Móndelo, Ilha De Sao Vicente, Cabo Verde
December 11, 2022
Our scheduled tour today was cancelled by Green Line Tours and we had no replacement. We decide we would hike up Monte Verde. Only 5.6 miles but the terrain was unknown.
We pulled into the port at 8 am and were cleared to go ashore shortly after. Our room safe would not open and there were items that we needed. We waited about 30 minutes for security to open it and off we went.
We took the HAL shuttle into town. Maybe a mile ride and we realized that passengers could walk in this port. We will do that when we return.
After exiting the bus, we went to find an ATM to get some local currency. USD are not widely accepted here and I was out of the more commonly accepted euros. We found a bank and withdrew $20,000 escudos or about $20.
I felt we needed this money in case we didn’t want to walk back down or the hike was too difficult.
The first part of the trip was a winding road through neighborhoods. The farther up the mountain we went, the more trash and dilapidated buildings we passed.
These photos were taken in town before the hike. There was really nothing else to take a photo of until we got to the top.
About 30 or more minutes into the hike up, the road ended. I expected this but I didn’t expect it to end in the midst of more buildings. The path went around and between buildings were people lived. I saw many carrying jugs of water up to their homes. It became quite dangerous because of the condition of the path we were on. We decide to backtrack a bit to a main road and hail a cab. The ride up was worth the view.
We took our photos and had the driver take us to town. It was lunch time and we would go to a market to buy more Pontxe and wine and coffee and then head to a restaurant.
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde to locals produces a coffee bean that is grown on Fogo Island which has a very active volcano. The supply is limited and it is expensive back home. $30 a pound. Fortunately, you can buy it here for $5 a pound.
We found a restaurant and decided we would try the local dish, Cachupa. A mixture of beans, sausage, tomatoes, egg and chicken. Delicious!
We finished lunch and headed back to the ship. We were able to get a bottle of wine and a bottle of Pontxe through security yesterday. We are going to try again. Usually it will be taken and stored or a corkage fee is charged. No problem yesterday and today was no issue either.
Back on the ship was a sail away party on the sea view deck. The ocean bar band played and free wine and cheese was served.
The Indonesian staff interrupted the band to play some pop number where they all danced. They all seemed to know it and they all joined in.
Jeremy Hales, our cruise director, came and spoke with us for a few minutes about the trip. He is really nice and does a nice job but he needs to relax a bit on stage.
The evening entertainment was comedian Gabe Abelson. Not stop laughs for me. He did some impressions. Carson, Dangerfield, Seinfeld. All very good. He is from LA and just came aboard yesterday. I gave him a 9. Terri flashed me a 2. …