PRAIA DE SANTIAGO

Today, we stopped off for a half-day visit to Praia, in Cape Verdi.

Being as this was the first time we’ve been here, we were quite keen to check the town out, despite the fact that time was relatively short. All-aboard time was 2pm, and I had a class down in the programme for 2:30, so we had to be back at the ship for around midday, to give us plenty of time to get the room set up, and to grab a bit of lunch.

A walk into Praia from the quayside wasn’t practical; we could see that from the ship, so we took the free shuttle bus into the town.

We liked it. Praia is very different to Mindelo. For starters, it’s much bigger, and far more built-up. Once we’d got off the shuttle bus, we walked through the square and down what seemed like the main drag, which was pedestrianised, and punctuated by huge overhanging, sculpted trees.

Down one side of the street, there was a large, two-storey market. We heard the sound first, and was drawn into its interior like moths to a flame. Inside, it was a cacophony of voices, and a myriad of colours. Women walked around noncholantly, while balancing huge baskets or boxes on their head, and the noise of sub-African commerce was almost deafening, but also quite exciting.

From the market, we continued on our way down the main street, looking in all the clothes shops for a hat for me, sadly with no luck.

For an hour or so, we wandered, until we gradually gravitated back to the square, where a few people were sitting on benches using the free wi-fi (which wasn’t much faster that the wi-fi on the ship… but it was free).

We liked Praia; it was a shame we didn’t have longer to explore… maybe another time.

We were back on board the Marco Polo with plenty of time to spare. This afternoon’s classes were on Perspective – I had them painting Belem Tower, in Lisbon, which is a tough, but important session, and one that I like to get out of the way due to its complexity, and move onto other things.

Later, our evening was spent reading in the Captains Club, and then taking a stroll around the decks in the moonlight. We’re now on our three-day leg across the Atlantic; our next stop will be in Brazil. What was amazing, though, was just how warm it was outside, with very little wind, and the ghostly moonlight seemed to be drawing many folks to the front of the ship (romantic devils…).

Tomorrow is my day off…