Brava!

Nova Sintra

Mural in Nova Sintra

This week we finally took the ferry ride to Brava.  What a beautiful place!  Surprisingly the ferry was full of Americans with Cape Verdean heritage who were going to Brava to relax for two weeks.  It was very strange hearing people speak in English all around us!  We loved seeing the lights of Fogo behind us on the water as we crossed the channel. 

It was cooler on Brava!  They had a blanket on the hotel bed, which we used.  Nice to be cool, and it was very quiet.  We slept well.  The following day we enjoyed a breakfast of cachupa at the hotel and headed out for a hike.  We found this mural on a wall, depicting a man strapped to a whale's back, with a suitcase, and a map pointing to the United States.  It is funny, and it is true.  Brava has a long history with the United States. Early whaling ships would stop and recruit sailors, who sometimes ended up living out their lives in Boston.  Which is one of the reasons Boston has a large population of Cape Verdean immigrants.

Nova Sintra Plaza

Although Brava is having a drought like the rest of Cape Verde, there were flowers everywhere.  We saw a beautiful square in the center of the main town.  Brava has a population of about 6000 people.

Flowers on the Plaza

Nova Sintra House

We thought this old house was beautiful.

View of Nova Sintra

This is the view of the largest town on Brava, Nova Sintra, below us as we hiked up the mountainside.  All of Brava is mountainous.  Looking at the photo, you can see where the town ends, and there is a steep incline down towards the sea.  The clouds obscure the view of the Fogo volcano about 40 miles away.

After our hike we had lunch with the two elders serving on Brava, Elders Kempe and Vance.  They don’t get a lot of visitors and they were wonderful hosts, showing us where to eat and how to get around town.  It was a great day.

The following morning we returned to Fogo on the ferry.  It was a rough ride, but we were relaxed, having had a “day off” or p-day from our normal daily work as missionaries.  We are glad we went!

Supper with friends

Elders Vieira and Nelson with the Portelas

We also enjoyed a visit from the Portelas recently.  Since they speak Portuguese we had the zone leaders over as well and they had a lovely conversation.  It was fun to be with friends.