Day 105 - April 18, 2025 - Friday - Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde

 Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 1,557 sq mi, slightly larger than Rhode Island.

Santiago is the largest island of Cape Verde and is home to half the nation's population.  Praia, located in the southeast coast, is the largest city on the island, and also the largest city and capital of the country.

The total population of the nation is about 600,000 and the official language is Portuguese although common language is Cape Verdean Creole.  82% of the population is Christian with the majority practicing Catholicism.

We arrived around noon under slightly hazy conditions.  The island is usually windy and often suffers from a sand haze blown from the Sahara Desert.

We had a 4 hour "Island Landscapes by 4x4" scheduled shortly after arrival.

Our vehicle was a new, Suzuki small 4x4.  Unfortunately, it was designed for 4 persons including the driver.  We were seated 4 persons plus the driver.  It was tight.

Our excursion consisted of a number of stops, mostly along very rough undeveloped roads along the eastern coast of the island.  With little description, I will present a few photos of our day.

A fishing cove.

Juan Valdez 

Cattle and goats were a road hazard.  We even encountered some on what would be considered their interstate.  Traveling at 75 mph, it was pretty scary to see cattle on the 4-foot wide median.  In other cases like above, it was just a matter of driving around the animals.

We saw many, many partially finished buildings like these. 

Overall, our brief 6-hour port call to Praia was not an impressive one.  We are hoping that our next port tomorrow in Cape Verde will be better.  We will be in Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente in the northern group of the islands.