Residencial Praia Maria

Saturday 17/01/09 St Vincent - Cape Verde Islands A truly volcanic island chain, the barren rugged mountains dominate the landscape and the surrounding islands to the extent that it resembles a lunar landscape. After a brief visit to the city of Mindelo we travelled on to Catfish Bay to take in the majestic sights of the bay and the rugged mountain backdrop, the strong ...

Landed we have on this desert island of Sal. At the arrival those persons having a valid visa can go through a passport control and out. But those that do not have a visa-stamp in their passports have to go to a small, hot room at the left corner of the arrival hall. One meets there two CV-officers. If you have paid for your visa via a travel agency your name should be on the excel list they have in the ...

It still windy! We haven't done much other than Kitesurf everyday. The water temperate is warm enough to wear boardshorts and rash vest, but the other nationalities think we are 'crazy british' for not wearing full wetsuits. I think perhaps they should try kitesurfing in British waters this time of year, and then they would understand. One day however we needed a rest so Antonio, our favourite taxi driver ...

... below instead of using the stairsˇK and the cherry on the cake was when he thought we would need a table so he unscrewed his bedroom door from the hinges and dangled that over the balcony tooˇK. It was a funny night indeed and the fresh fish was very tasty. Today we went fishing again on the pier. At first it appeared to be another duff fishing outing as we got a hook stuck and the line broke, but that seemed to change fortunes as a ...

... and then appear again nearer 4 o clock to play in steel bands that fill the streets with music. After dark the bars open and the reggae music continues all night past midnight. On our first day we were itching to find the best kite beach. We were given directions to walk in a straight line in a NE direction....and then we found out its local name 'Shark beach'....!!! After 30 minutes walk over a lunar like landscape of sand dunes, salt pans and scrub land we ...

... out with an empty seat next to them. The one nice thing about these modern planes is you have your own personal LCD monitor in front of you. You can pick from about 15 relatively current movies and start and stop anytime you want. There are also some simple games to play. There was even a live camera shot called "taxi cam" which you could view anytime from take off to landing.

We were given two options - stay on the plane or go to the terminal - during refueling. I chose the terminal because that meant getting up and walking. Of course, I didn't think that there would be nothing other than a large room there. So it was standing around for 1-1/2 hours while they refueled the plane.

Well it's -38 deg C when I boarded the first plane. the 727's heater froze over night, they pass around blankets and off we go. eventually by Minniapolis the plane defrosts. New York was around freezing and I had a couple hours to wait so it was walk around JFK. The South African Air 747 took off in the evening. A fuel stop in Cape Verde allowed us a streach and a visit with the three legged dog. Landed in Jo'bergurg and took the bus into ...