Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
   
 
 
 
Sal:
 
São Vicente:
 
Santo Antão:
 
São Nicolau:
 
Brava:
 
Fogo:
 
Maio:
 
Santiago:
 

Santiago: Praia, Cidade Velha
and a long scenic drive
Monday 21st November 2022
 
Waking up after a peaceful night docked in the port, we immediately noticed more signs of human habitation than we had seen since we were in Mindelo, a whole week ago. Yes, this was Praia, the capital of Cape Verde and we had a very full day ahead of us.
 
The port offers some protection from the sea beyond, which was a nice change after the past few days.
 
Late yesterday, we sailed from Vila do Maio on the nearby island of Maio, a distance of 24 nautical miles. Today, we would follow the route indicated on the island of Santiago, although we didn't know too much about the actual route until we had almost completed it... more about that later.
 
 
 
It was strange to see such a large ship next to us. It was the first cruise ship we had seen since the start of our holiday. We were advised that the tourist sites around the island might be a little busy as a consequence, but we weren't too concerned. After all, we live in a huge city with many thousands of tourists. Another negative point, which mattered more, was that we had lost one of our touring buses and a guide, because they had been "stolen" by Mein Schiff for their excursions, despite being reserved and paid for by our ship. We had a lot of driving to do (not that we knew this when we set off), so it meant that the remaining buses would all be filled to capacity.
 
 
 
 
It was a short drive from the port to the northern end of the pedestrianised Rua 5 de Julho, where we disembarked to begin our guided walk.
 
Our leisurely walk took us through the historical centre of the city.
 
Our guide spoke excellent English and was incredibly knowledgeable.
 
 
We were supposed to visit the ethnographic museum, but unfortunately it was closed today, despite special arrangements having been made for us to have a private tour.
 
 
More street art - a striking work by Helder Cardoso in 2019. Not sure who the subject is. Amilcar Cabral perhaps? There is more of his work here.
 
 
 
The main market in the city.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Praça Alexandre Albuquerque, at the end of Rua 5 de Julho.
 
 
 
 
Church of our Lady of Grace (Igreja Nossa Senhora da Graca)
 
 
 
 
Praia City Hall
 
The Presidential Palace
 
 
 
Looking across the harbour towards our ship, from the terrace near the Presidential Palace.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monument to Diogo Gomes (Portuguese navigator)
 
 
The 10 stars on the flag represent the main islands of the nation. The blue represents the ocean and the sky. The band of white and red represents the road toward the construction of the nation, and its colours stand for peace (white) and effort (red).
 
Back of the Presidential Palace (I think).
 
Quartel Jaime Mota military base
 
 
 
Amílcar Cabral Foundation
 
Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (Supreme Court)
 
Our interesting walk finished here, where the minibuses were lined up ready to take us to our next destination.
 
As we left Praia, we saw this mural. We'll never forget these works of art, seen everywhere we went.
 
 
 
The university on the outskirts of the city - taken from the bus
 
 
 
 
Before visiting the settlement, we went to the fortress (Forte Real de São Filipe) above it, from where there are wonderful views in all directions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cidade Velha, below the fortress, which we would visit later.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It was only a short drive down from the fortress to the settlement of Cidade Velha.
 
 
 
The Pelourinho (Portuguese for "pillory") is symbolic of the dark days of slavery and the role that this settlement played in it. Our guide gave us a moving talk about it.
 
Not our photo, but it does show the pillory more clearly.
 
We were given refreshments at the restaurant on the main square.
 
We were supposed to be treated to another performance of Batuka dancing here, but the performers had accepted a last minute offer to go to Dakar to perform there. An attempt to secure another group of dancers from a rival restaurant was unsuccessful. No doubt a lot of back-hand dealing was going on... more about this later at our lunch venue.
 
 
 
 
Afterwards, we walked through the village.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At the top of the village is the 15th century church, Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Our Lady of the Rosary). Although much of it is restored, it is still the oldest surviving building in the settlement.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After our walking tour, it was time to get back on the road and head for the hills.
 
 
 
 
After what seemed like a longer drive than we were expecting, we arrived at Quinta da Montanha for lunch.
 
The restaurant was very busy. In additional to all the passengers from our ship, the passengers from "Mein Schiff" had beaten us there (no doubt using one of the buses they had "stolen" from us). There was such a long queue at the buffet that we both kind of lost our appetites and settled for a drink each, after which we went for a walk.
 
It is really beautiful up in the mountains, with flowers, shrubs and wildlife everywhere and all in the shadow of the island's tallest peak, Pico de Antónia. Quite often, we've been surprised by the natural diversity of the islands, which is not altogether surprising, located as they are within the tropics. That said, we have never felt too hot or uncomfortable since we arrived. Right here, it was actually quite cool.
 
 
The spiders everwhere were beautiful, although neither of us was keen to get too close!
 
 
Just as we thought the others might finally have finished their lunches so that we might get on our way again, a minibus arrived with a group of Batuka dancers. Not to be beaten, our guides had "negotiated" and managed to secure alernative dancers from Cidade Velha. We didn't really feel in the mood to climb back up a long flight of stairs to the restaurant again, so we skipped it, but we could hear still the music from where we were.
 
 

Finally, it was time to go back to the port, or so we thought, but no, there was a lot more sightseeing to do! We had both had enough by then and were slightly grumpy, however what we saw in two hours that followed was amazing scenery and we didn't regret the long detour. We just wished we'd been kept a little more informed about the route and timings. The first leg was especially stunning, at the end of which was the most beautiful green landscape with palm trees and and intensely green vegetation, close to the coast.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At one of our stops, our guide got really nervous when one of our party jumped too close to a sheer precipice!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Not for the first time, Geoff was apprehensive about sitting on a wall with a long drop behind him!
 
 
 
The unusually shaped Pico de Antónia, the highest peak on the island, can be seen from many places.
 
 
 
 
 
The end of the first leg, and close to the coast, we stopped at this extraordinary place.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The last leg took us directly south back to the port, passing Praia's Nelson Mandela Airport along the way.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Back on board and rather later than expected, we were invited to go to the speciality ice-cream themed afternoon tea. The staff had put in a lot of effort for this and because we were all late back, we didn't want to disappoint them!
 
 
We watched as Mein Schiff departed.
 
 
Of course, we were going nowhere. It was our last night on board and we wanted to make the most of it.
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble