We went from Goree Island directly back to the Port of Dakar and boarded the M/S Corinthian, which was our home for the next 14 days.

Our destination was Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, which is an island country that is part of West Africa. Cape Verde is made up of ten volcanic islands and we visited five of them. The islands are between 375 and 525 miles off the coast of Africa, and Senegal specifically. It was over 400 miles to reach our first island, Santiago.

These islands were uninhabited until discovered by Portuguese navigators around 1456. They were perhaps uninhabited because they are volcanic and have very little natural water available for people or plants. Water is still an issue today for much of the islands. Only about ten percent of the land is arable in Cape Verde islands.

The small settlements eventually prospered due to the slave trade in the 16th century. That lasted until the 19th century when the decline of the slave trade resulted in an economic crisis for Cape Verde. But it transitioned into re-supplying ships in the mid-Atlantic shipping lanes. It also has some natural resources such as salt. Other nations also had some degree of presence here and the results of that always make me chuckle. For instance, I remember Sir Francis Drake as a great English explorer and for circumnavigating the globe. But here, he was Sir Francis Drake, the pirate.

Cape Verde didn't gain its independence, from Portugal, until 1975. Cape Verde still lacks economic opportunities. For that reason, Cape Verde citizens have a long history of emigration. Around twice as many citizens of Cape Verde live abroad than live in Cape Verde. The population of Cape Verde is over 500,000 but there are a million citizens of Cape Verde living abroad.

And what country, would you guess, hosts more citizens of Cape Verde than any other country in the world?

The answer is the United States! Who knew?

The United States hosts about 102,000 citizens of Cape Verde, mostly on the New England coastal area.

Today, Cape Verde is greatly increasing its tourism industry, and that's where we come in. We spent two weeks on our navigation of Cape Verde.

We took the Ferry from Goree Island to the Dakar Port and then boarded the M/S Corinthian. This ship is owned by our travel company, OAT or Overseas Adventure Travel. The ship is a 98-passenger vessel, so a small ship. You can see it below.

We boarded our ship and after introductions and processing were shown to our cabin. This ship has passenger cabins on five decks or levels. I was curious about where our cabin was. We boarded on the fourth deck, but our guide took us down two flights to the bottom deck for cabins, or deck two. I was surprised and I looked at Vicky and said, "How did we get down here?" Vicky gave me "the look." "Oh right," I said, "I booked this trip." And of course, I booked the cheapest cabin on the ship.

But much to our surprise, these were the largest cabins on the ship. We had more space than any other ship quarters on any of our other cruise trips. True, we didn't have an outside deck, only port-holes for windows. But the space was highly redeeming. I felt better and better as the trip progressed.

Yes, I booked this cabin for the luxurious space. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

But, if you're not sold yet, and Vicky wasn't, check out our "walk-in" closet. That was incredible. I've never even imagined such luxury in a cruise cabin. Check it out. My big red travel suitcase looks like a duffle bag in the corner. Heck, If Vicky had booted me out of bed, I could have stayed by myself in the closet!

We saved so much money that we drank more cocktails than anyone on the entire ship. The bar waiters hung around us because we were the big spenders.

And even if we were on the bottom deck, the lobster tasted just as good, if not better.

And being on the bottom deck didn't hamper anyone from being able to go on the bridge and tell them how they should be steering the ship (around the 12-foot swells!)