Mindelo, Cape Verdi - April 16, 2014

Day 2 on this island paradise and with sunny skies and 27 degrees, just wonderful. Our table mates decided we would all do a tour together today, by taxi of course. So with the advice of other friends on board about where to go and how much to pay (they ventured out on day one), Jeff, Joy, Cam, Susan, Jan and myself headed to the shuttle at nine o'clock and by 9:20 we were in our taxi at a negotiated price of $12.00 US dollars a person for two and a half hours. Our taxi was a 18 seated van, so lots of room for the six of us.

Mount Verdi was first on the list at about 2,000 feet offered us a commanding view over the entire area, we were literally in the clouds. From here our tour took us to a fishing village, a beautiful beach, the dunes and then to another wave crashing, rip tide pulling beach. Many stops and lots of pictures along the way. Fernando, our driver, spoke enough english to point things out and he dropped us off at about 12 noon in the downtown market area, perfect. Our little group split up here, Cam and Susan went mask shopping, Jeff had his eye on the foosball table, Jan and I, well let's just say we headed back to the bakery for another round of pastel de nata's and cappuccinos, we just can't resist these delectable tarts. Then it was off to the supermarket with the rest of local currency, the escudo and with this we, okay I, just to use it all up we purchased some more of that Grog - to take home. We will have a taste testing up at the coast.

Back to the ship for a late lunch then at 3:30 a local group came on board (same group as last night) to play for us in the Show lounge. Cape Verde Corda played for a hypnotic 45 minutes, just excellent. "Corda" means strings in Portuguese and this band features the guitar, violin, and the mandolin. If you were following us along last year while we were in Lisbon, you would have read about the "Fado" that we just love. Here the music is called "Morna" and it is the music of these remote islands. It sounds a little like Argentine tango, crossed with Fado type lyrics but done in Capo Verdean Creole. The person who made morna famous around the world is Mindelo native Cesaria Evora, she is a local hero here. Cesaria Evora famous song is "Besame Mucho". After this great performance we had a very scenic sail away as we floated away between many of the islands of Cape Verdi as we watched the sun set.

Our pictures of for the day, hope you enjoy.

Quote of the day: "Be life long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for". - David Starr Jordon.