We went to Cape Verde?

After a week at sea, we finally set foot on dry land yesterday. Many of the crew were ESCTATIC. 

We asked a guy at the Future Cruises Desk if there are any Princess cruises that have more than 7 days straight at sea. He very wearily answered, “No. I’ve been with the company for 8 years and I’ve never been at sea so much as this cruise. And never for 7 days in a row.” I wouldn’t be surprised if he sprinted off the ship at his first opportunity.

Off the boat but still feeling sway-y.
I've learned to take my non-drowsy
Dramamine even on port days.

The ship was docked in port in Mindelo, Cape Verde off the coast of northwestern Africa for 8 hours. Long a part of Portugal, the island nation (there are 10 islands in total) has been an independent African country since 1975. Despite its small size and population (less than 500,000 residents), Cape Verde nonetheless is excitedly participating in the very imminent World Cup. Good luck to them!

Rob and I didn’t have any plans other than to wander around. We got off the ship at around 9:30am. Less than 90 humidity-soaked minutes later, we were back on board, looking for snacks and collapsing in the blessed air conditioning. Even so, we felt like we had seen everything we needed to. Albeit sweaty, I enjoyed the photo-oppy walk around Mindelo's port, seeing locals and their fly-laden market, and purchasing a cool souvenir that looks like I visited Africa. 

Lots of pretty colors!

Open-air market. LOTS of smelly fish.
Excited to see a kitty, though!

A Shell gas station. Two pumps on the side of
the road. People just pulled over, sort of
like a pit stop in a car race.

So much fish. It was...stinky.
Not easily photographed:
soooo many flies.

I walked past another woman who was
carrying cilantro. It smelled wonderful!

The friendly guy who made my souvenir.
He said he lives in Cape Verde now but
is originally from Timbuktu. He was excited
we had heard of it. I didn't have the heart to
tell him we use his city's name to mean
"the middle of nowhere." In reality, Timbuktu is
directly east of Cape Verde by about 1,400 miles.
In other words, the middle of nowhere.

As we relaxed on our balcony and gazed upon the small city built on the edges of a volcanic caldera, Rob and I wondered if we would ever remember visiting Cape Verde. In all honesty, I had never heard of the island before it appeared on our itinerary. And then it made the news for a bit in early May as being the first “maybe we’re sick” port for those hantavirus cruisers that had just sailed from Argentina. I'm relieved to say, that plague-y-ness seems to be a distant memory now.

The shade, snack, company, and view were
exactly what I needed after 90 whole minutes
of melting.

By the time we left, the mountain
was largely covered by fog.

So, yep, we went to Cape Verde. We have one more African port to go – with a quick detour to a Spanish vacation destination first. I suspect both will be more memorable than Mindelo.

Next stop: the Canary Islands!

Proof we were in Cape Verde. Sort of.
Honestly, the photo is so generic, it could
have been taken in a lot of places.