Karamboa day 7

Today is the last full day of this visit, so we made good use of the lovely warm weather by doing very little.  Much the same as yesterday actually ...

Breakfast sufficient to feed a battalion, followed by a return to our favourite sun loungers on the beach.  I finished reading my book.  At some point we took a walk along the beach.  Probably consumed some cold beverages.  Had a snack around the middle of the day, which was over-indulgent and quite unnecessary after our large breakfast ... but that's what you do when on holiday, right?

We spent the afternoon beside one of the pools, watching the world go by, even getting into the water to cool down for a while.  Being creatures of habit (sort of), our evening routine was the same ... showers, drinks, dinner in the main restaurant and return to the room to pack our bags ready for the return trip tomorrow. 

The bus is scheduled to collect us at 09.55 for the short transfer to the airport.  Flight should depart at 11.55, or thereabouts.  We should arrive back in Birmingham by around 19.45 local time followed by a 2 hour drive to get home.  On Monday morning we go to collect the puppies from Nicola and life should return to normal until the next time.

Enjoy the photos. 

Last walk along the beach

Cooling down

Our view of the sunset while having dinner 

Karamboa day 6

The weather was slightly warmer today at about 26°C (79°F) with scattered clouds and a lot more sunshine than we have seen all week, so another day to be relaxing outdoors.  Well, we would have done that anyway, regardless of the weather!

We slept in until around 08.00.  First stop was breakfast.  Next stop was the beach and the dappled shade provided by one of the many palm trees.  It is necessary to use lots of sunscreen and to be in at least semi-shade here because the sun can be really fierce and the breeze seduces one into feeling pleasantly cool, meanwhile the sunshine can be very damaging.  The beach sand can get hot enough to cause blisters if you are not wearing some form of footwear.

I made some good progress with my book, washed down with a generous supply of cold, non-alcoholic beverages before we returned to the main restaurant for a light lunch.  We visited the gift shop to purchase a few gifts and souvenirs before heading back to the pool area for the next few hours.  The wind picked up a bit around 16.00 so we escaped back to the room.  Showers and drinks before dinner, as has become our normal routine. 

We learned that every Friday night they have a party for the guests.  Tonight was what is called a "Neon Party" and the whole theatre/entertainment area was decorated with bright neon colours, as if someone had attacked it with a big box of highlighting marker pens.  The staff's entertainment team were dressed in fancy party outfits in similar colours and many of the guests wore bright clothes to go with the theme.  After supper the staff would apply "glow in the dark" face makeup to anyone that wanted it, and supplied bracelets and necklaces that also glow in the dark.  We stood at the sidelines for a while to see how it was taking shape while music was played and the crowd was warming up.  My tolerance threshold for bright flashing lights and deafeningly loud noise kicked in after about 10 minutes, but I forced myself to stay a while longer because Ann was enjoying it.  I think we lasted about 30 minutes before slipping away to the peace and tranquility of our room and hopefully another good night's sleep. 

Enjoy the photos.

On the beach

Me and Ann overlooking the gardens

Our view of the sunset while having supper

The Neon Party was just getting started

Karamboa day 5

After last night's Italian dinner, neither of us were in the mood for another meal first thing this morning, so we took another long walk on the beach.  This time we headed north and most of the time we had the beach to ourselves.  The round trip was again in the region of 3 miles (4.8km).  Along the way we took several 'creative' photos, mostly of the scenery.  We found one locust sitting on a stone, a few pieces of driftwood and there were masses of holes in the sand, obviously homes to crabs, which we could tell from the footprints.  Well, crab-sized footprints. 

The rest of the day was filled with eating, drinking and sitting beside the pool soaking up the sun.  In the early afternoon Ann joined in an aqua exercise session in the one pool, during which it was my turn to be the camera operator.  I had a short nap before showers, drinks and supper in the main restaurant.  Yup, just another day in paradise. 

Enjoy the photos.

Deserted beach, mostly all to ourselves

Driftwood 

Locust

Crab house

Creative photo

Me and Ann

Footprints in the sand

Ann doing aqua exercise 

Karamboa day 4

We rolled out of bed around 07.30 and after breakfast headed straight for the beach.  The weather was similar to the last 3 days and the predicted rain never arrived.  We spent the next several hours converting sunlight into vitamin D while devouring more pages of our books.  Not much more to report until we decided to change location sometime during the mid-afternoon.

The water park was virtually deserted apart from 3 lifeguards so we went inside.  My inner 12 year old convinced me to have a go on some of the slides, something I have never done before.  My long-suffering bride offered to record the events on video rather than taking part with me.  I tried out 4 of the 5 slides available.  Two were fun, one was fine (for a 12 year old) and the last one was simply unpleasant.  I have attached 3 of the videos below as proof that I did it, so I can tick that box on my list of life experiences to complete before I turn 70.

The water park was followed by ice cream and cold drinks before heading back to the room.  This evening we had supper at the Italian themed restaurant called Toscana, which was a very pleasant change from the main restaurant and the food quality was excellent as we have come to expect.  This evening will probably be an early night and tomorrow we will just make it up as the day unfolds.  No complaints about the week's progress so far.

Enjoy the videos and one photo.

Karamboa day 3

9 hours of much-needed sleep saw us surface around 07.40.  After last night's over-indulgent supper, neither of us felt like breakfast, so we took a long walk on the beach heading south.  The round trip was probably about 3 miles (4.8km).  There were a few other walkers on the beach, but most of the time we felt like we had it all to ourselves.  Temperature was warm, breeze was calm, sky was blue with scattered clouds.  This beats staring at my computer screen any day!

After the walk we enjoyed a light continental breakfast and settled on a pair of sun loungers on the beach, much like yesterday.  A few more hours of book, tan, cold beverages and relaxation took us into mid-afternoon by which time the wind started to pick up again so we migrated back to the room and balcony.  Showers led to drinks in the lounge followed by supper in the main restaurant again.  Quality of food was outstanding once again.  We chose a table on the edge of the outdoor area but still under cover, from where we had an uninterrupted view of the garden.  See the photos below.

We took a long, moonlit stroll around the resort as we headed back to the room, having decided to skip the "Abba" tribute band performance this evening.

The weather forecast is threatening us with some rain tomorrow which may or may not happen.  Even so it is unlikely to be more than a few drops, so probably not enough to interfere with our magical adventure to any significant extent.  We have loosely planned to visit the water park in the morning, probably followed by more beach, sunshine, pool, book, drinks etc...  You see a bit of a pattern forming here?  That's exactly what we signed up for!

Enjoy the photos.

View of the beach looking south, at the start of our walk.

Yup, the views are here ... wish you were beautiful.

Part way along our walk.

The beaches here must be among the most beautiful in the world.

At dinner, overlooking some of the gardens.

View from our table at the start of dinner.

View from our table at the end of dinner.

Karamboa day 2

We awoke with the sun, feeling refreshed after the long travel day on Sunday and stumbled down for breakfast in the main dining room at around 08.00.  By 09.30 we were coated in an excessive layer of sunscreen and settled in a pair of sun loungers on the beach under a palm tree.  This is where we stayed for the next 3 hours or so, only moving to refill our glasses with some form of cold beverage.

I made good progress with my book while Ann worked on her tan.  The weather was good although with quite a lot of cloud cover for most of the day and a breeze that became stronger into the afternoon.  The temperature rose to a high of around 25°C today (77°F) so the breeze was actually quite welcome, making it feel cooler and less humid.  We moved from the beach to the poolside shortly after midday but continued to work on the book, the tan, and people-watching.  By about 15.00 the wind was becoming unpleasant so we returned to the semi-protection of the balcony adjoining our room.  Showers followed by drinks again before heading to supper in the main dining room.

Every evening there is some form of entertainment in the main theatre area above the restaurants.  This evening there is a show called "All Over Africa" (music and dancing), which Ann was keen to see, so we migrated there after supper.  There was a guy playing saxophone for a while before the main show.  Neither of these events hold much appeal for me (too many people and too much loud noise) but Ann was enjoying it, so I stayed with her, using the time to compose this blog post.

Tomorrow promises to be much the same, but with more sunshine, less cloud cover, and hopefully a gentler breeze.

Enjoy the photos.

My parking spot this morning 

My view for the morning

Beach looking south

From the drinks lounge, looking down to some of the covered, outdoor seating area of the main restaurant, and some of the outdoor seating area of the theatre above.

Saxophone boy

Some of the "All Over Africa" show

Karamboa day 1

On Saturday afternoon we set off for a week of relaxation and sunshine on the Cabo Verde island of Boa Vista.

Ann and I left home late Saturday morning to drop off the puppies with daughter Nicola where they will spend the week.  Mid-afternoon we drove to Birmingham airport where we spent the night in one of the cheap airport hotels before our early morning departure on Sunday.  We stumbled out of bed at 04.00 and by 04.30 we were through airport security,  having dropped our bags the evening before.  Breakfast was coffee and a croissant.  The flight left 15 minutes late at 06.45.

The plane was only equipped with "cattle class" with what was surely the smallest amount of legroom I have ever experienced.  5.5 hours later we peeled our cramped bodies out of their contorted positions, promising ourselves that next time we will pay extra to get a seat at an emergency exit with more legroom.  The flight was uneventful, apart from the few crying babies and the guy in front of me who would not sit still, adding to my discomfort.  We breezed through passport control and onto the transfer bus that took only 10 minutes to get us to the hotel.  We are staying at the Riu Karamboa which is on the west side of the island.  (Last time, 6 years ago, we stayed at the Riu Touareg on the south coast.)  Check-in was well organised and by 12.00 noon we were unpacked, changed into bathing suits and making our way to the pools.

This resort, much like the Touareg, is massive with just shy of 1000 guest rooms and it seems to have a high occupancy level at this time.  Fortunately all the facilities, restaurants, bars etc. appear to be sufficient to handle such a large number of guests, so although it is busy it does not feel cramped or over-crowded.  There are about 6 feeding troughs and a similar number of watering holes if you include the 2 swim-up bars at the pools.  The package is all-inclusive so we will definitely not be hungry or thirsty.  So far the quality of all the food has been excellent.  The only problem is knowing when to stop eating!

We spent most of Saturday afternoon beside one of the pools, of which there are also about 5 or 6.  After showers we had a drink in one of the lounge areas before supper and crashed into bed just before 21.00.  That's why this post is technically one day late.

Enjoy the photos. 

Our wing of the accomodation rooms

Beach looking north

The obligatory toe-dipping

Mini bar in the room. Pity we are not big alcohol drinkers!