The 17th was another sea day filled with activities and lectures and calm seas. On the morning we docked at Porto Grande, Cape Verde. Cape Verde is a group of 10 islands about 570 km west of West Africa. The previously uninhabited islands were colonized by Portugal in the mid 1400s and was used as a provisioning station for the slave trade between Senegal and Brazil and the population reflects the mix of Portuguese & African much like Recife & Salvador in Brazil. The British used the islands for coaling station from the mid 1800s until the 1950s. Cape Verde gained its independence from Portugal in 1973 but maintains close ties. Portuguese is the official language with a Creole dialect being the common spoken language. There isn't much in the way of natural resources in the islands as they are very arid and not very fertile. Tourism and money sent back to families by emigres are the main income sources for the islands. We took a 4 hour tour around the island viewing beautiful beaches and rugged mountain scenery. We drove to the top of the tallest mountain for a spectacular view of the city, beaches, villages and neighboring islands.
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