No Stress, Cabo Verde
After more than 8 days on the high seas, the time has finally come! We see the harbour entrance to Mindelo - a sight that is both beautiful and bizarre. There are wrecks of long-abandoned ships everywhere in the bay, which we have to navigate around. The town in the background seems somewhat surreal to us - a partly white, partly colourful town that stands in stark contrast to the otherwise barren island. Otherwise, everything seems very lively and busy at first glance. We are allocated a very tight spot in the middle of catamarans twice our size, but Peter steers us confidently into the gap. After mooring, we treat ourselves to a manoeuvre drink and thank Neptune for such good conditions during the crossing - it hasn't tasted this good for a long time and after almost nine days at sea, it really feels well deserved.
Clearing in is very quick and easy. The first ‘shore excursion’ takes us to the infamous floating bar, which is still in the marina area. A place that we will visit many times during our time here. Here we toast our achievement and enjoy the African flair with good music and plenty of sunshine. Towards evening, we head into town to go out for dinner. This plan is completely turned on its head just 50 metres after leaving the marina. We are approached on the street by Didi, a local, and strike up a conversation. After a nice chat, he insists on showing us Mindelo and a restaurant with local food. What follows is a three-hour walk through the town, peppered with all sorts of bizarre events. We follow Didi through the streets until we finally get a view of the whole city from a hill. The view is beautiful, but the houses and alleyways around us seem impoverished and dark. Peter's flip-flop broke in the middle of the walk, but no problem for Didi. We hand the shoe in at a nearby house. From there, Peter walks a little further up the mountain with only one shoe for the time being, where we stop at a house and Didi invites us inside. We are hesitant at first, but when we take a look inside, we realise that this is a small local mini-market. As an outsider, you would never guess this, as there is no sign or other indication that we can recognise. A small cold drink later, we go back to the ‘cobbler’ - the shoe was fixed again and Peter was able to continue the tour for a tip of the equivalent of 2 euros. It was getting late and we were getting hungry, so Didi took us finally to the barbecue restaurant he had promised us. We are amazed when we arrive - the restaurant is a one-man show called Nelson, who cooks chicken knuckles on his charcoal grill in his front garden. When we arrive, everything is already grilled and we can eat straight away. Nelson has grilled the chicken to perfection, it tastes excellent and from then on we call Nelson ‘Maestro de Frango’. After we have had our dinner and paid what felt more like a contribution towards expenses of around 8 euros, we say goodbye to Nelson and shortly afterwards to Didi too. They are all very nice and friendly people, even if we occasionally thought to ourselves: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’. For me in particular, the whole situation was completely alien, as this was the first time I had ever set foot outside Europe. The day was definitely a very direct, but also a very nice introduction to the African way of life.
The next day is much quieter and is mainly characterised by our to-do list. Vaquita needs to be tidied up and we have lots of errands to run. But of course we don't miss the opportunity to combine this with a tour of Mindelo - this time during the day and on our own in the tourist area. We marvel at the colourful houses and small shops. Stray dogs run around everywhere, but they all seem well-fed and relaxed. The Portuguese influence is clearly visible in some of the houses - Cape Verde only became independent from Portugal around 50 years ago. Otherwise, we manage to run our shopping bit by bit and treat ourselves to an espresso here and there in various bars and cafés. It tastes surprisingly good here and is almost comparable to Italian espresso. We round off the day with dinner and live music, followed by a nightcap at Vaquita.
The next morning starts early. We have to be at the ferry terminal at 6.30 a.m. because we want to cross over to the neighbouring island of Santo Antao. We have booked a small house in the middle of a green valley there for two days. We leave Mindelo at sunrise and arrive in the harbour of Porto Novo around an hour later. As the island doesn't have its own airport, the ferry is the only way to reach the island for tourists and locals. It is correspondingly busy. Almost all of the island's taxi and collectivo drivers gather in front of the harbour exit and offer their services to tourists. This can quickly become noisy and confusing. We don't let this put us off, as we have already booked a hire car in advance. Admittedly, the reservation didn't quite work out anyway, but after some back and forth we get our car. We head north along the cliffs on paved and tarmac roads. The island resembles a desert landscape. Only red sand and rocks paired with the view of the bright blue Atlantic. The road itself is in top condition and winds its way through the twists and turns and valleys of the rugged coastal landscape. The road is not unlike the famous Amalfitana in Italy and we are amazed by the scenery. Our destination is the Valle do Paul. After around an hour's drive through the barren desert landscape, we get our first glimpse of the green, fertile valleys on the northern side of the island. Within minutes, the landscape changes by 180 degrees. Everything around us is suddenly full of life and all kinds of exotic plants. Heaps of banana trees, mango, papaya, avocado and passion fruit trees sprout between the terraced maize plants. Sometimes small, sometimes large aqueducts, which are used for irrigation, run through the valley. It all seems very surreal to us and we can hardly get enough of the beauty of this place. All three of us realise that this valley is unlike anything we have ever seen before. A few minutes' drive later, during which we stare mesmerised by the landscape, we reach our accommodation for the next two days.
The small house blends seamlessly into the valley and fits in perfectly. We meet Fernando, the farmer who looks after the garden and plants here. Together with his wife, he also runs the holiday home. He shows us the whole area, which also includes a section of river. We are fascinated by how green everything is and before we even have a look at the house itself, we find ourselves sitting by the river watching the dragonflies go about their business. The cottage itself is very small, but has everything you need to live. We were particularly pleased when we saw the barbecue on the terrace overlooking the forest and the river. But before that, we have to earn our food - we have come to Santo Antao to hike. Our destination for today is the volcanic crater (Cavo Grande) here in the valley. So we drive a little further into the valley by car until we park a few minutes later and decide to continue on foot. After just a short uphill section, we realise that our fitness levels are pretty low after almost 9 days of crossing. Admittedly, the 28 degree Celsius combined with high humidity doesn't make it any easier. Nevertheless, we are motivated and follow the cobbled road through a few villages and enjoy the nature around us. After just under an hour, we come across a signpost at the start of a narrow mountain path: ‘Cavo Grande 3h’. At first we are a little shocked, but we tell ourselves that this signpost is exaggerating, after all we are Austrians and what for other people is a 3-hour mountain hike is for us a trip up our local mountain. It's only 5 kilometres, how bad can it be? Well, we were quite wrong. What follows is a forced march over 1200 metres uphill. The landscape changes regularly. First we walk amidst banana terraces, followed by bushes and coffee plants until we cross real forest sections with tall conifers further up. We get better and better views of the whole valley all the way to the sea. At some point, we can even look down on the sheep-shaped trade wind clouds that we have observed so often from a sea level of 0 metres. After an ascent of over 2 hours, we reach the crater. To our surprise, it is not a barren volcanic crater as we know it from Lanzarote, for example. Instead, it is a large area whose fertile soil is used for agriculture. The landscape makes a 180-degree turn from rugged high mountains to alpine pasture. It's also bizarre to be greeted by the mooing of cows after such an ascent. It is beautiful and we fortify ourselves with the ripe fruit of a Guyaba tree. The descent is no less strenuous due to the incline, but we are much faster. Back at the cottage, it's time to fire up the barbecue with old banana leaves and dried bamboo. Here, Peter briefly becomes our personal ‘Meastro de Frango’ and we round off the evening with grilled chicken in mojo spices and glazed with papaya jam, a few potatoes from the embers and cold drinks.
Because one hike is not enough for us, the next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we continue on to Ponta do Sol. From there, a well-known hiking trail leads along the steep Atlantic coast to the next largest town in the north of the island. The route is very different from yesterday's tour. It is still green, but no longer as lush, and the path winds along a rugged cliff with the constant accompaniment of the Atlantic swell hitting the rocks of the island below us. A truly beautiful scenery, which is topped a few kilometres further on. The mountain village of Fontainhas, with its colourful houses built into the hillside, appears behind a hairpin bend. With its resemblance to the villages of the Cinque Terre, the next comparison with Italy is due here. Our highlight in the village is a small mini-market where we want to make a quick stop to buy a Coke. The Coke is accompanied by a private guitar show by the 94-year-old owner. Another special moment - we sit on a terrace in a backyard, drink our Coke, look out over the Atlantic coast and listen to Cape Verdean songs. After the break, we continue our sporty walk to a Way of the Cross that more than lives up to its name. It is a steep downhill path and each bend depicts a station on the Way of the Cross. We already have respect for the way back uphill. Halfway down the valley, we meet our companion for the day - a little dog that we affectionately call ‘Wauzi’. Although we have neither petted nor fed him, from this moment on he follows us wherever we go for the remaining 10 kilometres of the route. We have a lot of fun with him the whole way. We make another stop at a small pub in Formiguinhas, where we turn round and make our way back. Our Wauzi is also waiting for us here and he follows us all the way back to our starting and finishing point of Ponto do Sol. We lose him there quite quickly, which is fine by us - after all, it's already dark and we're really hungry.
The entrance looks like a normal flat door - but when we are laughed at loudly for asking if there is anything to eat here, we realise that we are in the right place. The dining area with a view of the sea is located on the 2nd floor of the narrow building and we just manage to get a seat. The ‘Cantinha de Musica’ lives up to its name - 4 musicians play and they play really well. By this point at the latest, we are infected with the African joie de vivre and some of the music sticks in our ears for days and weeks to come. The local food (swordfish with mango sauce and vegetables) goes perfectly with it. After a nice chat with the owner, we make our way back to the car when suddenly a dog literally sprints towards us. It's our dog, who has been with us all day. He is really happy to see us again and so we have the opportunity to say goodbye properly.
As wonderful as our time on Santo Antao is, the next day it is time for us to cross back over to Sao Vincente to make the final preparations for the Atlantic crossing. After a final drive over the mountains and through the varied nature of the island, we return the car and buy our ferry ticket. Once again, easier said than done - today is election day in Cape Verde and at the ticket office we learn that all ferries are fully booked until the next day. That would put a real spanner in the works. Fortunately, we have exactly the right tactics for situations like this - just don't get flustered and give up. We stammer desperately at the staff in broken Portuguese and French and behold, a few minutes later we are holding three tickets for the ferry with the departure time in two hours in our hands. This ‘sitting out’, as we call it, always turns out to be the method of choice in Cape Verde.
Spectacular view of one of the valleys on Santo Antao
Once we arrive in Mindelo, we do a few errands and start getting the boat ready for the long journey. But before we board our own boat, we knock on the door of the ‘Zweinzel’, a Najad 36, which has arrived in the marina at the same time as us, on the neighbouring jetty. We already know the boat from AIS - more than enough reason to knock and have a chat. We arranged to meet the owners Jens and Birte, who had sailed here from Rostock, for coffee. The coffee eventually turned into beer and, in true Vaquita style, we didn't leave the Zweinzel until around 2am. It was a very nice evening and it was here that we met Bjerke and Levent from the Namai for the first time. We affectionately call the Namai ‘Stahlsund’, as it is a steel boat with its home port Strahlsund on the Baltic Sea - this play on words should amuse us more often. We quickly make friends with the two lads and we spend the next few days doing all sorts of things together. One of the highlights was an evening together in the floating bar - here we were able to watch a marinero break up an argument between two sailors by simply pushing one of them into the harbour water.
Provisioning at the vegetable market in Mindelo
The next two days are all about preparing for departure. Even though it may come across differently here in the blog, we spend half of our entire stay in Cape Verde working on the boat, shopping and, above all, putting things away. It's always amazing how much you have to get out and stow away for sailing and how much time it takes. On 3 December, the time has come, after we have finally picked up some fruit and vegetables from the market, we head to the floating bar for a last meal with the guys from the Namai before setting sail for the Caribbean at around 15:40. We leave Cape Verde with a smile and a tear in our eye. We really enjoyed it here, but admittedly in a country with the following official slogan, you can only enjoy it: ‘No Stress - Cabo Verde’