Year 3 -19th September 2026 -Mindelo Sao Vicente- Cape Verde

Year 3 -19th September 2026 -Mindelo Sao Vicente- Cape Verde

I woke quite early as I have not got used to the change of hour yet. We had tea and some papaya, yoghurt and granola for breakfast.

Julian had had a good sleep and prepared his hand luggage that he was going to take. I made contact with his insurance company and they advised that he get home to seek medical treatment. The plan was to ask the guy who was taking us on our tour to go to the airport first to drop Julian off and then to begin our tour of the island.

Dave decided to stay behind to have time to himself and he wanted to do some shopping. I went and met our driver Joseph and he agreed to take us to the airport first. We therefore all got in his white van and headed to San Pedro airport which is on the West side of the island. The airport is just over 3 miles from Mindelo. The airport was constructed in 1959–1960. It was expanded to be able to host international flights between 2005 and 2009. The airport was officially renamed after the highly acclaimed singer Cesaria Evora in 2012. It has a modern terminal of about 11,000 square metres (120,000 ft2) and has the capacity to process about 500 passengers an hour.

I got out and helped Julian to check in and saw him to the Departure Gate and waived him through. We all hoped he had a good flight back to the UK and has the treatment he needs and makes a speedy recovery. He will be missed.

We got back in the van and retraced our steps back to Mindelo and passed the African Market. The town is very spread out and feels quite poor and a little rough. The concrete shells of the buildings are built and they stop when they run out of money and look unfinished. Some have one floor only but clearly intended more. They are unpainted. There is a bit of rubbish about, stray dogs and the people are very African. There are well dressed locals who have money and then others who are dressed in dirty well-worn clothes. Despite this they seem friendly.

We headed out of the back of Mindelo and up toward the central mountain called Monte Verde which is 750m high. The road was a good one but some way up from the base it ran out and we were then on a road made up of stones -a bit like cobbled stones but the rocks were not all round but different shapes and sizes. Joseph explained that it was made in 1975 and it must have taken a lot of people and man hours to make it. It curved its way up the side of the mountain and in parts it was quite steep and the cliff fell off sharply beside the road. We stopped at various places so we could get pictures of the view down to Mindelo and the large bay below. At one point we saw hundreds of goats making their way down the hill. The views were spectacular but the landscape was very dry and baren and did not look like any rainfall had been for a long time. Tumbleweed comes to mind from the Spaghetti Westerns!

We continued to climb up until we reached a point not far from the top. We could look out across the island and I saw stone terraces laid out below. Joseph said that when the rains come in October they will plant maize and other crops on these terraces. It seemed unlikely that anything would grow well in this type of territory.

We then headed back down the stone and came to a vehicle stuck on the road and its rear wheel had fallen off -poor chap.

We headed on down and came back to the tarmac and headed East which took us to the Northeast coast and a village called Salamansa- it is a fishing village. This was where there was a kite surfing centre although we did not see anyone in the water. The village had no running water and so the residents filled jerry cans from a central tank which Joseph explained is filled by lorry. The village appeared poor and there was a lot of building going on and we saw some mentally retarded individuals – I doubt there is much mental health support here.

We drove on and came to a large by called Baia Das Gattas. Baía das Gatas is a village in the northeastern part of the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde. It is situated on the east coast, 4 km east of Salamansa and 8 km east of the island capital Mindelo. It takes its name from the bay it is situated on, also named Baía das Gatas. Baía das Gatas translates from Portuguese to J

English as "Bay of the Hound Sharks" or literally "Bay of the Cat Sharks”. Female cats, but locally and historically derived from gata, which refers to the hound shark that used to be abundant in the shallow waters of the area. Since 1984, the Festival de Música da Baía das Gatas is held every year in a full moon weekend in August on the beach of Baía das Gatas. It features local and international music. Joseph said that about 50,000 people come each year.

There was a large natural pool behind a load of rocks where you could paddle and bathe. It did not look that inviting and so only Paul went in and said it was not worth the effort. We had ordered our lunch with Joseph and after 30 minutes we headed on to a large bit of coast called the Praia Grande which had a large are of sand dunes. The sand is actually blown across the Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara Desert in Africa by prevailing winds, covering parts of the dark volcanic rock.

In addition Praia Grande is where turtles come to lay eggs. Cape Verde has the third-largest population of nesting loggerhead turtles in the world, with most nesting on the beaches on Sal and Boavista between July and October but some in Sao Vicente. Loggerhead turtles come to shore to nest on Boavista and Sal between July and October, with August usually being the optimum month for observations. These turtles are the oldest surviving reptile, with ancestral turtle species dating back to more than 260 million years ago!

Once we had passed the beach and taken pictures we headed on going South. Joseph explained that there are 10 islands in Cape Verde but only 9 are inhabited. The fisherman go off to the uninhabited island to fish for 3-4 days and then they return. We came to a village called Calhau and there was a turtle sanctuary there with one large turtle that had no front right paddle as it had been bitten off by a shark. This village also had a restaurant which we went to. Mark and I had prawns and they have created nearby huge reservoirs and they are growing shrimps and prawns there. We had a good lunch with the local Strella beer made in Santiago, the Capital Island. 

After lunch we continued round to the South of the island and then came through a huge flat valley which had multiple well with windmill type pumps to draw the water up from them. This is the main agricultural area when the rains come. At present it looks dry and arid.

We returned to Mindelo and were dropped off at the marina. It had been a good tour and we had a good sense of the island. It is quite poor but has some beautiful spots on its coastline and the scenery was spectacular looking down toward the coast.   

We returned to Stormbird and I checked the weather. We all had a rest and then Paul, John and Mark went off for a swim.

When we were all ready we had a Stormbird rum cocktail for a sundowner and there was a drum band playing which Mark had to go and look at. Otherwise it was a bit of a racket.

We went to an Italian restaurant for supper which was good and then we had an ice cream. We are ready now to move on and hope to leave around 89-9.00am bound for the island of Faial in the Azores -some 1300nm away.

The picture of the day is the view from Monte Verde down to Mindelo.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now on the way to Cape Verde, Azores and back to the UK.  At present I am full and there will be a change of 3 crew in the Azores for the final passage back to the UK.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com