Boa Vista Touareg day 7

Our last full day on the island.

The day started much like yesterday, a bit windy with some cloud cover, making it feel cool.  The clouds soon moved away and the wind grew calmer until around 15.00 when both returned, more intensely, making it unpleasant to stay on the beach, so we retreated to the poolside for a while.

We decided that it should be a beach day to finish off this visit.  Most of the day was very pleasant, relaxing in the sunshine, interrupted only by the need for drinks and snacks.  Ann and I both finished our second books yesterday and have made a start on the third.

The 3 donkeys were back again today.  The male was being very vocal, possibly expressing his disappointment that the female did not seem to appreciate his amorous advances in front of all the holidaymakers.  Or maybe she just doesn't fancy him.  We decided not to interfere in their domestic disagreement and continued our reading.  The sea was beautiful today.  Fairly calm and a vivid shade of turquoise, especially with the sun shining through it.

This evening we had dinner in the main restaurant where meat featured prominently on the menu once again.  We both ate more than we should have, but feel unapologetic about it as it was our last evening, so a little overindulgence is forgivable. 

Tomorrow morning the transfer shuttle will take us back to the airport for the return flight to the UK.  It has been a wonderfully relaxing break for both of us and we feel suitably recharged for the "normal" life that we will be returning to.  Au revoir Boa Vista until next time!

Enjoy the photos.

Boa Vista Touareg day 6

Another sunny day in paradise, although it started off a bit cloudy, but that soon cleared away.

We skipped breakfast again and had a light snack in the late morning.  Most of the day was spent beside the pools, but we chose to sit in an area covered by canvas awnings overlooking the beach rather than facing the pools.  That was fine except that every time there was a strong gust of wind the whole structure rattled quite noisily. 

The donkeys have come to visit every day and today they brought a third member along, possibly the daddy. He was not as friendly as the other two and was quite camera-shy.  Unfortunately their coats are a bit scruffy because they live wild with nobody to care for them, but they seem to be in good health overall.

This evening we had supper in the Asian themed restaurant which was also very good.  Like the Cape Verdean and Italian restaurants, we had to book our table in advance and were only able to go in at 21.00.  While waiting we sat in the lounge area and played "Reversi" while having drinks.

Apart from that it was another fairly quiet day of relaxing and recharging. 

Enjoy the photos.

Mother and baby donkey

Playing Reversi

Our view over the beach, facing the sea, just beyond the palm trees

Boa Vista Touareg day 5

Today started, unfolded and ended much like the day before.

We awoke somewhere around 08.00, but still feeling full after last night's supper we decided to skip breakfast and headed straight to the beach.  The wind had died down even more than yesterday and the sea was also calmer.  The waves were forming beautiful "tubes" today which we watched for some time and ventured as far as getting our feet and ankles wet.  The water is nicely warm here.

Most of the day was spent on the beach, relaxing, reading, napping etc.  We had a light snack at the poolside restaurant in the late morning and had supper in the main restaurant this evening.

In summary ... 

Warm sunshine - 100%

Beautiful blue sky - 100%

Wind - some

Rain - none

Stress - none

Relaxation - 100%

Good food - plenty

Cold beverages - plenty

Customer satisfaction - 100%

Same again tomorrow? - highly likely!

Enjoy the photos.

Boa Vista Touareg day 4

I'm sure that lots of amazing, interesting things happened in the world today ... but none of them happened here in Boa Vista.  It was a very quiet, uneventful day in our lives, offering plenty of time to relax and recharge, which we exploited to the maximum. 

Last evening some bright dingbat fiddled with my phone and inadvertently set the alarm for 07.00 this morning! ... oh, wait ... that dingbat would have been me!  So that is what time we woke up.  I have now corrected the error so we should not be disturbed again so rudely.

After breakfast we settled beside the pools, which is where we stayed for most of the day.  Read books, listened to music, drank cold beverages and soaked up the sun.  We took a stroll onto the beach and managed to get some super photos.  It was much calmer today, probably more "normal" than 2 days ago.

After lunch we had a video chat with Nicola, which was nice.  Ann gave her a short virtual tour of the pool areas, which included the donkeys that had returned for a visit.

This evening we had supper in the Cape Verdean styled restaurant.  The food was excellent, as expected.  We were able to taste some "Cachupa", which is the traditional dish of the islands.  Basically a slow cooked meat and vegetable stew.  Nice, but not on our list of favourites. 

That about the lot for today.  Enjoy the photo.

Boa Vista Touareg day 3

A very quiet, relaxing day today.  We awoke just before 08.00.  The usual morning routine and then we made our way to the beach.  A beautiful day and although the wind was still fairly energetic, the sea did appear to be somewhat calmer than yesterday.  We selected our sun loungers and set about reading our books.  This activity was interrupted only by a visit to the pool bar to refill our drinks.

Somewhere around the middle of the day we went to the poolside restaurant for a light snack, after which we settled beside the pools for the remainder of the afternoon.  Ann and I both finished our first books this afternoon.  After showers and changes we enjoyed our usual pre-dinner drinks on the main terrace while playing cards for a while.  We had booked to have supper in the Italian restaurant but had to wait until 21.00 before we could go in.  The wait was worth it - we both thoroughly enjoyed everything we ate and were able to recognise the authenticity of the Italian cuisine. 

Tomorrow will probably be much the same (but without the Italian restaurant).  Looking forward to that!

Enjoy the photos.

This is how I spent the morning 

This was the view in front of me

Boa Vista Touareg day 2

We surfaced at around 07.30 this morning and were having breakfast about 45 minutes later.

Got to the pools an hour later and reserved our sun loungers before taking a stroll to the beach.  It has been quite windy all day, which is both good and bad.  On the good side, it keeps the ambient temperature a bit lower than it would otherwise be, but on the bad side it made the sea very rough.  This is not a swimming beach (undercurrents are too strong) but the boat outing we had booked on for tomorrow has been cancelled because the rough sea is expected to continue.  With that said, the waves were pretty impressive and we spent some time just watching and taking more photos than necessary, both this morning and again later in the afternoon. 

Most of the day was spent beside the pools, relaxing, reading our books, consuming cold beverages, and converting alpha rays into vitamin D (for the unschooled and unwashed among us, that means sunbathing!)  We returned to the room for showers and fresh clothes before drinks and supper in the main restaurant.  Last night fish was the star of the show at dinner, and tonight it was meat, primarily pork and lamb, accompanied by the usual extensive assortment of buffet offerings.

When we went to the beach this afternoon we met 2 donkeys who had come to get some water that the staff put out for them.  We think they were a mother and her baby.  Donkeys roam free on the island, but this is the first time we have seen them on the beach right at the resort.

The standard arrangement here around the pools is that all drinks are served in simple plastic tumblers.  Plastic so they won't break if dropped, and reusable to save the planet, I suppose.  They are not very big and they are hopeless at keeping anything cold.  Well, on the flight over, I saw they were selling large insulated cups suitable for hot or cold drinks and they come with a stainless steel straw.  I bought one (and got a free cappuccino in the process.)  Today I took it to the poolside instead of using the standard plastic cups like everyone else, and seldom have I been so impressed with any product.  At the first filling around 09.30, the bar staff added a generous portion of ice which, together with the insulating properties, kept my drink nicely cold for around 2 hours.  There was still a lot of ice in the cup when I refilled it around lunchtime, and again later in the afternoon.  In fact, some of that original ice was still in the cup when we returned to the room around 16.30!  And I enjoyed ice cold drinks all day!  Winning!

Enjoy the photos.

Us on the beach

This island has some of the best beaches we have ever seen anywhere

Overlooking one of the pools

The swim-up bar area, before it opened at 10.00

The donkeys

Boa Vista Touareg day 1

Today we returned to Boa Vista for the fourth time, and the third visit to the Riu Touareg resort.

We stayed overnight at an airport hotel last night to avoid having to make the long drive in the very early morning.  Good idea in theory but the bed was terribly uncomfortable so neither of us slept particularly well.  Nevertheless we were at the East Midlands airport by 06.00 and through security etc. just minutes later.  Never seen such a quiet airport!

Wheels up was at about 08.45, a bit later than scheduled but we made good time and the flight was pleasant and uneventful, just how we like it.  We landed just shy of 6 hours later to beautiful blue skies and around 25°C.  Although this is a package holiday with Tui, which includes a coach transfer to the hotel, we had pre-booked a taxi for the 20 minute drive.  That too was a good idea in theory as we made it to the hotel much faster than all the other guests that were on our flight and we were all checked in before the coach even arrived at the hotel.  However our room was not ready yet so we sat around waiting for over an hour before we got the key, by which time several of the other new arrivals were already in and unpacked.

Many areas of the resort look like they have recently been redecorated, including our room which still has a slight smell of fresh paint.  Unfortunately the light in the toilet is not working and one of the legs under the bed is damaged, making it unstable.  The room maintenance people are now addressing both these issues.  The bed base ... they have just dragged it out of the room.  We wait in hope and anticipation that they will soon return with a replacement!

Once we were unpacked and changed into clothing more suitable for the warm weather we headed to the pool area.  Didn't enter the water but just soaked up a bit of the sun as we reset our minds and bodies to holiday mode.  Supper this evening was the usual buffet in the main restaurant and was excellent as always.  Now back in the room as I post this blog entry while the room repairs are being done.

Tomorrow ... the plan is for more sun, sea, sand, pool, food and drinks.  But first we both need a good sleep!

Enjoy the photos.

View from our seat on the plane

At the pools 

Our wing of the resort.

Our room is on the middle level in the "tower" section on the extreme left of the photo.