Cabo Verde, Or an island group by any other name...

April 19, 2025
Mindelo, Sao Vincente Island, Cabo Verde

Rats don't dance in the cat's doorway. ~ African Proverb from Cabo Verde

In 2022, Mindelo was the first African port we'd ever visited. It seemed odd to me that it is considered an African country since it was colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century, a time when no people lived in the 10 island chain. But once the Europeans moved in they brought Africans to serve as slaves. When slavery was banned, the Portuguese abandoned their flailing farms. No wonder Cape Verdeans choose to self-identify as African.  

We were in the grip of the Omicron Covid outbreak, so when we reached Mindelo after 12 days at sea in 2022, we were grateful to be allowed to make landfall. However, we had to stay in our Viking bubble, no independent exploration, and almost no native Mindeloans came out of their homes to greet us. It was like visiting a ghost town. 

Today the town was bustling with street markets and the roads clogged with traffic. 

Our guide, Bea, told us the sidewalk stalls are actually illegal because they don't pay taxes like the merchants who have stores. The islanders frequent them because their prices are lower. It's a difficult problem because without taxation, the government can't provide services like education and de-salination plants. But if you have a family to feed, it's hard to ignore that fact that you can put more food on the table for your children by using the illegal stalls. When the police decide to  enforce the law, the sidewalk sellers sprint away, abandoning their product in their wake. 

Goats seem to be the only hooved animals on the island. They will eat anything...

We discovered quickly that we were taking the same excursion we'd been on in 2022. Our drive through the fertile heart of the island revealed that the farms there were much browner and less productive than they'd appeared three years ago.  

At our next stop we met Bea's family at the beach--her husband, son and the young deaf girl who is their ward. Bea says she fell in love with her when she met her on another island. There were no services to help the girl there, so her mother agreed for Bea, who is a teacher when she's not guiding, to take her back to live with Bea. What a lovely person she is.

And speaking of lovely people, our friend Marie happened to be on this excursion with us. She's in our sea day Bible study group!

Last Sunday was Easter, and though we were at sea, we did have some church! Brian and I sang for both the Catholic mass at 8am and the Non-denominational service at 10am. The Star Theatre was packed both times as we praised God together. Even members of the crew whose schedules allowed it came to join in. It was a wonderful day!