Cruising – NCL Star – Transatlantic (2nd Half)

Cape Verde: São Vicente Island

Cape Verde is an African country made up of a chain of islands off the coast of Senegal. It has its own currency (Escudo) and the primary language spoken is Portuguese. However, due to the African influence there is a blend of several languages resulting in a Portuguese creole spoken by the locals. 

We took a bus tour which took us to the highest point on the island with magnificent views of the ocean and surrounding islands. The road to the top was mostly cobblestone which made for a very bumpy ride. 

We also got to try their local spirit called grogue. Similar to rum, it is made from sugar cane which is grown on the island.  At 44% alcohol by volume, it was fire water! It definitely could have used a mixer to make it more palatable for Rex. 

Lastly, we stopped at a local sea turtle rescue/hospital which is run by volunteers to help injured turtles who get caught in fishing nets.  There were two turtles with serious injuries who were living out the rest of their days there as they would not be able to survive being released back into the ocean. 

Atlantic Ocean: Three Days at Sea

We spent three peaceful days at sea as we crossed the equator and made our way to Brazil. We had very pleasant weather across the Atlantic which kept the waves relatively low for the journey. 

The ship celebrated the equator crossing with a ceremony to haze the crew members onboard who were crossing for the first time. “King Neptune” presided and crew members were subjected to all sorts of public ridicule and food being dumped on their heads while the crowd cheered. It was all good fun and even the cruise director got thrown into the pool at the end. 

Trivia Update

We ended progressive trivia in third place. Not a bad finish for us since we were playing against teams who had seen some of the questions on the previous cruise and had six people on their teams. 

Bingo!  

One highlight of the sea days was both of us hitting bingo at the exact same time. Neither of us had ever won at bingo before. Crazy!

Brazil:  Recife 

We finally made it to Brazil. Our first stop was in the far-eastern city of Recife. Recife was founded in 1537, during the early Portuguese colonization of Brazil. 

We booked a city tour which showed us the highlights of the area. Recife was similar to lots of large cities we’ve been to. They experience their share of graffiti, homeless and run down areas. 

We have more Brazilian cities to visit on the final leg of our cruise. This ship will continue to be our home for 7 more days. Tomorrow, we stop in Rio de Janeiro!