Nov 08 (Saturday) – Mindelo, Cape Verde

We visited Cape Verde on our world cruise a few years ago.  Then, we took a driving tour that covered much of the island of Santo Antãno.  This trip we are docked at Porto Grande, Mindela on the island of São Vicente.

Our tour today was a walking tour of Mindelo.  The bus drive through the port revealed a huge mural along the back of several buildings. 

We were dropped off at the waterfront where we took photos of the island of Santo Antãno in the distance...

and of the harbor.

Our ship in the distance. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the town.  

Sights included some buildings from both the Portuguese and English eras on the island.

On the side of one of the buildings an artist had chiseled out a portrait of Cesária Évora.  Évora was world known for her singing.  Her genre was morna, a Cape Verdean, style of music. 

We then walked to the fish market.  It was a bit late in the day for the fish market but things were still hopping there. 

Next, the Produce Market…

in a beautiful old building.

We spent some time shopping in an outdoor market…

and then walked a couple of blocks to the Church of our Lady of Luz.

From there we walked down to a waterfront café where we had refreshments while we listened to music and watched a couple of dancers. 

From there we boarded the bus and were taken to the Handicraft Museum.  

The most notable aspect of the museum was the huge wall covered with brightly painted tops from steel drums and some stone pillars.

There were a few, limited but interesting exhibits. 

We saw a lot of Portuguese style blue and white tile murals at various spots in the city. 

By then it was late morning and we were taken back to the ship.

After lunch we spent time working on travel and photos.  It’s getting repetitive.

Today was Paul’s birthday and Tara had arranged a special, Indian meal for the 10 of us on her tour.  Great food and a lovely apple cake for dessert.

From there we went down to the lounge to see the evening’s entertainment…and Paul’s name was called.  He went up on stage and the instrumentalist (Julian Smith on soprano sax) and the audience sang happy birthday to him.  What a special (or maybe embarrassing) treat.