Cooling Off...

Friday, March 31. At sea. 23 C. Reasonable seas.  Day 87. 41 days remaining. Clocks went forward one hour today to synchronize with the Canary Islands I believe

The weather has noticeably cooled off as we head north. It is a matter of hours before we cross the imaginary line in the Latitudes called The Tropic of Cancer. Between the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere and its corresponding Southern counterpart, the Tropic of Capricorn, [23.4 degrees north and south of the equator is called The Tropics]. In  the navy, that is when sailors would wear their white uniforms instead of blue, or used to do that.

It was a very ordinary and relaxing day for us. A chance to squeeze into our Sea Day routine of Choir Practice for Fellette, Gym for me, [continuing to strengthen my shoulder muscles from their long inactivity since the replacement of the joints].

Before dinner we had Fellette’s friend from home, in her exercise group, in for a pre-dinner wee dram.

After dinner we went to the uppermost top deck for drinks, compliments of the Captain. ‘Out of Africa’ was the appropriate name for it. The temperature may be just a wee bit cooler than preferred but we can hack it.

A Very Good Day…

Fellette turned in another blanket today and picked up one from a lady whose hands gave out during crocheting her blanket. They were looking for someone to finish it so Fellette took on the job.

Some of our Table Mates this evening.

That is the sun in the haze of sand and moisture off  the coast of Mauritania this evening. Hard on the eyes the last day or so.

Up on the special Canopied Top Desk for an  ‘Out of Africa’ party as we sail away from the real Africa. The wind up there was crazy.  Not really our thing. It was basically a 'Suite Thing.'

Down out of the wind.

Dakar, Senegal...

Thursday, March 30. 22 C. Foggy morning. Day 86. Last West Africa port today.

Yesterday was a killer of a shore excursion. We ALL felt it even if some did not express it. Yesterday it was a seven hour trip, or supposed to be and would have been if we did not get stuck in the darn ‘Biggest Market in Gambia’ as our guide said. Did they not know the market was there when we started the drive back to the ship???

Today it is an 8 1/2 hour shore excursion. Thank heaven it is the last long one. We are too old to pretend we can take this type of stuff, we did that type of thing 20 years ago! I suppose our enthusiasm got in way of reality when we booked it last September.

Regardless, we are committed and ready for the day. Today at least we are not in an open truck for the entire trip, but, according to the schedule we do get into 4 x 4 trucks for a drive around a lake, that apparently is red. It has been on Jim’s Bucket List so off we go today.

I am looking forward to sailing away tonight and sleeping in tomorrow, [but, we won’t, I know], we will get up around five and go out on the balcony, have tea and coffee and count our blessings as we sail off to civilization and the Canary Islands. Two glorious Sea Days ahead!

News Bulletin: Now 8:30 am. Due to political unrest, we will not be getting off the ship in Dakar. We were expecting several containers of Food and other supplies but they did not show up as well. We sat here all day, waiting and sailed on schedule around 6:00 forThe Canary Islands. They are a two day sail away, just north of the Tropic of Cancer, so maybe we have seen the end of those hot and humid tropical days for this trip.

It Was Ok Today…

Another blanket finished today.

The main attraction today was watching that ship behind Fellette load and unload a wide variety of new and used cars, used construction equipment and containers. [The sun was in Fellette’s eyes at the time.]

The Gambia...

Wednesday, March 29.In Port in The Gambia

Why it is called ‘The Gambia’  I will find out today!

I am composing this Blog at 5:55 in the morning! It is going to be a very, very, long and hot and tiring day, I can feel it in my bones! I am hopeful to be able to go down for dinner tonight because it is far easier to get food in your body at a dinner table than upstairs in the Lido buffet where every single item has to be served to you. It is a bother to me.

We were up, just after 5:00 am, got dressed, had some tea and coffee, checked the email. We were delighted to see that we had two; one from our travel agent that I am working with and one from Wally with another enquiry. Next we spoke to daughter Jeanette who planted onions and carrots today and some other family news.A good start to the day.

We ate our breakfast of oatmeal porridge, to have something that will stay with us during the day. After breakfast we came back to our room: around 7:30 am. I am optimistically saying this could be a good day. A few encouraging signs I picked up that this may be a different sort of West African Port!

4:00 pm. Well, here we are back in our room ready to finish the blog and go down and eat. Jim and Gail were not going to the dining room. Gail is not feeling 100% as it turns out. The Girls, our table companions, also bailed out and made reservations at the Italian Restaurant. So, Fellette and I are having room service and watch the sail-away from Gambia up to Dakar, in Senegal, a few hours voyage. 

Gambia and our Shore Excursion both exceeded my expectations. However, remember, I had Zero Expectations for both. I would Rate Gambia somewhat cleaner, friendlier and wealthier than Angola, Ghana and The Ivory Coast! How about that for sticking your neck out!

Our Lady Truck Guide, [yes we were in ex-army trucks all day long] was black as coal, quite a large lady and had a strong presence, but I understood less than a third of what she said.

The day was: Very, very long, hot, windy and bumpier than any Safari Vehicle we have ever been in, [excellent driver though]. The subject matter we saw was less than memorable but the best they had to offer us. I understand that.

One of Africa’s smallest Nations, Gambia, has had issues with its name for some time. Various presidents have fiddled with it on and off. The guide called it Gambia but I think once she may have said The Gambia. No resolution to the question. Who cares?

An OK Day...

They may not be ex-army, but they looked like it, felt like it and had no shock absorbers. Not sure from whose Army either!

The full gamut of vehicles on the dock as the locals set up another fantastic frontage of shops and were taking them down when we sailed.

Down we go, from our room, to the shore excursions this morning.

Jim and Gail seated, ready to venture out.

Boats, ready for fishing.

Sera, our guide for the day.

Lots of donkeys today, a handy animal to have around here.

Seemingly endless roadside shops.

Yes, that is our kids mother!

At a Museum stop, [a bit sad], with homes that Gambians lived in a hundred years ago.

In the kitchen.

This young fellow is showing how they collect palm oil. You can see the bottles collecting the oil. They gave us a taste of both the oil and the fermented ‘wine’, both tasted a bit foul to me.

Yup, that is how a cashew nut looks when picked. Simple.

We donated some Holland America Chocolates, that we get each night, to a school we went to today. As did the Cutlers.

Village well at the school, ugh. We donated to get a new bore hole for the school.

A desert-like approach to our BBQ lunch. Hearts were sinking!

La Beach! Far from most peoples expectations, I thought it was cool, Fellette went in, Jim waded, Gail and I declined. 

Jim and I walked up to where some fishermen were trying to straighten out their very long nets that had gotten tangled out in the sea, so the piled them in the boat and pulled it off close to shore. Jim helped.

There he is!

Fellette, left, helping a young French girl get out in the surf where Fellette was body surfing.

Paradise Beach? We never saw it but that is what it’s called!

The jungle of market crowds delayed our journey back to the ship. At least the roads were mostly not bumpy.

People and shops absolutely everywhere.

More ‘Market’, The word itself is now exhausting.

Gambia Tomorrow...

Tuesday, March 28. Millpond seas and white sky. 26 C. About one third of the trip remaining.

Tomorrow, and the next day, are our real Last Ports in Africa. Sure, we have Morocco coming up after the Canary Islands but Morocco should be a Cake Walk to absorb after what we have seen in the last few ports.

Then of course comes Europe, where everything is more predictable and things actually work!

We had our usual morning: Breakfast, Choir for Fellette and the Gym for Doug, then two talks and lunch. Jim and Gail came by in the afternoon to have a strategy meeting on the remaining 20 Ports. That went well, we both booked a few more.

We are quite looking  forward to the next two days. They may be a bit depressing, but will be interesting to see regardless. It also means that we have basically come to the end of those five West African Ports that have escaped our frequent visits to the African Continent. I think now I know why many/most cruises sail right by West Africa. So sad.

A Good Day…

During our Planning Session today.

Heading North...

Monday, March 27 Quiet seas, like a millpond! 28 C. Midway between the South and North Atlantic Oceans. Day 83.

The two sea days we have between our walk in the Jungle in Abidjan and Gambia are needed by our weary bodies. We usually do not walk over four miles in a day in extreme heat and high humidity with not enough water, plain and simple.

We had an easy day today, fortunately. Breakfast, Choir Practice for Fellette, Gym for me, then a talk on the two ports coming up: Gambia and Senegal. Following that Port Talk we took in an interesting talk by an excellent speaker and story teller.

On the upcoming Ports, Gambia and Senegal, we have shore excursions booked, with the Cutlers. Both are long, six or seven hours, but not killers and should/hope be interesting.

After dinner that night, Thursday, we have an ‘Out of Africa Party’ on the very top deck, Under Canvas, the party put on by the Captain. We were invited obviously because we paid too much for our Suite! It is a fitting name: Out of Africa and excellent timing, as, after that, I figure that we are almost in to Fully Developed Countries.

 

It will be quite a landmark for me to be ‘Out of Africa’ on Thursday: three days hence. Ever since we booked this cruise there were those Five West African Ports that I was not familiar with and had low expectations of them. We have had three of them, which met my expectations, two more to go...

A Good Day… 

The Crawling Red Line that heads up to Europe and Spring.

Fellette took to the pool today, the water was like a tepid bath. It will gradually cool off as the 'Crawling Red Line' goes North!

Abidjan, Ivory Coast...

Sunday, March 26. Docked in Abidjan. Hot, 32 C. Day 82.

We were on a six hour shore excursion this morning, on the bus and away shortly after 8:35. We returned six hours later. 

You must think that I am a naysayer, but I am sorry to report, that in spite of what we read, this place is a terrible place to visit, let alone live: In my humble opinion.  The weather may be pleasant but you can see the divide between well-to-do and ordinary hard working people who live in tiny, terrible tin shacks, and there are lots and lots of them. It was absolutely heart wrenching to drive by hundreds and hundreds of shacks where people live and their kids play in what we would consider unfit conditions.

Litter! The Litter situation in the slums is sickening. The litter seems to be invisible to the locals. However in upper class areas, it is certainly not so bad. Rather than sit here and moan about the terrible conditions of the lower class, I will tell you how are day went.

We drove out to Banco National Park after having a very quick peek at some downtown, tall buildings and a new bridge under construction, showcasing the illusion of a 'Developing Nation' as they call it. That took 15 minutes maybe. Two busloads, so maybe 70 people were in two busses for this tour. Inside the park, those that needed a toilet lined up for a unisex toilet. Things went downhill from there. The group that did not need the toilet hiked off down the dirt road trail into the jungle. 

Soon, a second group hiked off as well. Meanwhile, those needing the toilet, slowly formed a group and we eventually hiked off with a French Speaking guide and our bus guide as his interpreter. [Our bus guide did not have much of a command of English and he very often used the wrong word and also did not talk much.] However, I remembered the write up for the tour where it states that: 'This is part of the charm of touring in a developing country', so I just smile and carry on. 

The humidity had to be 90% with the jungle canopy low and the heat plus some recent rain. Stories of the Bataan Death March in WWII crossed my mind. Our water was basically gone without any idea when we would get more. 

The actual jungle/forest was pleasant to be in, but nothing we had not seen before. My main concern was how far is this trek? What is at the end and when is the end. It seemed to go on forever and seemed to be made-up as we went along as information from our leaders was basically non existent. The guides were pleasant and proud to be showing us stuff that they thought we would like, and I am sure most people did or did a good job of looking like they did a good job. There we a few stops after we got in the busses for the journey out of the Park that were interesting but by now the humidity had take the fun out of the trip.

We ended up in a Restaurant where all 70 of us had a sit down meal, served by black men who spoke not a word. A serving plate came out and was placed on our table. What next? Who knew? One by one a plate would be put on the table and he would walk off and do the same at another table. Eventually we had about seven plates of ‘food’ on the table. When the cooked foods came out we felt better about eating food inasmuch as the fact that we have been battling Gastro Intestinal Virus aboard the ship we were first justifiably concerned. Then the beer and soft drinks came out and suddenly spirts and volume went up quite a bit. All was good by then!

After an hour, we had forgotten about the heat and humidity and onto the busses again for a bit of a depressing ride through what seemed like endless slums. 

And that is the way that I feel about my day in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, or Cote D'Ivoire which is the proper French name for it.

Sorry that this turned into a rant, but those are my thoughts as we bump our way up and around West Africa.

It's A Good Day To Be Alive And Not Live Here…

Derelict’ Colonial’ buildings, ex railway workers housing. Before they got Independence!

Fruit market.Quite a civilized one by some examples we have seen.

Strangler Vine.

Just plain dense humid jungle.

The trail that had bloody cars on it about, every 10minutes. It blew the idea of a quiet walk in the jungle out the window. This fellow is from Canada, works for Holland America, we were chatting and bringing up the rear.

Interesting, I suppose trees get diseases as well as we do.

Bamboo. Photo taken by an Asian gent.

Quite a pleasant hike actually. Fellette in front in pink slacks.

The fruit on this tree is a favourite of elephants who eat it but cannot digest the golfball sized seed inside. When the seed passes through the elephant's digestive system it activates the sprouting process and the dung will act as fertilizer. Bingo, you have a whole new tree!

Today’s wildlife.

My cutie doesn’t sweat: She Glows! Wanna bet!

Giant Catfish-like fish, we fed them bread. Quick stop on the way out of the park.

This Babe keeps popping up!

These Foreign Workers are washing clothes in the river. Just like in India.

They then lay them out on the lawn to dry.

Then, these guy fold them! The owners of the clothes are memorized by the workers! Yes, they are!

Jim’s Beer.

My Beer!