Escape from Tarrafal

If my life goes according to plan (insert laugh here), this should be the last Cape Verde posting you'll see from me.

The beauty (and sometimes tragedy) of my job is that it throws me into working relationships with all stripes of people. It's kind of a roulette game, and I've seen a fair mix of characters over here in Cape Verde over the past two weeks. Luckily, on this trip there's another (normal) woman out here working who is not into telling sea stories and sitting at the bar drinking all day (not that there is anything wrong with this). In our down time we have made it our mission to get out and do as much as we can on this island, if only to stretch our legs and not go stir crazy.

It's time for a trip through the middle of the island. Just to see what's on the other side.

The drive through the mountains shows you that most of the island's real estate is untouched- wild and beautiful. If you read my previous posting on Cape Verde's natural skyscrapers (here) then this should come as no surprise.

After about an hour or two, we are finally spit out onto a plateau that yields ocean views. We are headed to the town of Tarrafal, and all of its associated tourist sites. Or site, as the case would be...

And behold, there is something to visit on the other side of Santiago! It's the now defunct Campo da Morte Lenta, aka The Camp of Slow Death. Great, this is gonna be one of those happy excursions, kind of like when I decided to visit Auschwitz at Christmastime...

When Cape Verde was still a Portuguese colony, this joint was opened after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This is where they sent opponents of his right-wing authoritarian regime, and about 32 anarchists, communists, and other opponents of Salazar's regime died here.

The camp was closed for a few decades, but then they decided to reopen it in the 1970s as a nice spot to jail African leaders fighting Portuguese colonialism.
 


Just searching for some beauty in this otherwise depressing tourist attraction...


At least the morgue's a pretty building.....?


Actually, I found this building to be the most aesthetically-pleasing of the bunch. I think it used to be a library.


I'm grateful that I'm not a slave, because this place is kinda desolate. We roll out of here and down to the beach to see what else is around.


Down at the beach, things are a bit more....normal.


Fishing boats. All of this prison life stuff has made us hungry...


You there! Lady with the fish on your head! I'm going where you're going....


And we are not disappointed! This fish was AMAZING. Happiness on a plate. I wonder if prisoners got fresh fish...

After our trip north, we are back in Praia and still find ourselves contending with the feast or famine nature of our tasking in Cape Verde. Time to do just about the only thing left in town: visit Sucupira, Praia's laid back cousin to Dakar's Sandaga Market.

Here we are, walking around the stalls. I am told that lots of people bring stuff back from the U.S. to sell here- and from the Wes Welker jerseys and other Boston-related shirts, I can see that this is true. The difference between this market and the Senegalese one is that the vendors almost don't care if you want to buy anything. The people are not aggressive at all...


....which is a good thing, cuz I really wanted to take my time and sort through the wonderful assortment of hair extensions.

I like it here in Cape Verde, but I think it's time for me to head back to Dakar. You know what my tipping point on this realization was? I went down to breakfast this morning and found familiar comfort in the restaurant's looping music soundtrack of Top Gun's "Take My Breath Away", Prince's "Cream" and the 007 song "Goldfinger". The music, coupled with the decor and sleepy waitstaff makes you feel like you're in a deserted cocktail lounge at 4am. I shouldn't feel at home with any of this, and I think I need to leave before I get further softened.

So that should be it for Cape Verde. Time for some normacly- that is, if I can find something like that in Dakar.

I bet I can find Goldfinger on iTunes...