Holiday in Cape Verde Feb 2024

#capeverde #holiday #sal #ipaddrawing #procreate #kitebeach

Looking for somewhere to get some Winter sun that wasn't the Caribbean was what we were looking for, and the travel agent suggested Cape Verde so that's what we decided, upon having never been. 
This was something new and in February we set off with Tui to the island of Sol. Expecting to be able to watch movies on this flight of over 5 hours we sat down and to our surprise this flight wasn't considered long enough for entertainment of an in flight meal. Fortunately we had our Kindles and sandwiches so we managed to survive!
After a reasonable flight and airport experience, we went outside to get the coach which would take us to our hotel.  We realised how small the island was as we could take any coach and were not restricted to one going to a set hotel.
The half hour coach journey showed us how barren the landscape was and we soon arrived at our hotel complex. This again was enlightening as there were over a thousand rooms located in six large blocks. Ours was number 6 and nearest to the beach and a poo. To show how big the complex was we did 2000 steps just going for breakfast and back to our room. Amenities wise there was everything you could ever need on this type of relaxing holiday and we soon acclimatized.
The first couple of days were spent getting used to the area with a visit to Santa Maria which involved a twenty five minute walk, firstly along the road and then cutting through to a walkway along the beach. This proved a daily routine as the days progressed. 
Arriving at the pier, we walked along viewing the small craft stalls selling local souvenirs, offering 'hand made' mass produced turtles. Here we watched the locals gutting fish ready for sale. Strangely they were dropping these guts through the walkway into the sea, where several yards away people were swimming.

Walking into town we viewed the small souvenir stalls, with lovely brightly coloured bags, and scarves, but unfortunately most of these items would look out of place in other places and all the stalls had similar things for sale. Finding a nice cafe, which became our 'go-to' place, we sat for a refreshing drink and to people watch. Although, there were a couple of instances where people were approached by men selling trips, or recommending stores and cafes, there was always a couple of police wandering along the main road and everywhere felt very safe.

As well as going for walks, we did a little sunbathing on these first couple of days. We also walked down to the beach which stretched for miles. We were told that this was a windy island and this proved to be very much the case and certainly effected the sea most days, with waves breaking and the red flag being flown. These waves proved to be my first inspiration for an iPad drawings, one more realistic and one more stylised.

After two days settling in, we decided to go on an organised Island tour from the hotel. We were picked up in a small coach and set off on our journey. Our first visit was to Kite Beach where we stood in awe of the skills involved and strength of the kite flyers out at sea.
Our next visit was to a small tropical garden and animal sanctuary. We had a short wander through the small grounds, visiting a few cages and the cactus garden as well as the essential toilet break. The highlight was the sight of the newly born donkey. 

Setting off again  we had a short stop to view the distant mountains and a short walk to the sea over this rugged landscape. Our next stop was at the capital Esparagus, where we were told there was some excellent street art., , as well as it being a stopping point for the large cruise ships. 
This proved to be the biggest disappointment as it was a quite run down area and we could only find a few examples of the artwork and after being shown the shop we needed to buy souveniers from there were a lot of youths who were hanging around. 

Next,  we went to Burracona to see the natural phenomena the 'Blue Eye' The roads at this stage were mainly dirt tracks and uneven in places. We were glad we decided to go by coach and not on the back of an open truck as the strong wind and dust meant you felt you were being sand blasted whenever you were out in the open. The eye was quite spectacular as were the crashing waves in the bay. Setting off on another track, we stopped to view the distant mirage, unfortunately, the cloudy day wasn't ideal and it wasn't as good as it could be.
Moving on, we arrived at the Salinas salt mines where we could float in the salt waters. Putting on our costumes we walked down the steep road to the lake. This was a new experience for us and quite an unusual one. Getting in wasn't the easiest as there were rocks on the bottom, but we were soon floating quite happily, getting out was more problematic as it was quite hard to stand up from the horizonal position and you could fall back quite easily.
​ Soon we were back on the coach with a short final stop for a cocktail drink at a small bar as a nice way to finish the trip. 

An enjoyable way to see the island and as there were few highlights to see on such a small island,  this covered most of them. We didn't do the 'Sharks Bay' trip where we could wade with Lemon sharks as this didn't appeal to us.  Certainly this was good value for money with an excellent meal and all drinks included and a chance to get a feel for the island
On the tour we did pass through the poorer areas and shanty towns and it was interesting that this was where the local lived and it was slowly being developed. An interesting fact was that the coaches used by the tour companies in the day brought the workers to the hotels in the morning and home again in the evening when the tours were over. This seemed a good use of resources.

Paintings and Digital Drawings done during the holiday and more recently.
​One of the shows at the hotel and the White Night Disco

The two images on the left show my digital drawings done at the time and a more recent acrylic paintings done from these drawings

Poolside digital drawings done at the time.

Poolside Acrylic paintings done recently from the drawings

An interesting comparison in style between the two!

This holiday was certainly different from the ones we have had recently, Although, the weather should have been ideal during our visit in February, unfortunately, the windy conditions effected our stay. If we had arrived a week earlier when the wind wasn't as strong or cold it may have changed our outlook on the area. A different experience and we must now search for different ones next winter.