As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.
Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (
Hive account@vcelier), but Marc Allaria (
Hive account@marc-allaria), a French guy.
CABO VERDE - PALMEIRA
Harbor of PalmeiraThe bright side of night arrivals is undoubtedly the joy of discovering places at dawn. I never sleep very well the first night after a long period of navigation, so I am early for this first day in Cabo Verde. And no doubt, I did leave Europe! It is 6:30 AM, the local music is already loud, a crowd is the source of a very pleasant hubbub, the smiles can be seen from more than a hundred meters, the journey can finally begin!
Aerial view of PalmeiraWhen you arrive by sea, the first day is generally dedicated to administrative procedures. Customs, boat visit, immigration and visa, quarantine procedure, etc ... everything goes. It often takes a few hours depending on the country and the mood of the officials. Here it will hardly last more than 10 minutes. I understand that the tourist answer "No stress" is not just an invention to relax tourists! Here, the procedure wants us to leave the boat's papers with the authorities, which is done quickly. The immigration officer is not there, he also works at the airport. We'll have to come back tomorrow. Cabo Verde remains one of the rare countries to still grant an entry privilege by sea. Where a tourist who enters by plane would pay around 30 € to stay a month in the country, a traveler arriving by sea pays 5 € for all visas of its crew and can stay there for 3 months. Thank you, it is good to see that the values of the sea are still present.
Place for future celebrations! The village is small. I quickly go around and quickly understand that life will be sweet and easy here. There is no shortage of food and groceries, everybody smiles, everything seems simple, I already feel good there. It is also pleasant to see that things that are forbidden elsewhere are undisputed normality here. Traders accept the Euro and even give the change to the nearest cent. The wallets are filled with Escudos and Euros! I don't know it yet, but I will stay here for a long time!
