Antes – Afrikan Adventures made nervously by PCV Parents

It has been requested perhpas at the highest eschaleons of whateverhood that a blog entry be drafted that records the before and after of the visit of my parents. So, I figured what I would do would be to catalog the intended plans, and then to remark later on what actually occured. So, below you will find a little something I like to call, “The Intended Plans for the Visit of the Parents”

Day 1 (Domingo, Oct 5^th)

¨ Parents arrive as expected at 4pm at Sal International Airport after a lovely and short trip from Lisboa, Portugal. I greet them in the local fashion and we head off into the litter free town of Espargos, Sal where we dine in the basking light of the sunset and sleep in the mosquito-free hotel room

Day 2 (Sequnda, Oct 6^th)

¨ After a wonderful night sleep, we make our way to São Nicolau onboard our TACV aircraft. The plane naturally takes off on time and there are absolutly no problems.

¨ Upon arrival, we make our way to the other end of the island where we will begin our week long island adventure, in Tarrafal and the Pensão Alice.

¨ Lunch at one of the fine eateries along the waterfront

¨ Bask in the warm, but not excessivly hot, sun at the beach

¨ Take dinner which is prepared all salt free

Day 3 (Terca, Oct 7^th)

¨ The adventure really beings as we take our charted excerusion vehicle to the outter reaches of the island to the secluded town of Ribeira Prata. With vibrant greens and flowing waters, explore the town while the locals go about thier humble lives barely lifting an eye to the three white people walking amongst them. Maybe we have a light snack.

¨ Next stop, Carbirinho, the site where a Peace Corps Volunteer (ahem) is working on having the area proected and included into the Protected Areas Network. We will wander around along the coastal area where millions of years of erosion has created an artistic pallet in the rocks.

¨ Return to Tarrafal for lunch and some light relaxation.

¨ Go for a local grogue testing at one of the fine grogue establishemnts.

¨ Pizza night?

Day 4 (Quarta, Oct 8^th)

¨ Goodbye Tarrafal!!! We leave our humble abode of Alice, which has been cool and mosquito free the entire time and make our way into the heart of the island, where the clouds collect, the mists roll in and out, the jungle meets the farms, and this PCV calls home. Thats right, we make our way to Cachaço and Parque Natural Monte Gordo.

¨ A day of exploration in the park, in the town, meeting and greeting.

¨ We lunch at Bia’s house, my neighbor. Again, all food is salt free

¨ After lively conversation in which all people speak fluent crioulo, we make our way to the capital of São Nicolau, Vila de Ribeira Brava and check in at Pensão Jardim

¨ Free afternoon wandering the little streets, maybe do some shopping along the famous Rua de Lojas, or watch local street artist perform their various crafts

Day 5 (Quinta, Oct 9^th)

¨ Whew, after all the adventure, we spend a lazy day in Vila. Wander along the winding roads of this Portuguese-esq like villa. Walk along the gently rolling hills, taking in views of the villa as well as the ribeira leading to Cachaço.

¨ Maybe make our way to Praiainha, the white sand beach full of cows. Yes, I said cows.

¨ OR.... we make our way to Juncilinho to wade in the lagão, hike to the rim of the anceint volcano and enjoy this tranquil town

¨ Break the Yom Kippur fast with a light dinner of locally produced tuna for those of us who eat tuna.

Day 6 (Sexta, Oct 10^th)

¨ Nearing the end of our adventers, we either return to Vila from Juncilnho, or wake up refreshed in Vila.

¨ Perhaps this is our lazy day, or perhaps there was something we missed along the way and we make our way there.

¨ Spend the day reflecting the first, and most likely last, Afrikan Adventure for the Parents.

¨ Last dinner, watch the Afrikan sunset with gazelles and giraffes in the distance

Day 7 (Sabado, Oct 11^th)

¨ Wake up, enjoy breakfast, and head on to the São Nicolau Airport, recently awarded the 2007 Award for Excellence and On Timeness

¨ Say goodbyes as the TACV flight takes off perfeclty on time and all the luggage gets on the plane.

¨ Wave as the Parents head off towards Sal, whence this all begin and they go to thier connecting (a short while later) flight back to the good old US of A

So, there you basically have it. While adventurous, it is humble in scale and scope and easily executable. Will it pan out as planned? If not, where did the hitch come into play? Was there a lone mosquito this plan didn’t take into account? Did the unthinkable occur and TACV arrived late? All these quesitons and more will be answered in the next blog entry entitled, “Depois – Reflections on Afrikan Adventures which in hindsight didn’t need to be made nervously by PCV Parents”