Cape Verde | Jason Around the World

Praia, Cape Verde – Day 2

Attractions, Cape Verde, New Years 2013-2014 1 Response »

Feb 062014

We met up with the small group of Travelers Century Club folks in the morning, and turned out there would be just six of us total. Nothing had been mentioned about price the night before, and when the driver showed up…yes, he had room, but had to check with his boss how much to charge us. The price was fair for what amounted to an 8-9 hour tour, and we packed in the van, and were off!

Sunrise over the Pestana Hotel pool:

Our first stop after maybe 30 minutes or so was pretty much due north of Praia, a bit into the interior. We were going to check out a craft shop (aka sell you things and get commission for bringing you there) but when we arrive…it seems it no longer existed! It had completely packed up and moved since their last tour two months ago. Oops! He called his head office to verify, and they were just as shocked as he was. So, on we went to the Botanical Gardens:

There wasn’t much to see, so we continued on. Some views from the interior of the island:

Praia, Cape Verde – Day 1

Attractions, Cape Verde, hotels, New Years 2013-2014, Restaurants No Responses »

Feb 052014

Got to the hotel, no problem with check-in, but the only oddity was that the only rooms with queen or king beds were the suites…and “they are all taken by the Royal Air Maroc crew.” Uh, ok. So two twin beds pushed together would have to do. Kind of strange for a resort hotel, no? Since the TAAG crew had ate all the nomz, I was starving…and yes, dinner was still available…for 5 more minutes. Ran to the hotel bar, ordered a sandwich and some wine to my room, then went to crash.

Got up in time the next morning to check out the breakfast, which was included in the room. It was slightly below average, but there were some meats and cheeses, plenty of breads and pastries, along with a selection of juices. I think there might have been eggs made to order too, but there were some hard boiled ones and that did the trick for me.

Jordan’s hotel was supposedly about a 15 minute walk away, so I set out to meet him and explore the city a bit. View on the walk to his hotel:

Mural on a building next to his hotel:

Some buildings in the centre of town:

Sao Tome e Principe to Praia, Cape Verde on TAAG

Airports, Cape Verde, Flights, New Years 2013-2014, Sao Tome e Principe 2 Responses »

Feb 042014

The front desk of the hotel said they’d called me a cab. Ten minutes later, there was no cab, I kept asking, it’s on the way. Still no cab. Ten minutes later…no cab…finally one shows up. Are you noticing a trend in Lusophone Africa? Cabs are a novelty, that take a long time to show up, even if you’re willing to pay for them. Regardless, finally it showed up, was cheap, I picked up Jordan, and we were on the way to the airport. We knew it was a small airport from our arrivals experience so planned to get there 90 minutes in advance.

Got there in plenty of time, and tried to enter the terminal, only to be told there was a tax to be paid that wasn’t included in the ticket. Seriously? That’s still a thing these days? I can count on one hand how many of my 154 countries visited do that….so congratulations Sao Tome, you’re in the company of Cameroon and others 😉

Paid my $21, and was allowed into the terminal, only to be met with this very sophisticated check-in area. For a minute I wondered how I took a picture of myself checking in, and then I realised I’d never wear cargo shorts 😉

Check-in was a manual process, no computers anywhere. There was a list with 12 names, and they crossed us off as we showed up and gave us handwritten boarding cards….without seat numbers. Basically, take any available seat! Wow, it was like flying back in time to the 1970s or something!

Security? Um, yes, it was one bored person (no metal detectors, nude-a-scopes, or similar technology here) and after 15 seconds of going through my carryons they gave up. Just couldn’t be bothered. Then, passport control was similarly lax…and literally 5 minutes from check-in to gate took 5 minutes. We really didn’t have to show up 90 minutes early. “Duty Free,” however, offered lots of treats including the suspicious Dom:

There were only four or five people in the gate area at this point, and it was not exactly interesting. This group of Chinese was soon led into the waiting area, and it appeared to be a tour of “look at how fantastic the airport you upgraded for us is!”

Complete with a Christmas Tree that makes the one in the Charley Brown Christmas special look special: