Mindelo, São Vincente Island, Cabo Verde - Day 104

Hello Everyone!

Today is Sunday the 19th of April 2026 and we arrived in the port of Mindelo on São Vicente Island in Cabo Verde. We're further north of the equator now at about 17° north latitude. The air is noticeably cooler and dryer than what we've been experiencing, and the change is refreshing.

Some Background

São Vicente is a mid-sized island in Cabo Verde (about 227 km² or 87,600 sq miles) but it punches above its weight. It’s home to roughly 80,000–85,000 people, making it the second most populous island after Santiago, even though it’s only around the middle of the pack in size. Most of those residents are concentrated here in Mindelo, a lively port city known for its colorful colonial architecture, music scene, and cosmopolitan feel. Because of that concentration, São Vicente ends up being one of the most densely populated and urbanized islands in the country.

What really sets it apart is its cultural influence. Mindelo is widely considered the cultural capital of Cabo Verde and is the birthplace of Cesária Évora, the internationally famous “Barefoot Diva” who brought Cape Verdean morna music to the world. I wrote about her in my previous post on Praia. Unlike the greener or more rural islands, São Vicente is dry and volcanic, with an economy built more on its port, services, and culture than agriculture, giving it a distinctly urban, artistic character compared to the rest of the archipelago.

The Port of Mindelo

We docked at a new pier in the port constructed specifically for cruise ships. It's less than a year old and doesn't yet show on Google Maps. Here's a view from my cabin, looking toward the shore.

This view is looking south from my veranda. The port was busy with a lot of ferry traffic.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you can spot the hull of a capsized ship, left of center and slightly above the middle. The picture below is a closeup of the wreck. I did some Googling and couldn't come up with the exact name of the ship, but I learned that there are a number of wrecks in this harbor. Apparently, none is seriously impeding traffic, so cleaning up the wreckage is a pretty low priority.

Shore Excursion

Today I went on an included tour which promised a good overview of São Vicente. This one really lived up to its hype. The length of the tour was perfect at about 3.5 hours, and we really got to see some great views. Our guide was very friendly and informative.

We started out by (slowly!) ascending Monte Verde, the highest point on the island at about 750 meters (almost 2,500 ft). The road up the mountain was paved with cobblestones. Mostly it was in good shape, but there were areas where it was pretty rough going. The road was narrow with lots of switchbacks, so things got interesting when traffic came in the other direction, especially the buses. Sections of the road were very steep, and our little minibus was working pretty hard in low gear to make the grades.

View Partway Up the Mountain

View from the Top

Our reward for making it to the top (in addition to incredible views!) was a taste of a few different spirits. In my last post, I told you about grogue, a clear distilled spirit made from sugar cane. We tried some of that, but then had two additional variations. One was tinted slightly green and was grogue infused with anise and citronella or lemongrass. It was slightly sweet, and I don't know if that was from added sugar or just the infused herbs. It tasted noticeably better than the straight grogue.

The one I really liked was called ponche ("ponch") and was grogue mixed with a bit of lime and a dark molasses made from sugarcane. It was sweet, but with a caramelized brown sugar taste - vey good! It seemed like it would be excellent in coffee. Here's what it looked like:

Ponche in a Shot Glass

The grogue is artisanal or commercially produced in most cases because of the specialized equipment necessary for brewing and distillation, but the infused versions are often home made. Here is an example of a commercial ponche that we tried.

Bottle of Commercial Ponche

Here's another view from the top of the mountain. The eagle-eyed among you will spot our Viking cruise ship visible in the center of the picture.

Viking Sky from Monte Verde

I thought this was interesting. The man who ran the concession stand at the top of the mountain had this contraption set up to extract moisture from the fog that often covers the mountain at night. The moisture from the fog condenses on the shade cloth panels and drips into vats below. The man claimed he could get 20-30 liters of water on a good night.

Fog Collection System

I saw a large antenna farm at the top of the mountain. The amateur radio part of me immediately recognized HF antennas like the ones a ham radio enthusiast would covet. I did some Googling and learned that the site contains a mix of serious amateur radio infrastructure and regular telecom equipment. The standout piece is a well-known ham radio “superstation” often referred to as D4C/D4B. It’s a purpose-built contest station used by operators from around the world, which explains the large number and variety of antennas I saw.

The location is what makes it special. At around 750 meters elevation and surrounded by ocean, Monte Verde offers excellent radio propagation conditions—low noise, great ground plane conductivity from the abundant salt water, and clear horizons. That combination makes it ideal for long-range HF work. Mixed in with that are more typical broadcast and communication antennas (radio, TV, cellular), so what I saw is essentially a high-performance radio site taking full advantage of a near-perfect geographic location.

Monte Verde Antenna Farm

Vegetation on Monte Verde was sparse and scrubby. One thing literally stood out - large agave plants. Uniformly bent in the same direction by the prevailing winds, these plants seemed to thrive in the harsh conditions. Although the Mexicans are known for making tequila from agave, here it's often used to make syrup. The stalks are used for fencing, and the fibers are used for rope and handicrafts.

Agave on Monte Verde

The views coming down the mountain were just as spectacular as on the ascent. This time though, I had a better view because my side of the bus faced out toward the ocean. Here are a few examples.

View During Descent

View During Descent

View During Descent

Back at sea level, we continued our tour around the island. There were several beautiful beaches. Few were suitable for swimming though due to rough surf and strong currents.

Remote and Rugged Beach

One thing along the ride back to town was very interesting. While São Vincente Island normally sees very little rain, in August 2025, the area was hit by an unusually intense burst of weather from a developing Atlantic storm (later named Hurricane Erin). The island received roughly 190 mm (about 7–8 inches) of rain in just a few hours, which is more than it typically gets in an entire year. Winds were only at tropical-storm strength, but the real problem was the sudden, extreme rainfall.

Because São Vicente is dry, rocky, and steep, the water couldn’t soak in. It rushed downhill, turning normally dry channels into flash floods that tore through areas like Mindelo. The result was significant damage, several fatalities, and widespread disruption. In short, it wasn’t a wind-driven storm so much as a short-duration, high-intensity flooding event, which is particularly dangerous in that kind of terrain.

Some eight months later, most of the damage in and near the city has been repaired. But there are parts outside of town that are at a lower priority, and many washouts remain. Here's just one that we bypassed on our return trip.

Washed Out Bridge from Hurricane Erin

Sand from the Sahara??

Our guide mentioned that the lighter-colored sand that we saw in the coastal areas was not native to the volcanic island, but was instead carried on winds from the Sahara desert in Africa. I found that amazing and did a bit of digging (figuratively, anyway...). I learned that much of the lighter-colored sand on São Vicente actually does originate in the Sahara. Strong trade winds (often called the Harmattan) regularly carry fine dust and sand particles westward across the Atlantic, and Cabo Verde sits directly in that path. Over time, this material settles out of the air and is reworked by waves into beaches.

This matters because São Vicente itself is volcanic and produces relatively little natural sand. So instead of being built mostly from local rock, many of its beaches are partly “imported” from Africa—typically appearing lighter and finer than the darker, coarser volcanic grains mixed in. Fascinating.

The final thing that caught my eye on the way back to the ship was this huge cemetery. Our guide told us that it was the only cemetery on the island and dated back to the 1800s.

Old Cemetery in São Vincente

Back Aboard

We returned to the ship in the late afternoon. I worked on blog entries, then got a shower, changed, and went to dinner with a friend. We followed that up with a show put on by the Viking vocalists and band. They did a high-energy production consisting of popular songs from the 50s through the 80s. The harmony was tight, the vocals outstanding, and the band was crisp and spot-on with their covers of the hits. Very enjoyable!

Norovirus Update

Things are slowly improving, although about 20+ people are still in isolation. The captain told us today that the infection rate appears to be decreasing. Still, we're under some pretty strict protocols when it comes to food service. Sanitizing crews are constantly visible throughout the ship, and many of the larger group activities have been cancelled. Hopefully things will soo return to normal.

Next Stop

We now have two days at sea before arriving in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Wednesday the 22nd of April. After that, things will be pretty much non-stop, with just one sea day left before we finish the cruise in London on 6 May. I'll be taking a 3-day overnight excursion to Marrakesh from the 23rd to the 26th as well. Looking forward to finally seeing Morocco!

Thanks for following along,
Jim