Cape Verde!

Yesterday, we had a stop-over in Cape Verde to refuel and fill our water tanks. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to go on shore for a few hours, which was quite nice after being at sea for nine days! What an interesting and unique place. We thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to explore yet another new country.

Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago off the western coats of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal. Cape Verde is composed of ten islands (of which nine are inhabited) and eight islets. The country is estimated to be 1,500 square miles with a population of 500,000. The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century. They gained their independence from Portugal in 1975. The official language is Portuguese. The country is officially an African country; so for us, it was like our gateway into Africa. We are scheduled to arrive into Sierra Leone Monday morning.