Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

March 25, 2023

Benin is a new country for us. Cotonou is on the coastal strip between Lake Nokoue and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is cut in two by a canal, the lagoon of Cotonou, dug by the French in 1855.  The Oueme River flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Cotonou.  The population is about 700,000.

When we met to get our bus tickets for our tour, Game Village on Stilts, we found that there were 5 buses needed and only 3 were there.  So after we waited about 30 minutes and no buses arrived, the destinations staff told us that instead of the 8:45 departure, we should come back at 9:45 but if anyone wanted to cancel and get a refund, we could.  We opted to wait and I got a cappuccino at Baristas.  Then we went to the open deck to watch the dancers and drummers.  About 40 people did cancel and I assume some booked taxis to do the same tour.  I think the staff was hoping enough would cancel that we would only need the 3 buses.  Well, eventually that was the case, and we set out on 3 buses.

We had many guides with us and later we found out why.  The two main ones on our bus both talked at once from different points in the bus and it made it very hard to hear.  No microphones were available and they didn’t seem to understand that only one should be talking because we couldn’t hear what either one was saying.

We spotted the American Embassy.

We stopped at the Bella Naija statue, a 30m tall statue honoring the women warriors of Dahomey. It is also called the Benin Amazone. Benin was once the center of a powerful regional kingdom called the Kingdom of Dahomey.  There was a powerful women’s corp which grew to about 6000 women and was known to be fierce and cruel.

This statue is in honor of the Amazones of Dahomey who were the subject of the recent movie “The Woman King” and depicts these warriors who fought against French colonial rule more than a century ago.

We passed by markets and noted these men selling cosmetics from the pallets on their heads.

We then drove through the city and on to Aborney Calavi where we boarded boats that took us to the village on stilts.  Along the way, we saw many people fishing by casting large nets.  From time to time we saw small cages where the fish may be kept for several days.  There are other large areas that are lined with leaves that attract the fish.  Here, the fish might be growing for a year or more, and these are the ones that can be sold for more money.

We saw people of all ages in small canoe like boats, some with makeshift sails, some with motors and some that were propelled by paddles.  We learned that each family in the village has three boats,  one for the children, one for the wife and one for the husband.

The village has 45,000 residents and there are schools, churches, mosques, pharmacies, restaurants, hotels and really everything a village would need.  But no bathrooms, the people use the water for everything.  It didn’t smell bad though.

Each boat had 8 passengers plus a guide – so that is why there were so many guides on our buses.

Here are some pictures from the village and our boat trip there and back.

We got out of the boats at a restaurant/shop.  We didn’t buy anything except that Norm had a $2 beer which we all thought was a great bargain.  The price listed in their local currency, the CFA Franc, was about 96 cents!

I wonder if these statues would be outlawed in Florida?

On the way back, we had a different guide who told us more information about voodoo which pretty much confirmed what we heard yesterday.  He also said that when he was younger, he ate everything but now he believes that the god he worships most commands him to eat only vegetables.

When we returned to the port, I met a port agent who said that our ship is the first one to come there in 5 years.  No wonder many people stared at us as we visited their village.  He also told me that on January 10 of each year, there is a big voodoo celebration that is like our Christmas.

We last  visited west Africa in 2015 and it seems mostly the same as then. Benin is much cleaner than some of the other countries, though.  Geoffrey (one of our guides) said that the city cleans up every night.  Here there is lovely landscaping and clean streets. 

What a different and interesting time we had the last two days.  Next we have a sea day and on Monday, we will visit Sao Tome and Principe.

March 24, 2023

We had a late tour scheduled today, so we both did our walks first.  There was a rain storm all night with thunder and lightning, and the port workers were sweeping off the water. There was quite a show going on at the port, many dancers, drummers and two guys on long poles dancing to the music. It made the walk much more interesting!

After the morning tours left, Ray made an announcement that if you were traveling outside of Lomé, you needed to bring your proof of yellow fever vaccination with you, so we got our certificates out, but no one checked them when we left the city later!

Our tour was called Voodoo Ceremony in Sanguera.

Our guide on the bus was Thomas.  We also had two security guards with us and Thomas assured us it was just a precaution! On the way, we saw this hotel and we felt right at home.

It took almost one hour to reach the village.  When we arrived, we watched the official welcome ceremony done by the chief priest which involved creating libations using maize mixed in a large calabash bowl.  The mixture was then put on the ground and we were allowed to enter into the area of the ceremony.

The chief priest and other dignitaries sat in chairs and there was a lot of dancing to the drumbeats.  Sometimes, a dancer or another person at the ceremony would seem to almost faint, and another would help them.  There was the maize powder on the ground in front of the chief priest and from time to time, one of the dancers would come for a blessing and rub their head on the powder.  I always love to watch the children and this little girl came and sat next to many of us.  Interesting that one of our passengers was in his wheelchair, and the celebrants often came and hugged him as if they were transmitting healing powers. Others came and danced next to us or shook our hands.

Thomas had explained that voodoo is a religion, not witchcraft or about other rituals that we might have thought.  He said that the pins in the voodoo doll is something made up by Hollywood!  Like the Hindu religion, people who practice voodoo believe in many gods.  Thomas mentioned four, and when I asked him how many there are, he just said there are “many”.  Norm found information that there are eight main ones.  The gods they believe in have names like dark of thunder and god of land.  People who practice voodoo believe in the worth of all living things. He also said that even people who are of another religion (Catholic, Muslim, etc.) also come to the voodoo ceremonies and count voodoo as their religion too.  I guess they don’t want to take any chances about which religion is best.

The ceremony went on for about an hour.  The village people distributed beer and soft drinks while we watched. Very interesting afternoon and it does give a very different impression of voodoo. When we left, the children of the village lined up to wave goodbye to us.

Back on the ship, dinner in the terrace was grilled fresh tuna which our chef got at a local fish market.  It was fabulous.

At night, instead of the show, we had the “seventh annual Togo toga party”.  We had bought outfits in Dakar.  Here are some of the pictures of the evening and some of the costumes.  Many people bought fabric in the various west African cities that we visited and made all sorts of outfits out of them.  Ray said that the shopkeepers thanked him for the many sales they made.

There were prizes for most creative, best toga, most unusual and funniest.  Ray and Casey chose people who would compete and then the winners in each category were decided by applause and were awarded a bottle of champagne.  Norm was in the creative category (must have been the bow tie!) but didn’t win.  The tall man standing next to him who made his toga from 14 napkins carried that category!

The entertainment team performed and it was a night of dancing and great fun.  They even had a special toga drink for $7.  I didn’t try it.

Tomorrow will be Benin, a new country for us.

March 23, 2023

This is our second time visiting Ghana.  Here are some pictures of our sail in.  The air is much cleaner than yesterday, but it is quite hot, almost 90 degrees.

Today we decided to take the Twin City of Sekondi-Takoradi tour.  Our guide was Nana and he was very friendly and informative.  Ghana is a mostly very religious Catholic country.  Twi is the local language but the official language is English. He taught us a few Twi words.  Ghana has had 11 different governments over the years, the current one is a civilian, not military government and has been that way for 10 years now.  It was under British control until 1957. 60% of people in the country are employed in some type of agriculture and cocoa and crude oil are important exports. 

Nana also talked a lot about cultural norms here, for example, you should not gesture or do anything with your left hand.  They consider it to be dirty given bathroom habits and they do also eat with only the right hand.  They don’t usually use utensils.

Children have long names and the first part of their name is always the day of the week they are born.  For families with more than one child born on the same day, the second part of their name could be the word for the time of day they were born or some physical characteristic, like fat or skinny.  I would hate to have my name associated with baby fat all my life!! Babies are named at a special ceremony that takes place on the 8th day of life.

Family is very important here and before a marriage, the family must approve of it.  Then, Nana says, you marry the family and anyone in the family can show up at your home 24 hours a day, and stay as long as they want to.  If someone needs money, you must give it to them. They believe in communal living, so many families live together.

Our tour description said we would first drive through the monkey hills.  I guess they are still called that, but the monkeys have all left the area due to humans moving into their territory.

We drove past the hospital and other areas such as the Naval base where we were warned not to take pictures. I fact, we were asked to check with the person if you want to take a picture because some people here believe you capture their soul if you take their picture.  I always ask anywhere I go. Along the way and in every stop, we saw so many people carrying almost anything you could imagine – on their heads.  This always amazes me wherever we see it.

Our first actual stop was the fishing harbor.  What a busy place!  There were metal basins full of smaller fish everywhere and some people had large fish that they were cutting up. Many people were there and Nana said that it is that way every day except Tuesdays when fishing is prohibited. We walked through the market where people were very friendly.  I said to Norm that it seemed people saw us as a curiosity here.  Even when driving by on the bus, people stared and waved.

We saw some boats in partial stages of building.  We got to visit the ice plant which produces 50,000 pounds of ice a day and operates 24 hours a day.  Very interesting to see how they desalinate water and freeze it to keep the fish fresh. Their power plant is run by natural gas and is from Turkey.  Officials took us all through the market and explained everything but only at the last minute did they use a microphone, so it was hard to hear everything. 

Next we drove through market circle, a huge market, the biggest in Ghana.  There were a lot of people and a lot of stalls and shops but Nana said it was not too busy compared to usual.

A couple of interesting sights along our routes: Most of their Coke ads seem to be religious!

Our last stop was at the Raybow Hotel where we had refreshments and watched a cultural show with drummers and very energetic dancers.  Some of the passengers got up to learn a dance and you could see the locals trying to suppress their laughter.

When we arrived back at the port, there were local people with their items for sale.  I was looking for a certain type of basket, but the ones they had all looked mass produced and not what I was looking for.

On the way into the ship, a nice young man asked if I would do a survey and I agreed. The survey asked about my impressions, how much we spent (only the tour cost and tips) and some demographic information.  It seems that they are trying to improve what they do.  The people were so friendly here, we always felt safe and it is much cleaner than the other west African countries so far.

Good news here on the ship – there are NO quarantines at all for passengers or crew.  Yay!  Hopefully it will stay that way.

March 19, 2023

Today we booked a private tour with Sonia and Boris.  We were here in 2018 and enjoyed our tour then, so this time we were going to do something different.  Three other couples booked a tour through the same company and we were all waiting at the pier for the tour guides – ours said to look for Sonia’s name on “A4” paper!  Eventually one of the people on the other tour got an text – it turned out that the guides were waiting for us at the other ship that was in port!  We could watch them running to get to us. In the meantime, many vendors came to set up on the pier.

Our guide was Mustafa and he was clearly the junior guide of the duo.  The other group went in an open air vehicle and we 4 were in a SUV. We traveled together and both guides gave us information during the walks. Their guide stood on the back of the vehicle the whole time.

We stopped first at Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral which looked pretty beat up from the outside.  Mass was just finishing and the priest shook each of our hands as we went into the church.  I loved the fabrics of the womens’ dresses last time we were in Africa and they are just as impressive this time.

90% of the country is Muslim but there is  a small number of people who practice other religions. We saw hardly any women wearing head scarves or any kind of Muslim covering.

After the church, we went to the market and walked through a lot of the stalls.  We saw (and smelled) everything from dried and fresh fish to vegetables, live chickens and clothing of all kinds. Mustafa said that people come to the market to shop every day since a lot of them do not have refrigeration.  This is one of the poorest countries in Africa. The people seem very happy and we did not feel at all unsafe.  But the shops and the houses are really bad. The market was just along the beach so we walked out there and saw some of the fish that was just caught.

The chickens, chicks and cats seem to get along well!

This looks like wood, but it is a kind of plant that they use to clean their teeth.

There was a restaurant in the market that had open fire and really no place to sit.  I wondered how things don’t burn down!

The city is divided in two by the Gambia River.  We asked why the country is called “The Gambia” and not just Gambia.  The Portuguese named it after the river known as “the River Gambia” so they called it “The Gambia”.

We saw a man on the street leading this flock of sheep.

On one of our walks, we saw the Bombax ceiba, a tree that has a flower the opens like cotton and is used for making pillows.

Many bridges connect parts of the country to the rest.  Along the river there are many types of mangroves.  Here among the red mangroves, women harvest oysters and there are piles of oyster shells everywhere.  One of the women showed us a basket of oysters she had harvested.

We saw some crocodiles on the shore near the mangroves. Little did we know we would see more up close later in the tour! These kids had fun waving to us.

In fact, this was our next stop – in Bakau. First we went through the museum where we learned many of the rituals of the people.  One room was all about the circumcision rituals.  We asked if women here are still circumcised and yes, some are but many less since it is being really discouraged. There were some of their instruments on display and a shop with lots of wood carvings. This man was carving one as we watched.

The art as we entered the museum was beautiful.

We then walked to the crocodile pool where we found many crocodiles both in the water and around the grounds. There were attendants there who told us there are 100 crocodiles there – they keep the population at that number – and that they are fed 250 kilos of fish every morning so they are too full to eat US!  We were allowed to come right next to them and touch them.  Eek! The ones who are pregnant, have eggs or babies can get aggressive so we couldn’t go near them but we did see some.

Kachikally is also  one of three sacred crocodile pools in the Gambia, traditionally believed to cure couples of infertility. Women struggling to conceive traditionally visit to bathe in the water (today this takes place in an open concrete hut); if a pregnancy results, it is traditional to give the child “Kachikally” as part of their name.

This is the nest of a bat that lives in the area. A huge tree and one that has the plant used for loofah.

We stopped at the river and saw people getting on a boat.  One of the flags on the boat was the US flag.  There were lots of women in white with large hats both getting on the boat and standing on the street.  Was this a bachelorette party???  Our guide said they were probably filming a video but we don’t know for sure. 

We had an early departure from the port today and needed to be on board by 2:30, so we declined the offer to go to a hotel for relaxation and lunch. We did stop for local bananas and delicious oranges though.

On the way back to the ship, we went to an area that was full of peanut hulls.  They eat a lot of peanuts in their food, and the hulls are used for mulch that breaks down in to fertilizer.

Back on the pier there was a band with a surprising bagpipe player.  There were lots of vendors set up too, they were just setting up in the morning as we left the ship.

Tonight we have a show called the Tap Step Brothers that Ray said people talked about for months after they performed on the last world cruise.  Looking forward to that after a fresh fish grilled dinner at the Terrace Café. We saw that Farid bought fish in the port yesterday.

March 16, 2023

We arrived into Cape Verde around 10:30 in the morning. It is our first port in Africa. Here are some shots of the sail in.

Our tour today was called Island Discovery. We were last here 8 years ago and spent time in the markets so this time we wanted to see more of the island. Our guide was Armindo and we were on a small bus with 15 other guests. We drove through the town of Mindelo where our ship docked. Almost 90% of the population lives in this city, which is the capital. Cape Verde is made up of 10 islands. Most are uninhabited and they are all barren. Many of the houses have no electricity or water and many are in various stages of construction as the owners complete just what they have the money for at the time. The islands obtained their independence from Portugal in 1975. Even though they are African geographically speaking, they have retained a strong Latin flavor. We passed by this fish seller just on the side of the road.

We drove to the outskirts of a small village “Mato Inglese” where we hiked for about an hour through the valley. The area was very uneven and unfortunately one of our group took a fall. He was OK, thank goodness. All around us were dry mountains, someof them volcanic. Armindo said that the tourist season is from October through March and that if they get rain at all it is normally in September or October.

After the hike, we drove to the first beach we would visit, Praia Grande. We tasted the local liquor, Alcane Grogue, which is made from sugar cane and has an alcohol percentage of 43%! It was too strong for me, but Norm enjoyed it so much he even gave some to these people who were not part of our tour.

The beach was pretty far below our stop and it was a short stop, so no one walked down. We could see the stark contrast between the beautiful blue sea, the volcanic rock and the white sand beaches. Many of the beaches are grainy and gray but not this one. The white sand was blown here from the Sahara desert, it is not natural to Cape Verde!

We then drove to Baia das Gatas (Catfish Bay) which is a bay protected by jetties and rock formations, making it very calm, like a swimming pool. I did go swimming and you had to walk out very far for it to get up to your waist. The name comes from a type of shark that was found here that looked a bit like a large catfish. Not sure if any are still here, but we didn’t see any.

We had lunch here at this local restaurant, buffet style, with beer and wine offered.

When I took a walk out on one of the jetties, I saw these rock formations. I am not sure how they hold up in the wind. You can see that on the other side of the jetty, the waves are pretty big.

We had a nice two hour stay at this beach, then we headed for our last stop, the top of “Monte Verde”, the highest peak on the island. The road was narrow and mostly roughly paved if at all, and it would up the mountain side. We had some nice views on the way up. But when we got to the top, clouds were rolling in and we had no view of the beautiful beaches.

We both really enjoyed the day. It was a nice combination of hiking, beach and beautiful scenery. When we got back to the ship and went to dinner, we heard that on the night of the 17th, we will be entering a High Risk Area (HRA) for Piracy. We remember this from the Gulf of Aden, but didn’t know it was also here. We got a letter in our room from the captain that there would be a general announcement in the morning and it included measures we should take while in Piracy areas – keeping balcony lights out and curtains closed during the darkness hours and what an announcement would sound like in the unlikely event of a piracy event.