Charming islands of Cape Verde

Soon is a very stretched time period in the mind of the islanders. So I tried to ease myself in a cold beer, but the talkative hostess kept talking to me in a hard to understand Creole, I understood only every now and then. Anyway, Portuguese wasn’t any better. Our chat was interrupted by a little girl that arrived at the entrance and disappeared behind the door with a big bag “it will really be soon now,” the large lady said!

I got used to the leisure life of the natives. I didn’t lose my nerve anymore, not even when the clerk at the agency, who was tidying up the office for ten minutes, while I was waiting for service, or the people at the airport, who needed over an hour to empty the luggage from a very tiny plane (which was much longer than the whole flight lasted) couldn’t get me upset.

A cradle of nostalgic music

Mindelo is a harbour capital of the island of Sao Vicente, and is one of the few settlements that could be called a town. There’s only a hint of tall buildings, but the picturesque harbour in a crater of what was a volcano homes a few dozen thousand people. It also has a hospital, high school, many shops (with not too much choice) and a vibrant market place. There are six pubs which become alive in the evening, with lively but at the same time sad island music. Music is one of the few things that made the people famous and rich. Locals usually try to get by with farming the dry land, fishing or by working very few, but badly paid, jobs. Most of the cash comes from emigrants, who went all over the world, but have not forgotten their families back home.

I didn’t last a week on the island. There’s not much to do in Mindelo and apart from some parks and restaurants, there are only Senegalese souvenir vendors that nagging me. The town boasts a clean and decent beach, with an unpleasant view of huge ships in the harbour. Other, more serious beaches, are a few hour’s walk away. You can get there also by a rented car, or by taxi. There are trucks on the island, meant for local public transport, but mostly they only bring daily commuters to and from the town. Combining my skills of hitchhiking and walking I arrived to a beach. Walking around thorny landscape with dry fields and cubic houses was not really fun or pleasant. Still I remember the dusty hours for occasional meetings with the kind and friendly locals.