Feb 7, 2010 - Fogo

We started our vacation in Cape Verde with one of the highlights - visiting Pico de Fogo. Our guide Albino picked us up with his truck after a delicious breakfast and we drove about 1.5 hours to reach the caldera. He dropped us off to climb the Pico Pequeno - we were very glad we decided not to climb the big one, because hiking the loose sand is very strenuous, especially after struggeling with bronchitis...

Feb 6, 2010 - Praia & Fogo

We arrived in Praia about one hour delayed, at about 2 a.m. We paid CVE 2,000 for the taxi ride to the Aparthotel Holanda - CVE 1,000 would be normal at night, but we were just too tired to bargain. After a couple hours of sleep, we got ready for our flight to Fogo and took a taxi back to the airport (CVE 600 during the day). The schedule had changed in the meantime so that we had a few hours to spend the Plato. We walked up and down the streets, looked into a few small stores. The museum was closed, the famous Cafe Sofia was full, and...

Mar 26, 2009 - Don't let the bed bugs bite!

After three days at sea we arrived in Cape Verde. I woke up early and took the shuttle from the port to Mindelo. It's a cute little town with brightly colored buildings. Unfortunately they don't have any street signs so I had trouble finding my way to the internet cafe. After asking half a dozen people I was personally escorted to one. The barefoot young man didn't speak English but he understood dollars. I was so relieved to upload my assignments. Next weeks work can wait till I come home. One thing I wasn't comfortable waiting on were the...

Nov 12, 2005 - Cape Verde Island

Cape Verde Islands both profit and suffer from their location. We sailed mostly north and a bit west all day yesterday to reach this spot. These nine volcanic blips are so far from anything that people kept discovering, forgetting, and rediscovering them since 1455 when the Portuguese first stumbled upon them. And yet, they are visited by a steady stream of ships and aircraft since their location is a stepping stone for those traveling from Africa to the New World. Cape Verde belonged to the Portuguese until the 1980's. Residents are a...