other cruise ships, and right behind it was our shuttle. We didn’t have to walk back!