Ventaclub Boavista Praia

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 ...

... Then you can get you visa. If your name for some reason is not on the list (which it isn't, in most cases...) then you'd have to pay for it 25 euro to get in. The whole procedure takes around an hour or more. You have to be patient. The travel agency secured a bus-transfer for us - luckily. The hotel was a no-5-star pousada, but enough for us, since we did not intend to spend a lot of time there.

... us spear fishing at Ponta Preta. Luckily for me he only had 3 spear guns, one for James, El Loco, and himself. I was camera person, fish-pointer-outer and spent a lot of time patrolling to ensure the pretty fish weren't being caught....he he. It was a day with hardly any swell which made it a good day for fishing with excellent visibility underwater. James' technique involved diving down level to the fish ...

... James¡¦ kitesurfing is improving no end, for the kiters amongst you reading, he has been trying: back mobes, flat 3¡¦s, handle passes, strapless surf board riding, and some other stuff I don¡¦t know the names of. As for me, i have been zooming so fast in one direction barely touching the water as I go¡K. Ha ha. I¡¦m getting more and more control and even did a jump off a wave the other day. I had a bit of an ¡¥incident¡¦ with a French ...

... catch of fish. Once the fish is brought off the boats, (this can take up to an hour, after a few games of cards), the fish is divided up so their familys and restaurants have enougth and the rest is sold to tourist, depending on how big their catch is depends on the price you pay. For example 1kg of tuna or blue marlin is 3 euros for a tourist. We have learnt it is more cost effective to buy a whole tuna fish for 10 euros. After this the locals have small ...

... you are talking about 21 hours straight on the plane without being allowed to get off. The plane was an Airbus 340-600. I think they only started using them about 2 or 3 months ago. The seats are probably the most narrow we have ever sat on and the reports that you almost need to walk slightly sideways in the aisles is partially true. The leg room in economy is pretty tight ...

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.

... This was in the time of aparttide, the bus stopped at the Black train station not the white one. No problem, just walk off in the dark to find my hotel. Next day it was off to the travel agent and book a night train to Capetown. The Blue train was $800, air conditioned 40 different wines on the menue.... The brown train compartment was $160, no air and pulled by steam engine part of the way and included morning coffee. Guess which I took?