Sat 18^th (pm), Sun 19^th and Mon 20^th Dec

Saturday afternoon was fairly relaxed and we all took naps as we had decided that since R &  J would not now be with us on Christmas Day, we should have the planned Xmas meal etc. tonight. Sarah put up the Christmas decorations and cooked us the steaks she had bought in Santa Cruz. Sadly these were not quite as nice pieces of meat as had been hoped but we all had a wonderful time and crackers were pulled and presents exchanged, and our imported Xmas Pudding eaten. The night was less pleasant as there was a party being held in the nearest bar (very modern and European) which played VERY loud music until nearly 6.00 am in the morning.

Sunday dawned hot and still with a clear blue sky and our first task was to go out and take Scott-Free’s lines as she glided into the marina around 9.00 am.  They had  had another still night, but we were able to assure them that they had more sleep than us! After several glasses of Buck’s Fizz on board S-F (Safe Arrivals) we all repaired to Serafina where Sarah and Joyce cooked all 6 of us a wonderful breakfast of bacon, tomatoes and scrambled egg. Eventually we went about getting various jobs done around Serafina, then after a very light lunch the four of us had a stroll into Mindelo to take a good look around. Being Sunday it was almost totally deserted and as this is no holiday destination, there was nothing much open. We did however end up back at the little harbour and went to the bar and swimming pool area which had hosted last night’s party and enjoyed a few cold poolside soft drinks. The restaurant looked good and we resolved to return here for dinner.

Chris and Steve off S-F came round for drinks in the evening before we all headed off to the restaurant and enjoyed a great evening considerably enhanced by the attentions of our waiter Joseph who hails from Senegal.

Monday was cloudy and warm, but not unpleasantly hot which made the chore of packing etc. less onerous for R & J. I headed back to Immigration and the maritime police offices to now check Sarah, myself and Serafina out of the country. I was the first person there which was handy as we knew that a lot of the yachts here plan to leave at the same time as us on Tuesday. (The authorities are closing down for Christmas on Wednesday so no boats would be able to leave until 5^th Jan) As before the officers were all very pleasant and helpful although I did wonder if they knew how busy they were going to be today.

The town was a very different place now with a huge mass of humanity crowding every street and square. It is quite evident that the indigenous population is very poor and most seem to scratch very meagre livings. There are large numbers of police officers everywhere but at no time did we feel at all threatened or concerned. The police presence is mostly to deter petty crime for which these islands used to be known and generally everyone is civil if not overtly friendly.

The islands still use the old Portuguese Escudo as currency, but conveniently accept Euros at a fixed rate of 110 Escudos to one Euro. Language is more of a challenge to us as the official language is Portuguese, but most also use Creole to converse and French if you are lucky. I was very naive and somehow expected Cape Verde to be another small piece of Europe and was not at all prepared to find myself in a very African country.

During the morning a ferry arrived and the waterfront came to a virtual standstill as lorries and pick-ups packed with produce stacked impossibly high and with people perched precariously on top made their way through the colourful throng of foot passengers that chocked the streets.

We went into town for a simple lunch and the day sort of drifted away with the main focus being on R & J’s departure and flight home – assuming the UK freed itself from the grip of snow and ice. Their trip involves flying at 11 pm from this island down to Santiago where the main airport is. From there they fly to Lisbon and then on to Heathrow....... which was closed still. Their taxi arrived 5 minutes early and whisked them away leaving us to contemplate the full significance of crossing the Atlantic with just the two us on board.