Having spent quite bit of time in Spain, amongst people who live to party and who love noise, colour, and razamatazz, we’ve seen plenty of firework displays. Indeed, we used to say that we’d seen enough pyrotechnic extravaganzas to last a lifetime. One of the country’s most spectacular demonstrations is the week-long Fiesta de San Juan, celebrated annually in Alicante. Essentially, it consists of around 80 huge bonfires, built in the streets, plus a week-long competition between the nation’s fireworks…
Our friends have been writing to us lately asking whether we’re okay. At first it was just the folks back home in England. Then people as far away as Fiji and South Africa started commenting on our situation and suggesting that we might be in some kind of danger. To be honest, we were a little bit worried ourselves before we crossed the river from Uruguay. Surely, it’s not a good idea to go and visit a country when that…
The shortest route is not necessarily the quickest or the easiest The passage from the Cape Verdes across the Atlantic to the north-eastern corner of Brazil is pretty much the shortest ocean crossing that one can possibly make – it’s less than half the distance of the passage between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean – but although the miles are far fewer, weather conditions on this route are apt to be somewhat less favourable. Somehow or other you have…
I have always wanted to sail, but I never knew what sailing would be like... One day a friend wrote to me saying that he had sailed with a family who were going to sail from Cape Verde to Brazil, and there was a chance that I could join them... and after two days I was already on the plane to Cape Verde!
Some months ago we gave you our thoughts on hitch-hiking. If you’re a singlehander then the advantages of having an extra crew-member aboard are obvious, but so too are the disadvantages; and if you’re not short of watch-keepers then there is no reason whatsoever for allowing a complete stranger to take up residence in your home. Having established that fact we then provided some words of advice for that class of persons who hangs around on the waterfront, confident in…
The following article was penned by Adam Ziv, a young Israeli musician who hitched a ride with us for the passage from La Gomera to the Cape Verdes. We always said that we would never take hitch-hikers – but Adam was… Well, he was different. Without exerting any effort at all this young man charmed his way into our lives, so that we actually WANTED to take him sailing! I can’t pretend that it isn’t also quite nice to have…
The flag of Bermuda features a big red monster attacking a ship… or, at least, that’s what it seems to show at first glance. “I s’pose it’s something to do with the Bermuda triangle,” said I to myself. “All those boats and planes disappearing out here… P’raps there’s a legend about a sea monster.” The Isles of Bermuda The last time we crossed from the Caribbean to Europe we passed within fifty miles of Bermuda. Near enough to excite such…
Last week’s article saw your intrepid travellers obstructed by obdurate officialdom. Would we ever be able to step ashore again onto the pristine sandy islets which fringe the north coast, or would the Cuban government’s paranoia keep us at bay?
Cuba was great. After just one day of partying with the people we were Cuba-philes. Castro was a wonderful guy. “Well, he must be, to supply all that cut-price beer and rum to the people!” Then we set off to cruise the north coast of the country – and that was where things started to go wrong.
Having given Puerto de Vita and its environs a fairly bad press I am now going to tip the scales the other way, because when we think back to our fortnight in Cuba it is this particular place that we remember with the most affection. Puerto Vita is a bit of a non event – unless you happen to be there in time for the country’s biggest party. And when would that be? Would it be the day that Castro…
