So I finally made my trek to the northern islands. I left on Thursday because our flight was at 8 am on Friday and there was no way I could get to the airport that early from Calheta. We left the next morning and we got to Mindelo, Sao Vicente at 9:30 or so. The airport in Mindelo was in the middle of nowhere and we were blowing in the wind waiting for a car. The taxi ride is supposed to be 800 eschudos but we got a free ride! We went to the new volunteers house. There was ex-volunteer from Cameroon, named Byron who just finished his 4 month motorcycle tour of West Africa (Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Benin, Togo, Ghana-where he worked for 6 months, and Senegal) and he was ending his trip in Mindelo in Cape Verde. However we convinced him that he had to go to S.Antao and then convinced him he had to see the Island of Santiago for a totally different, non-tourist side of Cape Verde. So he stayed for an extra week and a half.
Over the next 4 days we did nothing but listen to Parades, watch the floats, party, and eat. I had so much fun. We ended up going to this warehouse party on the beach and it was sooo much fun. We danced until 5 am that night and I never thought I could be that tired. On the Saturday before carnival started we went to the really cool dance-club/bar place. It was all traditional brazillian/Cape verdean music but it was so much fun. We didn´t exactly know how to dance to it so we did the steps we did know and then made up the rest. From there we went to the street to go to the hotel party that the entire town goes to, and during our walk we danced and paraded around with the drumming bands that were goin up and down the street. The hotel party was cool because it was live music, a lot of people in costumes, on top of the roof of this gorgeous hotel. Sarah, Byron and I ended the night eating what we thought was hamburger but could have easily been some sort of dog meat sandwhiches on the side of the road. It was awesome!
Sunday was resting day. On Monday was our excursion to the warehouse party. Tuesday was all about the floats. Originally, I was thinking it was like parades in America: you get up early and you are done by 1. Not here. It was a parade from 9am until 10pm that night. I was ehausted just watching them. It was crazy because they actaully had girls on floats doing Samba and other traditional dances wearing barely any clothing for the entire event. Little kids parades were cute too. All the kids dress up in matching outfits. Like there was a group of kids super heroes, a group of ballerinas, a group of animals, a group of trees and flowers, etc. The also had Capoeiras running up and down the street which was amazing. Interpretive dancers came out for Carnival. And the highlight…the Mandigos! These are men, women, children, and older people who at one time used car grease, but now use charcoal and cooking oil to paint their entire bodies black and wear minimal clothing and they run, dance, play the drums everywhere. They are not in lines and they run up and down the streets “tagging” people. So we would see people with black marks all over their face, arms, and shoulders. They were definitely terrifying but highly-entertaining.
I mean it was non-stop dancing, singing, drums, food…it was pretty cool. After the big day, Tuesday, what we call “fat Tuesday” for Mardi Gras it was mass time. So the next day (wedenesday) everyone went to church for Ash Wednesday. That was the day we got on the boat and left for Santao Antao. It is the most gorgeous island in Cape Verde. Huge mountains, green all year round, and beautiful coastal scenery. I understand the hype completely. I went hiking twice. Once 3 hours all down hill from a crater into a valley. Beautiful! We ended up at this Bar called Bar-curral. And they make their own cheeses and grogue. Oh by the way, the best grogue in Cape Verde comes from SA. The cheese was unbelievable. They also make fresh bread to go with it. We ended up ordering food because we stayed so long. And they actually went to a garden to get herbs to put in my omelette. I mean, I do that at home but I have never been to a restaurant that did that. so good! The next day we did a 5 hour hike up and down about 4 mountains from Ponto de Sol to Cha de Igresa. It was a HARD hike and I thought I might pass out. But it was so worth it! There was really beautiful scenery and we went from beach, to forest, to plains, to valleys, to desert, back to mountains. I was very sceptical because everyone said that it was a hard hike (one person hurt their knee and one girl twisted her ankle on this hike) but they said I should go because it was unbelivable scenery and I would feel very good about myself for doing it. So I did it and they were right. We stayed in Santao Antao for 5 days. I brought back mounds of cheese for gifts.We left and went back to Mindelo and I got home on Monday around 9pm.
The language up north was sooo different. I mean I have now been to 6 of the 10 islands and I swear this was the hardest. They call the kriolu up north Sanpajudu. They speak very fast and they cut off their words a lot. They also have a lot of portuguese and european influence. So they don´t use kriolu greetings.They will say “todo bom” or “todo dretu” or “todo cool” (all of which is like How are you) it was odd. But what made me proud at times was the fact that I could communicate and understand. It made me realize just how far I had really come.
So yeah, I had a great Carnival and a wonderful vacation. I think that I would have really missed out if I had left without seeing those islands though. They are amazing, gorgeous scenery, gorgeous people, and fun times. It was a really good experience.
Over the next 4 days we did nothing but listen to Parades, watch the floats, party, and eat. I had so much fun. We ended up going to this warehouse party on the beach and it was sooo much fun. We danced until 5 am that night and I never thought I could be that tired. On the Saturday before carnival started we went to the really cool dance-club/bar place. It was all traditional brazillian/Cape verdean music but it was so much fun. We didn´t exactly know how to dance to it so we did the steps we did know and then made up the rest. From there we went to the street to go to the hotel party that the entire town goes to, and during our walk we danced and paraded around with the drumming bands that were goin up and down the street. The hotel party was cool because it was live music, a lot of people in costumes, on top of the roof of this gorgeous hotel. Sarah, Byron and I ended the night eating what we thought was hamburger but could have easily been some sort of dog meat sandwhiches on the side of the road. It was awesome!
Sunday was resting day. On Monday was our excursion to the warehouse party. Tuesday was all about the floats. Originally, I was thinking it was like parades in America: you get up early and you are done by 1. Not here. It was a parade from 9am until 10pm that night. I was ehausted just watching them. It was crazy because they actaully had girls on floats doing Samba and other traditional dances wearing barely any clothing for the entire event. Little kids parades were cute too. All the kids dress up in matching outfits. Like there was a group of kids super heroes, a group of ballerinas, a group of animals, a group of trees and flowers, etc. The also had Capoeiras running up and down the street which was amazing. Interpretive dancers came out for Carnival. And the highlight…the Mandigos! These are men, women, children, and older people who at one time used car grease, but now use charcoal and cooking oil to paint their entire bodies black and wear minimal clothing and they run, dance, play the drums everywhere. They are not in lines and they run up and down the streets “tagging” people. So we would see people with black marks all over their face, arms, and shoulders. They were definitely terrifying but highly-entertaining.
I mean it was non-stop dancing, singing, drums, food…it was pretty cool. After the big day, Tuesday, what we call “fat Tuesday” for Mardi Gras it was mass time. So the next day (wedenesday) everyone went to church for Ash Wednesday. That was the day we got on the boat and left for Santao Antao. It is the most gorgeous island in Cape Verde. Huge mountains, green all year round, and beautiful coastal scenery. I understand the hype completely. I went hiking twice. Once 3 hours all down hill from a crater into a valley. Beautiful! We ended up at this Bar called Bar-curral. And they make their own cheeses and grogue. Oh by the way, the best grogue in Cape Verde comes from SA. The cheese was unbelievable. They also make fresh bread to go with it. We ended up ordering food because we stayed so long. And they actually went to a garden to get herbs to put in my omelette. I mean, I do that at home but I have never been to a restaurant that did that. so good! The next day we did a 5 hour hike up and down about 4 mountains from Ponto de Sol to Cha de Igresa. It was a HARD hike and I thought I might pass out. But it was so worth it! There was really beautiful scenery and we went from beach, to forest, to plains, to valleys, to desert, back to mountains. I was very sceptical because everyone said that it was a hard hike (one person hurt their knee and one girl twisted her ankle on this hike) but they said I should go because it was unbelivable scenery and I would feel very good about myself for doing it. So I did it and they were right. We stayed in Santao Antao for 5 days. I brought back mounds of cheese for gifts.We left and went back to Mindelo and I got home on Monday around 9pm.
The language up north was sooo different. I mean I have now been to 6 of the 10 islands and I swear this was the hardest. They call the kriolu up north Sanpajudu. They speak very fast and they cut off their words a lot. They also have a lot of portuguese and european influence. So they don´t use kriolu greetings.They will say “todo bom” or “todo dretu” or “todo cool” (all of which is like How are you) it was odd. But what made me proud at times was the fact that I could communicate and understand. It made me realize just how far I had really come.
So yeah, I had a great Carnival and a wonderful vacation. I think that I would have really missed out if I had left without seeing those islands though. They are amazing, gorgeous scenery, gorgeous people, and fun times. It was a really good experience.