Mindelo, Cape Verdes

Our first week in Cape Verdes. 12 the December - 20th dec
The first day we arrive in Mindelo it is considerably different to what we expected. The pilot book tells us to expect to be hounded by the locals who board your boat without asking and never to let them down below on the boat because theft is a big problem.
Well our first morning me and sym are waiting to be hounded ,ready with our big fish to do a bit of trading and low and behold we don’t get a visit off anyone, we keep an eager eye out but no one is the slightest bit interested in us. Gutted!
The first day row into town and go to have a shower in club Natico which was quite crap, bet a hell of a lot better than smelling of grease and sweat and it only costs a euro so its well worth the dosh.
The mad thing we noticed throughout our stay was how poor the place is yet it is so expensive to buy anything. For instance the prices for food and drinks in the shops and restaurants were the same prices as the rest of Europe (some places we visited in Portugal were much cheaper) and yet we found out the average wage was about £100 a month. We really cant figure out how they can afford to eat!
We were approached by few of the local sharks on our first few days who were asking if we needed any services in return for dosh, but once you said no and walked off they seemed to get the picture! They did not continue to hassle us.
Day two our beloved friends on Aliisa turn up and we go out and paint the town red. We went to this bar where everyone in there seemed very wealthy and we nicely dressed. I asked for a gin and tonic and they bought it our in a pint glass with a quarter of it gin, I was drunk on my first drink. Lori gets talking to this local guy whom goes on to ask if he can buy him some milk powder, so off they go to the supermarket and Loir buys it for him. ( After spending over week here we get asked all the time for milk powder for baby twins but we never actually see a baby. Sym thinks it’s a scam and they re-sell it, while sceptical Simon thinks they use it to cut crack. Im not sure what to think, its seems a bit bizarre, it may be genuine!)Anyway we have a bit of a mad session and then we go out for a nice meal ( which came to 100 euros for the four of us) how expensive. We got told to be quiet by some idiotic up tight German bloke which was quite a shame really cos it riled us all up and the old singer dude was trying his best to get everyone up to dance and the rest of the restaurant were sitting there silently like muppets glaring at us. The manger came over to us and told us not to listen and to make as much noise as we wanted. We next needed up in Suzanne’s bar, which was a tadge rough ( lots of men with scars and broken nses ) who all said it was not from fighting but a bike accident. Ha ha
Turned out to be a brilliant night but very ill the following morning.
We spent the next few days chilling out waiting for Simon and Lindsey off Doris to turn up. We had some very entertaining nights aboard Aliisa, a big thank you to them! I was a little upset that to Finnish people managed to beat me in a game on English scrabble! Nice one !!
Aliisa leaves for the Atlantic crossing the following saturday so Sym cooks a Farewell dinner on our boat before they leave, where Annina wants to get pissed as possible as it may be the last time ever gets chance. Wolverine decides it’s a good idea to walk across the candle on the table. All of a sudden his fury belly is on fire and he legs it to the cockpit. Sym runs after him and puts the fire out and get black soot all over his hands. We think he may have been ready to jump in the water to cool down, anyways he ends up with syringed whiskers and he is very emotional the next day. Poor wolves. Ha Ha. We decide to wait for Doris to come and Syms got bits and bobs to do on the boat to get it ready for the crossing. I get on with all the important stuff like the Christmas preparations.