Cape Verde Map

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latest picture: March 20, 2014

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401  3/13/2014, 6am: A lucky day! The

freighter and passenger vessel "Pentalina"

docks at the port of Tarrafal on São Nicolau

and continues unexpectedly to Mindelo/ São

Vicente. At noon, we are also on board .....

402  ..... our LandCruiser travels in an airy

location. The hull fills up with containers

and has full load on departure

403  As we approach the city of Mindelo,

a 131 ft. high prominent rock with the

lighthouse ‘Farol Don Luís’ appears

about 2km off shore

404  The Bay of Mindelo spreads 2½ miles

between barren mountains and the sea. The

city itself has more than 70’000 people; its

port is besides Cape Verde’s capital Praia

on Santiago the second international freight

terminal

405  Souvenir snap at the Meteorological

Station on “Meteorology Hill” (Rotchinha)

with the bay of Mindelo in the background

406  The rather tranquil and pictoresque

Mindelo with cobble stone streets, colonial

buildings, street cafes and a quiet yacht

harbour – the Mindelo Marina – is

regarded as Cape Verde's Riviera

407  A smaller version of the 15th

century ‘Torre de Belem’ in Lisbon/

Portugal guards Mindelo's harbor

408  Colonial splendour in pink: The

former Governor's Palace in Mindelo

– also called ‘Palácio do Povo’

409  The ochreous Town Hall

(Paço do Concelho) of Mindelo

along Rua de Tejo was built in 1873

410  A bronze statue of Portuguese

navigator Diogo Afonso was erected

at Mindelo's bay front. He participated

in the discovery of Cape Verde in the

middle of the 15th century

411  The church ’Nossa Senhora da Luz’

in Mindelo – close to the Town Hall – built

in 1862 in typical Portuguese style. It is

located in the oldest urban quarter

412  Mindelo's oceanfront – Avenida

Marginal – looks appealing with its

candy colored houses. More than 90%

of the nearly 80'000 inhabitants of

São Vicente live in the capital Mindelo

413  Children are playing at a foosball

table in the ‘Praça Estrela’

(Star Square) in Mindelo

414  Men are working on a cobble stone

street. Watching the hard manual work it

crosses our mind how long it may have

taken to build all the island's cobble streets.

It was a little paid “occupational therapy”

that slowly ceases

415  There are corners everywhere

where people meet for a card game –

a “very much liked occupation”. Here at

Mindelo's oceanfront Avenida Marginal

416  Fresh fish is delivered at our hotel.

Either the menu is fish or chicken

– there is not much else around

417  Most admirable: How can this lady

balance so many layers of eggs (nine) on

her head? If the eggs are of medium size

the weight is about 35 pounds!

418  Even modest houses look friendly

with a splash of vivid colours. The Cape

Verdeans love shiny colors – here in

Lameirão on the road to the Northeast:

To ‘Baía das Gatas’ and ‘Monte Verde’

419  The fishing village of São Pedro on

the southwest coast (close to the airport)

clinges pictoresquely at a mountain slope

at the end of a white sandy beach .....

420  ..... where an acacia tree provides

us some shade. The western part of

São Pedro beach is ideal for camping

and windsurfing .....

421  ..... and is right next to a romantic

little bay near Santo André

422  Only not slip and fall! The stony

path along the rocky coast leads in

barely one hour to the small light

house of São Pedro .....

423  ..... Emil enjoys the moment in the

solitude of the light house at the most

westerly point of São Vicente .....

424  ..... luckily Liliana is also free from

giddiness. The path to the light house is

stony and partly very narrow (once even

partly skidded down), cut into an

almost vertical cliff

425  Beautiful for a beach walk:

The white, one mile long sandy

beach of São Pedro

426  In the sleepy fishing village of São

Pedro with its around 800 inhabitants

there is even a small "roundabout" .....

427  ..... at the end of the village a

couple of colorful houses and fishing

boats are gleaming in the evening light

428  Waiting for the next catch: Fishing

boats at ‘Baía das Gatas’, a weekend

escape about 8 miles northeast

of Mindelo

429  A fishing boat shortens sail before

entering the little harbour of ‘Baía das Gatas’.

At the background the 1’765 ft. high

ridge of ‘Goa Alto’

430  The newly built road from "Baía

das Gatas" to Calhau at the eastern

end follows the wild, uninhabited

east coast .....

431  ..... drifted Sahara sand has

formed impressive dunes during the

course of time. Here we are looking

back to ‘Baía das Gatas’ .....

432  ..... Liliana fries some sausages at one

of the four viewpoints with picnic tables and

benches. This is our lunch together with

bread, tomato salad and a Strela Beer

433  Arid mountains, white sand

dunes, turquois sea: The dramatic

coastal stretch between ‘Baía das

Gatas’ and Calhau at the eastern end

434  A last white dune of “Sahara” sand,

then we reach the fishing village of Calhau,

an 11 mile’s drive from Mindelo

435  The fishing village of Calhau nestles

at the base of the rugged, dark, 460 ft. high

‘Ponta do Calhau’. It looks almost deserted.

However on weekends it seems to get lively

with day- and particularly night-trippers

436  A watering place in the fishing village

of Calhau, always also a meeting point,

because most of the dwellings don’t have

water supply. The heavy water jerrycans

are transported in wheelbarrows

437  The arid region near Calhau hides

some secrets: A path leads us to the

beach of Sarangaça .....

438  ..... it shows to be a little bay with

white sand between black volcano rocks

and a turquoise shining sea

439  The landscape near Calhau could

not look more "Oman-like" (the Sultanate

on the Arabian Peninsula)

Amazing what is growing out of the sandy ground at the bay of Calhau

440

441

442

443  A green ribbon in the interior:

Farmers grow with irrigation some

vegetables in the dry arid area of the

valley ‘Ribeira Chão do Madeiral’

444  Also in the desert one can live nicely:

A lovely house with a few palm trees and

a vegetable garden in front in the ‘Ribeira

Chão do Madeiral’ valley

445  A windwheel pumps some water

for irrigation into a storage basin

(along the Calhau-Mindelo road in the

‘Ribeira Chão do Madeiral’ valley)

446  Almonds, acacias, palm trees and

vegetable gardens are the green splashes in

the red soil of the interior of São Vicente

447  A man is on his way home with his

donkey from Monte Verde, where we

met him while cutting grass

448  From the mountain's crest of the

Nature Park of Monte Verde the panorama

to the ‘Baía das Gatas’ opens up

On the humid slopes of the Nature Park of Monte Verde the flora is divers and colorful

449

450

451

452  Our LandCruiser looks modest next to

a sisal agave (Agave sisalana) in the Nature

Park of Monte Verde. It can reach a height

of up to 20 ft. in an incredible short time .....

453  ..... it blooms only one single time

and then it dies. Blooming season

is February to May/June

454  Two craws bill and coo in

the Nature Park of Monte Verde

Panorama view from the Nature Park of Monte Verde (height 2'461 ft.):

455  to the east coast with its white

dunes of sand from the Sahara

(see also picture #430)

456  to the mountainous South and

the ‘Ribeira Chão do Madeiral’ valley

(see also picture #443)

457  and to the bay and city of

Mindelo (75‘000 people) with the island

of Santo Antão in the background

We visited from March 20th to April 10th, 2013, the island of Santo Antão , before we returned to

Mindelo on São Vicente to ship on April 29th to Walvis Bay in Namibia

458  Liliana is standing on the balcony

of our room in the Hotel Bêleza in Mindelo,

where we spent overall 42 nights – before

and after our visit of Santo Antão

459  Typical for Emil: He preferably

takes in the happenings

calmly and from far

460  On the back streets of Mindelo

 the charme of the “good

old days” can still be found

461  It is Saturday and a group of

people is on its way to the city center

of Mindelo. There is always something

going on – particularly from Friday to

Sunday evening. All Cape Verdeans

love singing, dancing and celebrating

462  Africa remains Africa:

A woman carrying a heavy load

of papaya on her head is walking

determined past our hotel

463  On “Meteo Hill” – with view

to the Bay of Mindelo – people come

to exercice and jog during the morning

and evening hours

464  Portugal’s football club “Benfica”

achieved its 33rd victory on

April 20th, 2014. Mindelo’s streets turn

red. The Cape Verdians of Mindelo

are celebrating euphorically with

Lisbon’s Soccer Club .....

465  ….. also its decorative

headdress is worn …..

466  ….. the streets fill more and

more with fans that voice their feelings

with loudspeekers, singing and dancing,

which continues the whole night

On Cape Verde there is no parade on May 1st. On this day, everybody goes to the beach – with the whole family,

relatives, friends, with tents, pots, with bag and baggage – here at “Cova de Inglesa” two miles south of Mindelo

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469

470  April 29th, 2014: 159 days after

the end of our “memorable struggle of

release” on November 11th, 2013, in

Praia on the island of Santiago, we put

our LandCruiser in its 28th container in the

port of Mindelo. On the contrary to the

entry the departure proceeds like a breeze

471  Liliana poses for a picture in

front of “Troense Maersk”, which

will take our LandCruiser the first

leg of its journey to Namibia – an

“unprecedented” ‘cruise’ that is

described detailed in our

“News - June 2014”

472  Mindelo and São Vicente, and

with it also Cape Verde, says good

bye with a wonderful sunset. We had

a relaxed and beautiful time on the six

 islands we were able to visit – overall

220 days – 2 months more than our car

 

The "Greater"-Middle East trip 2012/13:

Sharjah/Dubai/1st Traveler's Festival/Emirates National Auto Museum - UAE with car Nov. 2012 to Jan. 2013 - part 1

Western UAE - Liwa - United Arab Emirates  with car in January 2013 - part 2

Oman 2013 – Part 1 - February 2013: Musandam Peninsula

Oman 2013 – Part 2 - February 2013: Sohar - Muscat - Rustaq - Nizwa

Oman 2013 – Part 3 - March 2013: Sur - East Coast - Island of Masirah - Dhofar

Oman 2013 – Part 4 - March 2013: Salalah & Surroundings (Dhofar) - Nizwa

Oman 2013 – Part 5 - March 2013: Western Hajar Mountains

Al Ain, Eastcoast & Ras al Khaima - United Arab Emirates with our car in April 2013 - part 3

Iran - part 1: Ferry Port Bandar Abbas-Shiraz-Persepolis-Pasargad (between Persepolis and Yazd) – May 2013

Iran - part 2: Pasargad (excl.)-Yazd-Esfahan – May 2013

Iran - part 3: Esfahan (excl.)-Chelgerd-Hamadan-Sanandaj-Orumiyeh – May 2013

Turkey - Iran Border-Esendere-Hakkari-Van-Dogubayazit-Kars-Ardahan-Hopa-Georgia Border – May 28 to June 4, 2013

Georgia - part 1: Ajaria-Gori-Tbilisi-Kakheti-Azerbaijan Border – June 4 to 13, 2013

Azerbaijan - Georgia Border-Balakan-Seki-Lahiç-Baku-Xinaliq-Quba-Laza-Baku-Ganca-Georgia Border – June 13 to 24, 2013

 

Articles in newspapers about us on Cape Verde:

Article: "Estão em São Nicolau: Emil e Liliana há 30 anos à volta do mundo", Online Newspaper "Jornal de São Nicolau" - March 6, 2014

Article: "Cabo Verde na Volta ao Mundo de Emil e Liliana Schmid", Daily Newspaper "ASemana" - March 9, 2014