Joni and Peter just returned from a short trip to The Cape Verdian islands.

We started off from Banjul harbour taking the new catemaran to Dakar - 95 nautical miles in three hours on one - three foot waves, some people got seasick. We had first class tickets, meaning free drinks, airconditioning and being allowed off first - no waiting in customs and for taxis - and the privilege of paying half the price of a plane ticket. The night was spend in Hotel Saint Louis Sun on Felix Faure, as our normal hotel Ganale was full (it often is midweek). Clean room with working aircon and bathroom - 20.000 CFA per night (less than $40). Food is typical french bistro food.

Tuesday 31 of August we fly to Praia on Santiago a 300 nautical miles hop West into the Atlantic. Immigration issued us a Visa on the spot for $20 - good to know as there is no Capo Verdean consular officer in The Gambia. We checked into Hotel Tropico, which came recommended. At $100 a nigth it is good value for the money. Rooms are nice, the atmosphere very relaxed and laid back. Restaurant is good, Peter got excellent pork chops, which is very difficult in Africa.

Wednesday we went for a tour to Tarrafal in the North end of Santiago. Santiago is very mounteneous. Roads are narrow cobblestone, but well maintained. Everything is green and blooming. Farmers has cleared fields and built horisontal walls using the stones, to keep the soil from raining down the hillside. They were planting maize when we passed by, a very hard way to farm.In the valleys we saw coconut, papaya, banana and sugarcane. Most houses are built using the many stones from the fields, they seem orderly and well built. A little like Spain and Portugal rural areas would have looked 40 years ago. Of course now there is extensive use of concrete.

On the way North we drove through/over the center of Santiago a quite spectacular tour, The main colour is green as we are in the rainy season, and there had been rain. Tarrafal has a pretty little beach in a cove and a small pier. There are hotels in the town. We had lunch, rested and drove back along the East cost. We saw more fields, but not so green. Roads still good, but unfortunately the villagers has discovered how to make speed bumps. The mountainside is not so green here, but they still farm it. We saw a few valleys with extensive farming in the bottom. Total tour about 100km, 4 hours and 7000CVE ($70) for the taxi (a nice newer well maintained Mercedes).

On the drivers recommendation we had dinner in the Garden Grill. They had live music with a 3 man band (rythm box two guitars and a funny small guitar) and singers from the audience. It was surprisingly good. Easy, very rythmical and well executed. Music is Cap Verdes main attraction.

Thursday we hopped to Sao Filipe, island of Fogo. We checked in at Hotel Haguata 3250CVE including breakfast. A little old fashioned, but a fantastic view. Sao Filipe is very charming, neat houses, many painted and of course also here cobblestoned streets. This is definiitely a place I would like to see again. Joni has languster for dinner again - they are very good. Friday morning we took a taxi to the top of Fogo. The top of the island is a huge crater, that is open on the south side so you can drive into it, about 2000m above sealevel, the peak is another 800 meters of climbing, but we did not go. The vulcano erupted last time in 1995 leaving a lot of fresh lava and ashes, unfortunately also destroying the 5000 homes. The countryside of Fogo is neater than Santiago, the mountain is farmed most of the way up, also here using plenty of stone walls to conquer erorion and trap water. Some of the walls are used to grow aloe cactus - intesting. Fogo is supposed to have the best coffee in the world, we bought a kilo of green coffee beans with a liter of red wine made here. We will see. We saw a few coffee bushes growing in shelved spaces up the mountain. The road had some mountainclimbing to do all with cobblestones, it is not easy to build roads here. Total trip 3 hours CVE5000($50).

In the afternoon we hopped back to Praia and hotel Tropico. We were a little worried as our tickets showed up to be wait listed - but no problem. In the evening Joni has Languster third time in a row, and more music in Garden Grill.

Saturday we relaxed in the hotel and went to Dakar in late afternoon. We decided to try out the hotel Meridien President. It is new and fancy, financed by the Saudi royal family. Rooms are nice and reasonable at CFA51000($100) a night. On resort restaurants are a bit steep and drinks are very steep, it is a long time since we have paid $6 for a beer. The hotel has nice shopping, but we never enquired about prices. There is also a golf course, but it was raining in the morning. Sunday afternoon we returned to Gambia with Air Senegal. No Problem. Lawrence had things under control. Dogs and Cat were glad to see us. The puppies had grown. Nice to sleep in your own bed.