As we moved through the sea from Gran Canaria towards Cape Verde the sea became calm and the weather warmed. We were off the coast of Africa breathing African air. Its where us humans originated.
I stood at the bow of the ship and breathed it in.
It was early in the morning. I got out of my bunk and headed for the deck. I wanted to catch sight of the sun rising and get my first glimpse of Cape Verde.
As the sun rose lan came into sight. We slowly churned through a gentle ocean towards it.
The sun rose behind the volcanic island, directly behind Sao Vincente. It lit up the volcanic rock and soil into a rich orangey red. An rock island of dark hue stood out starkly in the water in front of those ridges. You could see the volcanic nature clearly.
There was a natural harbour full of sheltering ships bobbing on the waves and caught in the low orange light as silhouettes as we slid into the bay.
My camera clicked. There were too many sights to take in.
We walked round the town and sat on the beach watching fishermen sorting nets and dragging tatty boats into the waves. We went round the fish market where women carried tubs of fish on their heads and trays of red, yellow and orange fish gleamed in trays. Fish with blue luminescent spots, mottle orange eels and brown and silver fish. Big fish and little fish. All types that I’d never seen before.
We took a taxi to the top of the volcano and looked back over a dusty landscape that had its own stark beauty or reddish soil and rock, and peered down to the blue waters of the bay and the ships. Parts looked like the surface of the moon but there were some shrubs and lower down there were goats and egrets.
We walked around the market and talked to the locals. We looked at the buildings with their decaying Portuguese grandeur and peered at the blue tile-work depicting the scenes of the beautiful town it used to be. What had once been pristine with splendour was now settled into a shabby chic.
We walked round the fruit market in its splendid building. There were tiles depicting women that looked like they were Picassos and scenes of the women carrying baskets of produce on their heads.
Back on the ship it was time to head out across the Atlantic for four days in the doldrums. There were sunsets, flying fish, whales, turtles and seabirds to look forward to.
I sat at the bow with a beer and watched the volcanic cliffs slide into the past as the sun shone the orange light of sunset upon them.
What was ahead had to be outstanding to match what had been.
I thought it might be.
For a Scientist this must have been heaven – great pics.
It was outstanding.
Looking forward to it …
I’ll do my best.
That sunset pix is gorgeous. I like going on cruises, but it’s getting off the ship and exploring that is where my heart is. Maybe yours, too? I’ll get to see Stonehenge while were there next year. I can’t, even in my wildest dreams, imagine what it will feel like to stand there… I’ve been drawn to that all my life.
So how do you pick where YOU guys go, Opher?
Sunset at sea is amazing.
I love seeing places.
I have a bucket list. Then it is what turns up. This cruise came out of nowhere. The price was so cheap the itinery so interesting and the boat so cool.
I think Africa next but it could be back to Australia. Who knows.
It’s just such a shame that so many parts of Africa are too dangerous these days.
Yep – the world has got a lot more dangerous these last twenty years. I think American foreign policy is much to blame.
Not just the Americans, the British have not helped they sold off Rhodesia and lets remember Hong Kong too. When you are talking about the World being dangerous, one Labour Prime Minister that ultimate Bastard Blair doing a deal with Bush that is why the World is so much more dangerous we have ISIS because of them – a Socialist Prime Minister Opher!!
Not so sure if Rhodesia was sold off – more a case of “there’s more of us than you Whitey, so you’re no longer in power or we will kill you” and the black majority were indeed the rightful leadership – just a pity that it happened to be the megalomaniac, Mugabe!
Are you really suggesting that Labour Party foreign policy was in any way contributive to the state of the world today? Good grief, and here’s me believing Opher, telling me it was just the Americans. I was under the understanding that the Labour Party can do no wrong. Anything/Everything bad in this world is all the fault of Thatcher and these Tories.
Yes well Andrew, I thought I might be called a racist if I said your honesty, yes how right you were it was a case of kicking the Whites out who had created a beautiful Country (we had friends living there) and when that Mugabe took over he ran it into the ground, and whites to this day those left fear for the life.
Andrew, Labour under Blair ruined this Country. Socialists who made millions, took Knighthoods, made me feel disgusted and sick to my stomach. That Bastard Blair should be charged for what he did, yet he gets away with it all. Thatcher was bad, Blair was just as bad.
Andrew – I don’t think the Tories messed up the rest of the world – just Britain. I also don’t think Britain has too much influence on the rest of the world. The Americans call the shots. We just fall into line and try to take our share of the spoils.
Anna – well Mugabe has made a right mess of things and turned a highly productive country into a complete basket-case. But it was their country to mess up. It should have been handled a lot better. Mugabe was a racist.
And you’re right about Labour – it is a watered down Tory Party far from its socialist roots. But even so it is better than the Tories.
Corbyn has credibility even though he isn’t always right. What the Tories are doing is despicable.
An American poodle trying to do a Thatcher. Blair thought it best to go along with America and thought he’d gain popularity like Thatcher had done with the Falklands. Backfired. Shows that politics and integrity rarely live together. Blair’s idol was Thatcher – says it all. What a shame Smith died.
There is no comparison – Thatcher didn’t need America to stave off any threat from some tin pot fascist dictator.
I realise that your hatred of Thatcher is carved in stone but it’s interesting to note of the utmost respect that Thatcher commanded in countries on the other side of the world. I saw her twice during my time working in Asia when she was doing her lecture tours. She was like a pop star for women of all ages, all creeds, all religions and social levels. They would just drop everything and leap into her direction. It was incredible to watch. They would line up on their own accord on either side of her pathway and applaud cheering and clapping endlessly. Thatcher meant so much to so many.
Yes well we who Voted Labour at that time were well conned by him. I only voted for him that first time because late Husband had liked him, I never voted for that Bastard or Labour ever again. I either did not bother voting or voted for the Conservatives, and yes I did betray what I had always believed in, but the Labour Party betrayed me.
Not to me she didn’t. Her duplicity was the stuff of legends. I despised everything she did. The unions needed curbing but not crushing. The miners strike was contrived by her. The selling off of all our assets to bastards such as Murdoch. The deregulation that led to BSE – cost us billions. She squandered the oil money for political gain.
Andrew – Thatcher received huge support from the USA – all the detailed info reports came from them. She sided with Chile and used their bases. Without that there was no way she could have fought that war. Pinochet was a complete fascist bastard who ruthlessly wiped out thousands with his vicious treatment of anyone who opposed him. Thousands of disappeared. He had a situation with Argentina over disputed territory and seized the opportunity. Thatcher’s snuggling up to such a monster was disgusting.
If Thatcher had not withdrawn support and properly garrisoned the Falklands it wouldn’t have happened. If she had responded to their intrusion on George Island it wouldn’t have happened. Mixed messages, complacency and incompetence.
Opher, actually Thatcher didn’t need to side with Chile as that relationship was already well established by some several hundred years. During the 1960s-70s, the Chilean navy were trained by Britain and would sail into the west coast docks. I know they were using Greenock because we had Chilean kids at my school.
The invasion threat from Argentina had flared up some years previous to Thatcher. So I would say that Falklands was not of her making for any glory credibility of anything like that.
Callaghan had thwarted the initial threat with Operation Journeyman, which was basically just a knee jerk reaction of sending a small force, although nothing happened. You state that we received support from USA. It was quite the contrary because Argentina were tagging along USA in support of their good works in Nicaragua and the US feared upsetting it’s anti-communist works in the whole of the south Americas by showing support to the UK. The US had complained to the UK about all previous aggressive defensive actions taken since the Suez crisis.
Has there ever been a time when there hasn’t been some kind of murderous dictator somewhere in action in South America? As if Thatcher didn’t know of Pinochet’s doings. But her job was to defend her own people, not his. You must accept that for the tough call it is. And did you happen to notice the huge list of arms all en route to Argentina at the end of the year? Their shopping list included French built planes with Exocets and ships built in West Germany. Thatcher also snuggled up to the French and Germans – it’s called International Trade – a subject on which she absolutely excelled in.
I’m not sure I understand your last paragraph – why would the Falklands have been garrisoned? – it was not a military base.
She did respond to the trouble on George by sending some Marines. Originally wasn’t that just some silly protest by some salvage workmen flying a flag and shooting up the wildlife? Such low level action really didn’t contain cause to worry about a possible war.
The last thing Thatcher wanted was military action but despite warnings they forced her hand.
I’m not too sure about claims of complacency and incompetence.
It seems that whenever South America does get a decent democratic government (having just looked at the Peron situation in Argentina) the CIA step in and undermine/overthrow it.
The British garrisoned islands of strategic importantance (Ascension, St Helena and the Falklands) but withdrew the troops for cost cutting.
The US provided essential intelligence to the British, kept a low profile and worked in the background.