Cape Verde Islands / Praia

 It has been so refreshing to get to the islands in Cape Verde after the heat and humidity of Brazil. With a daily temperature of 21-23 degC and a cool sea breeze we now have renewed energy and able to walk around with a purpose again although still having to be aware that the sun burns your skin very quickly.  But the best is no mosquitos. Yay.
The first island we stopped in was Santiago, the capital being Praia which is an island in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal.
In the city centre the Military Barracks  had a soldier on guard duty in a fairly basic sentry shelter. (above) A bit of a contrast to the soldier on duty guarding the presidential palace just around the corner who had a much more elaborate box to stand by. (third photo)

 This school were finishing up for Easter break and had installed some basic fairground rides for the children. There was very much excitement and the children were very well disciplined standing in line waiting their turn.

 The front entrance of the Presidential Palace

 The town square was quite basic but a popular place for families to spend time during weekends and holidays. The huge round balls of cacti were pretty impressive.

 The main pedestrian mall that lead us to the Municipal produce market, below and one of the most colourful markets I have ever been to.

 The market was pretty much run by females. I guess the males are all back on the farms making it happen! Although judging by the number of males that congregate in groups around the streets doing nothing at all Im not so sure.

 No modern scales here. These would have been passed down over the years and similar were used in most of the stalls we saw.

 Richard decided to take a five minute break on a free chair and this lovely lady was only to happy to loan it to him. Most of the people are very wary of tourists but if you went out of your way to try and engage them in conversation they were very warm and happy to exchange pleasantries with you even though they couldn't speak English.

 The pedestrian mall from the other end.

 The Ethnographic Muesum housed in a 19th century colonial building, where there were mainly old cooking and produce exhibits displayed. A very small museum but the building inside and out was lovely including the interesting shaped window from inside, where I spotted another school group  on an end of term outing.

 The same group of school children on their way again.

Locals sitting in doorways or hanging out windows is a common sight.