I just went on an epic trip to Cape Verde. It was amazing and beautiful and perhaps the greatest place on earth, but I’m not going to publish the itinerary nor my reasons for my glowing recommendations until a successful travel writing business pays me for my efforts.
Instead, I am going to publish the top three reasons that Cape Verde is greater than the Gambia.
Reason Number Three: Street Food
I cannot explain how amazing the street food was there. I told myself before I went that I would try every piece of street food that I saw, at least once. In The Gambia, if I had made that promise, I would be sputtering in disgust often. Following through on this declaration in Cape Verde, however, was joyous surprise after joyous surprise.
My knowledge of the Portuguese language, and most street food vendors knowledge of English intersected enough for them to understand, through broken Portuguese and emphatic hand motions, that I was indicating, “FEED ME ONE OF THOSE”.
The first tasty morsel was some sort of brownish goop that they spread on bread. Now, in the Gambia, this goop is bound to be something okra or fish related. So I was nervous. But upon its first contact with my taste buds, I knew this was not Gambian street food. The goop was some sort of sweet caramel type substance. The bread was about the size of a hot dog bun, slathered with delicious muck, and it put me back 10 escudos, or about 14 cents. I immediately ate two more.
Only then did I notice the wild variety of street food surrounding me. Had I noticed it before, I would not have been so quick to guzzle the first nugget.
Immediately upon discovery, I had all my hands and mouth space occupied with some pizza type onion-y thing, two incredibly iced doughnuts, and a huge piece of cake. All of that for 50 escudos. Or like 80 cents.
The best street food moment of the trip came after many attempts. I’d seen woman walking around with large, clear plastic bags, filled with what looked like raw tofu. It was visibly cold and wet, and was about the size, shape, and thickness of a rice cake. I had no idea what this was for a long time. I had seen many people walking around with the bags, and people making purchases, but no one actually consuming this mysterious consumable.
My moment came, and in a flurry of misunderstanding, I finally ended up with one of these discs, for 150 escudos, or slightly more than two dollars. Based on my previous experiences, this was an expensive hunk of something.
I examined its cold wetness, and wondered what it could possibly be. At this point, I was still pretty sure it was raw tofu. But upon the first squeaky bite, I knew for certain that it was the greatest discovery since the finding of these beautiful islands so long ago.
It was cheese. A huge disc of recently pressed goat cheese (I think). Cheap, accessible, fresh, not processed, cheese????? This is the stuff of a Gambian volunteer’s dreams. And thus, reason number three that Cape Verde is greater than the Gambia.
Reasons Number Two: Infrastructure
This may have been the biggest shock upon arriving to Cape Verde. I’m no expert nor widely traveled person, but having lived on the continent for over a year, I thought I’d understood what Africa had to offer, and most likely wouldn’t be too surprised by anything this continent had to throw at me.
Then I arrived in Cape Verde.
You think Africa, in general, has a lack of power, running water, banks, restaurants, on time vehicles, or schedules of any sort? Think again.
Cape Verde has some amazingly beautiful sights to see. They have mountains, beaches, volcanoes, beautiful people, interesting cities, etc. But a strange proportion of my pictures are of seemingly mundane things. Trash cans, power lines, electric lights, and comfortable seating.
BECAUSE AFRICA DOES HAVE THESE THINGS.
Was I pretty ignorant of Africa before I got to Cape Verde? Definitely, but I would argue that makes me appreciate it much more. Most folks, upon seeing a beautiful valley filled with sugar cane blowing in the wind, capped off by a low, fluffy cloud cover, would miss the understated beauty and the manifestation of lots of time and effort on the part of government and local laborers if they overlooked the green trash cans, the cobbled road, the delicate spine of power lines running to the most remote, basic, rural homes.
Reason Number One: Stuff to See
The most amazing thing that Cape Verde had was stuff to see. Scenery you couldn’t get anywhere else, sights and sounds completely unique and beautiful. Looking to the west and seeing the ocean, and across the channel, another island with the sun setting behind it, and then turning to the east and seeing the peak of a epic volcano that you climbed earlier that day?
Emerging on the top of an epically high ridge of mountains, to look down into the next gorgeous valley, shade obscuring half of it and sunlight blindingly illuminating the rest?
Watching farmers not only plow their fields with horses and donkeys, but also adjust the irrigation lines that come from the water trickling down from way up the mountain?
A boy making his way up a steep cobbled road, and to assist him, he’s holding the tail of a huge white horse?
Hearing a local Creole speaker order the locally made alcohol called “grogue”, which in my Chicago accent sound synonymous with witch’s puke, but in their lispy, musical tongue, it sounds like something fantastical and delicious?
Amazing.
You should go there.
PS. Mom. I know you just bought your ticket to the Gambia… but it’s pretty good too!
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