In Africa

The cry of "Land ahead!" marked our arrival in Cape Verde. First ahead of us was the large mountainous island of Santo Antao, which we passed just before dawn. We were arriving in Porto Grande marina of Sao Vicente another hilly island. Unlike the Azores this island seems barren of plants. As we pulled into the marina I notice the slightly high turbidity of the green water with some areas of disturbed bottom with brown water. We entered again, the familiar routine of getting customs done...waiting. The harbor was filled with small sailing vessels on mooring buoys, and some big motor yachts.

The first person we encounter was the dock worker a nice guy named Elton, imagine that! Immediately after leaving the gates of the marina we were bombarded with some guys in tattered clothes that wanted some work and a few that just wanted money. Good guys all of them, but tough to see so many.The buildings of town were an odd mix of squarish shapes, some run-down, and others just brightly painted. In exploring the island we found a high police presence. Unfortunately we also saw while sitting on our boat 2 plastic bag kites heading out to sea to join the already polluted ocean.

On the 8th I traveled to the main public beach to do three informal beach counts. I found very few pieces of plastic; 3 straws, 4 bottle caps, and about 3 small pieces. The composition of the white and black sand was mainly made up of small black pebbles and a lot of shell fragments. This was the public beach for this city so it was kept pretty clean. There were a lot of exercising equipment on the beach, with lots of Baywatch guys using them playing soccer and jogging. On the street walking back with Dale and Ian we noticed a lot of murals saying to recycle, keep the island clean, plant trees and poverty versus education.

The Cape Verde are rougher, grittier islands than the Azores or Canaries. But they have a rich sense of life, happy people, colors and the energy of youth. Markets rich in fruits, people scrambling and, yes...the WARM air make us all feel good.

Elton Joseph