São Nicolau

10 January 2015

Update by Eva: 
“A late breakfast the next morning gives everybody the chance for enough rest after the day trip the day before. The trip for today is much shorter, but also interesting. We started the tour through the city of Mindelo with the dinghy at 10AM to the marina. From there we were guided along the shore to two monuments, the fish market (how many different fish can you find there, it’s really astonishing) and then we made a turn back to the old city, where you can find a lot of old buildings, for example the presidential palace (actually there lives nobody in it) and an old catholic church. And to every building there is an interesting story to tell. After that everybody could stroll through Mindelo on his own. 
We lifted the anchor for the next leg to São Nicolau at 3PM. The wind had decreased a bit in the last few hours, but back on sea it was almost the same strong wind as at our arrival. We sailed southwards and finally turned to 120 degrees heading for São Nicolau. About three hours after leaving, the steering became very difficult, for one more time we were seemingly in a current and drifted away from our course. So finally after dinner we started the engine for the next few hours and dropped anchor in Tarrafal at 4:30AM. 
The trip on this island was really beautiful. From Tarrafal to the highest point (Monte Gordo 1312 m.) started in the desert and ended in a fantastic green landscape with pine trees and a fabulous view. On the top of the mountain is a kind of National Park where endemic plants are growing. The moisture in the air is very high, so plants are growing very well, a kind of green paradise you will not expect when you arrive with a ship and can only see the rocky and barren coast. A small stop on the north side of the island and then back to Tarrafal and further on to the westcoast. There is one of the seven wonders of the Cape Verdian Islands. That place is called Caberinho and the rock formations are really a “must see”. Black rocks washed out by the sea in such different forms that you cannot describe it. We had a very nice picnic on that same beach before we were leaving to the grog distillery in Praia Branca, the last stop of our trip. Original Cape Verdian grog, fresh from the distillery, of course we bought a few liters for the ship and ourselves.”