Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

December 18

Our world cruise has been an experience in every way, and I know it isn’t over yet.  The inequality in the world is striking.  Here’s an example:

When we were in Abu Dhabi for our dinner at the Emirates Hotel – in all its splendor – we noticed a machine (like an ATM) in the lobby that had gold bars in it that people exchanged for money.  And here in Gambia, we visited a school that has no electricity.

Incredible.

Our day started out with dancers and drummers on the pier, most of the African ports did this and they were all just a bit different.  Here is a shot of today’s group – lots of energy here! Banjul is the capital of Gambia and is on St. Mary’s Island where the Gambia River enters the Atlantic Ocean.  The island is connected to the mainland via bridges and there is also a ferry that crosses, we noticed hundreds of people and cars getting on as we pulled into port.

We then boarded these 4 wheel drive trucks for our excursion – “off the beaten track”. We drove on fairly decent roads first, through the biggest town, Serrakunda. There were lots of roadside vendors selling almost anything you could imagine, and lots of the colorful clothing we have seen in all of West Africa.

Local mosque

We made our way into rural Gambia where the roads were dirt and very bumpy. Everywhere we went, children came out to wave to us.

This tree was full of bird’s nests

Our first visit was to the Banyaka Lower Basic School where we were entertained by the children. English is the language of this country and they all speak it quite well. We met with the Head teacher, Jerrah Manneh and learned about the educational system here. The teachers are very dedicated and they have so little to work with.  We made a donation to the school. There is a “computer room” where the aged computer sits on the floor because there is no electricity to the school. We asked about whether there are plans to bring electricity and he sadly shook his head and said it would probably be a long time coming. They have one solar panel that powers the pump to get the rainwater collection down to the small patch of banana trees they are trying to grow to teach the children about agriculture.  It is dry season now and the small trees wouldn’t survive without this water. Rainy season is from July – October with August being the rainiest.

This is the girls toilet

The children here also loved having their pictures taken and loved the iPhone.  Wherever I went, they followed begging me to take their pictures. We were told before our visit to not give anything directly to the children, but to give any candy, pens, etc, to the teachers to distribute.

After our visit to the school, we traveled to a local village and visited a family “compound”. Gambia is 90% Moslem and the men area allowed to have 4 wives. Our guide, Saikou 2Ray, said that some have up to 6, which is a violation of their religion but they do it anyway.  He has one,and said that is all he can handle.

The man of this house has 3 wives, the youngest is 17.  33 people live in this house, each wife must have her own room.  They never put their elders in nursing homes or anything like that, they are cared for in the extended family. So in this home, there were grandparents, aunts, uncles, the wives and all of the children. Saikou said that they are very happy, they don’t pay taxes or “watch Fox news!”

He makes his living as a tailor, note the treadmille sewing machine

wife #2

The newest addition to the family, twins

We started our tour after 12 noon, so by about 4 it was time for “lunch” at a beachside restaurant.  As always, we had some African specialties (and they always also seem to have french fries!) the African beer and the ladyfish were delicious.  We were entertained by dancers.  One of them got up close and personal with this snake!

Ah, relaxation!

One of the local vendors

I think I want one of those aroma pots.  They seem to be good for everything!

Our last stop in our 7 hour tour was the Tanji Nature Trail and museum where we saw various aspects of the Gambian culture, including the wildlife, weaving, etc.  The weaver invited me to sit and try it.  They are very fast at it, I can’t say the same about me!

It was a long day but an interesting one. We arrived back at about 7 PM and I have to say we were happy to be back “home” to the ship for a refreshing shower.  And I had just had the delicious ice cream since the 4 PM meal was really enough for dinner.

Just in case anyone wanted one last drink!

Sunset from the vehicle

Home! Spectacular at night

December 14

Last night was the lighting of the last candle of Hanukkah.  I am not sure that I mentioned there was a candle lighting each night (with lights, no candles allowed on the ship), and they had latkes, jelly doughnuts and other assorted foods.  It always took place in the Insignia lounge at 6:30.  Here are some pictures:

This menorah is the one at the reception desk

And we may not have the “elf on the shelf” but we do have the elf on the tree!

Today we booked a private tour with Ellen Stokes and 5 others to the Kakum National Park and Canopy Walkway and the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles.

We were again greeted by local dancers, and then we met our guide for the day, Blankson, who was just a delight.  We were only 7 as one of our group wasn’t feeling well today and decided to stay on the ship.

The trip there took over 2 hours, some on good highways but the road into the park was really bumpy.  We were saying if you had kidney stones, they would have been shaken loose! Everything was covered in dirt along the way due to the north trade winds in the dry season – harmmatan. Much of the country, especially in rural areas, has electricity rationing – called dum sol, off/on.

The forest and especially the canopy walkway was amazing.  The park spans 138 square miles and is one of the remaining vestiges of Ghana’s diminishing rainforest.  Blankson said that logging has now been outlawed so they hope that the forest will remain.  For the local people, the forest is the physical, spiritual and cultural home for the gods and spirits that dwell in its sacred trees, rivers, stones and animals.

The canopy walkway is actually 7 walkways suspended 100 feet above the ground.  It was really amazing to be up that high looking down into the forest, and there were also many trees even higher than us.  As we hiked through the forest  on the Kuntan Trail, we heard about some of the medicinal values of the forest.

Really??

Peter and Carol

Ellen and Norm

Blankson

Sherry and Norm

After we spent about 2 hours hiking, we went to the Kokodo Guest House for lunch. We had a wonderful array of African food, from small lobsters to  yam balls, plantains, a rice dish, fish, stir fried vegetables and more.  Norm and some of the rest of the group sampled the local beer.  Blankson took a plate for the bus driver – even though we invited him to eat with us, he would not.  I guess they have a division in the way they interact with tourists.

I saw another iguana!

We then traveled to the Cape Coast Castle.  Along the way, we heard a lot about the country and its struggles with the economy.  They are largely agricultural with cocoa being the second largest export, it employs 30-40 percent of the economy.  On the way back to port, Blankson bought us each a chocolate bar, even one for Lauri, who missed the tour!

The castle really is more like a fort built by the Dutch in 1637 and captured by the Swedes in 1652.  It was later sold to the English and named Cape Coast Castle.  It has a terrible history as a prison for slaves who were held by the thousands in small, dark dungeons before they were taken through the “door of no return” to the ships that supplied the slave trade.  The stories were horrible, of people dying and left for days, sexual abuse and drowning of pregnant women, etc.

Now, when you pass through the door of no return, the harbor is full of fishing boats, and is a beautiful scene.  We also saw many men repairing nets.

Our last stop was the Elmina Castle, where we ran into a lot of traffic, so didn’t actually tour it, just drove through the town and photographed it from afar.  This one was built by the Portuguese. When we asked why it was so busy in the town, Blankson told us it was because it is a Monday and there is no fishing on Tuesday so people are at the markets stocking up. He says that Tuesdays the fishing gods get to rest!

The Elmina Castle

And other sights around Elmina…

We made it back to the ship just in time, we had a safety drill at 5:15 and didn’t even have time to go back to our rooms to get our life jackets!

December 4

After our exciting seal, pelican and dolphin adventure, we had a short time to relax and get ready for our special world cruiser event – Dinner at Swakop River Canyon.

We were picked up at the pier at 6:30 by 6 passenger off road type minivans.  We rode with Marilyn and Charlie and Stephanie and Vick.  Our driver was Lawrence and we called him Lawrence of Namibia.  He is a psychologist who is now semi retired and does this tourism job to keep busy.  He was fun!

It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive to the canyon past the large sand dunes in the Namib desert (more about that later).  The Canyon has been likened to a moonscape with its unusual rock formations and dry riverbeds seared into the landscape by the glaring sun. Sunset is the most stunning time of day to visit the canyon as the fading light casts dramatic shadows across the stark environment.

When we arrived, the sky was pink and the rock formations were studded with hundreds of luminaries – so beautiful!  There were drummers and dancers and even camels to greet us and many small fire pits.  The wine flowed freely and we had time to explore the beautiful table settings before dinner.

For dinner, we had a buffet with everything from asparagus that is grown on desert farms here, to grilled garlic and peri peri prawns.  There were 4 different types of salads, West African Chicken and Peanut stew, Oxtail Lesotho Style, Namibian Venison Kebabs, Herbed Linefish Fillet, Egyptian Koshari with Salsa, Marrow, Peppers and Corn, Gratinated Potato and Butternut Bake, fresh (wonderful) bread with Sherry Trifle, Fresh Fruit Salad, Chocolate Mousse and Bread and Butter Pudding with Vanilla Sauce.  Needless to say, no one went hungry!  Our table for 10 included Candace and Rodney and the other Marilyn with her husband, Don as well as the 6 of us who traveled in together.  We had a great time.  We were entertained by singers and torch dancers and some of us even joined in the dancing (without the torches).  I know that my photos won’t do it justice but the scene was just magical.  When you ventured a bit away from the tables, the night sky was spectacular.

Beautiful evening.  We arrived back at the ship after 11 and needed to be up at 6 for our next adventure!

December 5

We left bright and early for our tour, Treasures of the Namib Desert by Off-Road Vehicle. We weren’t the only ones up early, our drivers/guides for the 5 vehcles were some of the same ones that took us to the dinner last night!  We had Oliver, but Lawrence was also in one of the other vehicles.  Today, we only had 4 people/vehicle and we were with Mary Ellen and Michael from Phoenix who are also on the world cruise with us.

Walvis Bay has 85,000 residents and is really growing.  If there is much poverty here, we didn’t see it.  We did see lots of small homes that people can buy for $25,000 US and Oliver said that they are trying hard to have people move into those.  There are also lots of huge homes, mostly along the waterfront. There is a log of uranium mining here and you see a large pipeline that brings water to the mines. (Yesterday Lawrence told us it was bringing German beer to the brothels – a little tour guide humor).

We traveled a different route than last night but our destination was more of the moonscape looking canyons in the Namib-Naukluft Park. We were driving in the Swakop River Valley  with the huge rock formations all around us.  This is the oldest desert in the world, from when the earth was formed, about 55 million years ago.  It also has the world’s highest shifting sand dunes.

One of our guides

We stopped to see the landscape in several places, then made a stop to see and learn about lichen which is a combination of algae and fungus.  We saw the lichen on rocks that they put in a circle for demonstration (you will kill it if you climb on it on the hills).  It looks dark, another variety red.  When our guide poured water on it, it turned green! Amazing to watch.

Later we saw the  Welwitschia mirabilis; a shrub-like plant, it grows two long strap-shaped leaves continuously throughout its lifetime. These leaves may be several meters long, gnarled and twisted from the desert winds. Two of the ones (male and female) we saw were determined by botanists to be about 500 years old. They are endemic to the Namib Desert.

After the drive and a few more stops in “moon valley” as it is called, we had a stop  at this “oasis” for mimosas and snacks and, of course, rest rooms.

Norm and Mary Ellen

These are the drawings to let you know men from ladies’ rooms, luckily they were modern and we didn’t need the bushes!

We then went on to the famous sand dunes – and had a stop at Dune 7.  Some of the dunes are about 980 feet high and 20 miles long. Amazing to move through the desert and see the rocks which consist of many types including quartz and volcanic, and then the sand dunes all surrounded by the flat, sandy desert with its low shrubs. In the river valley there are also occasional strips of green trees which get their water from underground sources.

These pictures are mostly to show you the scale.. how high those dunes actually are!

While the air was cool, the sand was hot and we didn’t have the time to climb to the top. They had a sign that said “no sandboarding” although we know that it has been done in the past.

After the dunes, our last stop was at the lagoon in Walvis Bay where several thousand flamingos stay most of the year. It is the largest habitat for flamingos in the world. They leave and fly to Etosha in northwest Namibia to breed and it is thought that is because the water is more shallow there and also warmer.  Then they return here to the lagoon. The greater flamingo is more white while the lesser flamingo is more pink.  I love to see them fly because of the colorful wings.

A great evening and day.  In the afternoon we have a face to face inspection, hand in our passports and then have 2 days at sea on our way to Luanda, Angola.  On Monday we have another special dinner in Polo for the world cruise travelers.  And, by the way, we are on day 151 which means less than 30 days to go.  Hard to believe and it will be hard to leave!