June 21 – AT SEA – was supposed to be Mindelo (Porto Grande), Cape Verde

Weather – 23º, windy

Steps – 4,454

Humidity – 84%

It finally happened…we finally had a change to our itinerary with only 2 ports to go. We were looking forward to a jampacked day in Cape Verde – 2 tours, an event to celebrate the opening of a new cruise ship terminal with Cape Verde’s Prime Minister, along with a band and fireworks!

I was just out of the shower, up bright and early, when the dreaded bing-bang-bong brough the captain INTO our room. Into the room is never good. It was the captain telling us that despite his best efforts, it was just too windy to dock –

Cape Verde's images in the rock

added to the fact that the gusts were forecast to increase in the evening as we were to depart, we were scrapping our visit to Cape Verde.

I’m usually very easy come, easy go about itinerary changes, but this one really bummed me out. We were looking forward to experiencing country #102, plus I can only imagine the disappointment the Cape Verde folks were feeling. The next ship isn’t scheduled to dock here until July 6.

One of the ship’s guest entertainers was scheduled to disembark today, now he’s on for another 3 days! The ship is great of course, but he’s by himself and likely has other gigs scheduled.

The ship claims that they tried getting us into the next port, Canary Islands, early but because of ‘operational constraints’ it would be impossible. No specifics are given (they rarely are) about what the operational constraints are. I have to believe they are being sincere, but wonder…I can’t remember ever having alternate ports inserted or arriving early when we have had to blow off ports.

had to leave

Unfortunately, Cape Verde isn’t exactly on your typical cruise ship itinerary so we may never return…who knows. None of these ports have been typical, which is why I’m so thankful we’ve only missed this one.

So…we had a DYI breakfast, (sorry Saravanan) enjoyed more time on the balcony, eventually had a glass of wine and made the best of it. By the time we get to Canary Islands, it’ll have been 4 sea days in a row. Glad we have our fantastic balcony!

kinda shows the size of the deck

That’s it for adding to our country count. We’ll have to leave it at 101 until Christmas.

At dinner, we chatted with Dhiraj, a Nepalese waiter we’ve become friendly with – there is no assigned seating for meals, so the waiter you get is random. He found out today that his contract that was supposed to conclude in Lisbon (6 days from now!) has been extended indefinitely. I couldn’t quite get all of what he explained, but it is something to do with the European Union’s visa requirement. WOW – he’s understandably disappointed. I suspect this is affecting other staff as well. The ship is in Europe until the fall…he can’t possibly have to stay until fall, I sure hope not.

always bring magnets on a cruise

BTW…I won’t be surprised if the next time we are on a ship with Dhiraj he is managing the restaurant. He is fantastic – a very proficient waiter, but also

extremely personable. All Regent staff are lovely – polite, don’t walk by you without a “good evening ma’am”, but Dhiraj is beyond that. He always finds a very specific thing to chat about. He was working the pool deck one day, saw my laptop and chatted with me about having a similar one, and asked if I experience the same specific things he does – why, yes Dhiraj, yes I do! He can’t possibly be blowing smoke up my a$$. I could go on and on about other examples. He’s been a pleasure to get to know.

I also had the time to finish ‘Pieces’, Sally Field’s memoir. I’m not sure what to make of it. An interesting story I suppose, not exactly a happy ending, but not a sad one necessarily either…that’s the thing with true stories I suppose.

Tonight’s show was a comedian, he was funny…not hilarious, but entertaining.

all we could see of Cape Verde

I already did my pre-research, so I might as well keep it here…

doesn't look that choppy

Cape Verde (pop: 600,000), or Capo Verde, is an island country off the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. Like São Tomé, Cape Verde was uninhabited until the 15^th century when it was discovered by the Portuguese. Other similarities to São Tomé are Cape Verde’s connection to the transatlantic slave trade and it’s 1975 independence. Cape Verde has few natural resources, so its economy relies heavily on tourism. 80% of Cape Verdeans are Catholic. Over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported

Almost 2x as many Cape Verdeans live abroad than in the country.

Kathie – good observation about the traffic, now that you mention it, I think it was mostly controlled by traffic circles rather than lights. Yes, we really did see a lot, quickly, but a lot.