Tuesday - April 17, 2018

Tuesday – April 17, 2018

Dakar is one of Senegal’s largest cities with a population of just under 3 million. As we boarded the bus for our Dakar Highlights tour, we could not help but notice the layer of dust on everything. The winds carry Sahara Sand everywhere. Cars left parked for any length of time have comments written in the sand dust on the windows. The vendors setting up the market on the pier were wiping the dust off of their wares. We would see more of them later.

After passing the train station and the Presidential Palace, we stopped to visit the cathedral. In a country that is 95% Muslim it was surprising to find this Catholic edifice. It was an interesting experience.

Our next stop was the Great Mosque. We could not enter this beautiful structure, but we did walk around its exterior. Also on the grounds were the boys’ and girls’ schools where the children learn the tenets of their religion from the age of 3. They are well grounded in religious precepts before they enter the public school system. Our guide emphasized that there is no conflict among religions here. All are allowed to practice their own faith,

After passing the large grounds of the University of Dakar, we made our way to the Sand Painting Gallery. Here we were given a demonstration of this Senegalese art before viewing the gallery. We had an opportunity to purchase works of varying size and quality at commensurate prices. This is not an art form that appeals to us. We took a pass.

Would you believe that our next stop was at a market. This handicraft village is touted as a souvenir market. I did buy a “leather” belt here. I say it is a “leather” belt because in looking at the cutoff piece on the bus I found that it is a sandwich of 2 thin pieces of leather with a rubbery plastic in the middle. It was sort of sized for me, but that turned out to be too long. I did watch the man make the adjustments, so I will be able to fix it back at home.  We did not find anything else to purchase here. We were thinking that the market on the pier would meet our needs.

Now we were on our way to the African Renaissance Monument. This is a 160 tall statue of iron and bronze. It was fabricated by North Korea. It is tuning in its massiveness and artistry. The plaza on which it is built complements it well. From this vantage point we could climb the 180 steps to get up close and personal. NOT!

On a high point near the monument is the lighthouse of Marnelles. It still operates today. Midway between the statue and the lighthouse is a beautiful mosque, The Deity Mosque. We did not stop there, but we did get some nice pictures of it from the monument plaza.

Now, back at the pier, we walked the markets. The few things that we found of interest were highly over-priced when compared to our other experiences. The one piece of fabric that we considered buying was offered at $95. The custom has been to counter at a third of the asking price and negotiate from there. The vendor took the fabric out of my hands when he heard my offer and threw it on the pile. No Deal! Oh well.

Dakar has left us with the impression that it is another very large and crowded city. Unemployment is 40%. That is why so many men are street vendors. They sell whatever they can, including their own property. Their hard life is not made any easier by the dirty environment. This relates to not just the air quality, but also the filth in the streets. Dakar has been a good, but sad, experience.

Monday - April 16, 2018

Monday - April 16, 2018

Today we are visiting Banjul, The Gambia. This narrow country is only about 30 miles wide and 250 miles long. It is located on both shores of The Gambia River and is surrounded by Senegal. This is another country that achieved Independence only recently. It is very poor with a life expectancy for men of 60 years.

As we entered the harbor we passed two anchored ships. They bore a sign indicating that they were a power station. Wires exited the sterns and rose to high-tension towers on shore. We were unable to get an explanation of why they existed, but our guide did tell us that there are sub stations outside the city.

When the ship was cleared by immigration our tour was called at 9:30. This was only 15 minutes later than scheduled. We were stickered for bus number 16. In the parking lot we found buses for every tour except ours. Bus 16 was not in the port. Frantic communications disclosed that it had been delayed, but was on its way. After standing around waiting for an hour, it arrived and we boarded. As we headed toward our first stop the guide apologized because the microphone was not working. Someone would meet us at our first stop to fix this. Soon we eft the paved road and traveled down a dirt road to a Bakau, nearby town. We stopped here for a local craft market. We found some beautiful fabrics and a cute little coiled bowl with a top. We were very happy. We did visit the other booths with their carvings and jewelry. These were very nice, but we managed to avoid purchasing anything else.

Back at the bus we learned that we would now split into two groups on smaller vehicles for the trek to the crocodile pond. This was necessary because the street was very narrow. As we moved along we passed many little shops with women or men running sewing machines. We learned later that this is where the ladies brought their fabric to have garments made. It would take 2 to 3 days to get the finished product. We do not know how much this cost, but our guess is that the prices were very reasonable. We base this on how low the incomes are.

When we arrived at the crocodile site, we first visited an ethnographic museum. Here we viewed exhibits of clothing, tools and instruments. This was all very interesting, and we wished we had more time to view it thoroughly. As it was we were the last to leave the museum and had to hurry to catch up to the group.

They had moved down a trail into the woods. Along the way we passed a fenced clearing with a garden on the other side. We could identify cabbage and corn, but the other crops were new to us. Some women were coming through a gate carrying large baskets of vegetables on their heads. The path was not even or level. They did not waiver in carrying their burdens.

Now we were at the pond. There were crocodiles all around, and they were not fenced in. Some local men were keeping an eye on them, but we walked within 3 feet of them without disturbing them in any way. They did move so we knew they were alive, but they were not interested in us. One man held one of the larger crocs by the tail while passengers had their pictures taken with him. The crocodile’s jaws were wide open. As we moved toward the pond to view the babies, Alice and I stopped to apply insect repellent. These woods were heavy with bugs including mosquitoes. Malaria is not your friend. We stopped at the pond, and sure enough there were two small crocs slowly moving along the shore. Now it was back to the small buses.

Andres joined us on our big bus to tell us that the microphone could not be fixed. He would stay with us fro the rest f the tour to narrate for us. His voice did carry better, and he would move to the rear of the bus to repeat his comments. We all got to hear everything.

Now we drove to Serre-Kunda, the most populous town in The Gambia. Here we got caught in a traffic jam for 20 minutes. Finally we got clear and drove to Arch 22, which celebrates The Gambia’s independence. We stopped at a nearby restaurant to take pictures of the Arch and to have refreshment. The local beer was pretty good. Alice had a coke. The Arch, while nice, cannot compete with the monuments to independence that other countries have offered. This is a reflection of the economic state.

On the move again we were soon back in Banjul. We stopped at the main market, and Andres said he would lead anybody interested on a tour of the market. At the end of the tour he would take us to the ship’s shuttle. The bus would return directly to the port. Alice and I got off the bus. One other lady joined us. The tour was great. He explained various fruits and vegetables to us, and did a thorough job of letting us see the full gamut of crafts. Then he led us to the shuttle.

I talked to Andres on the shuttle. He had been on his phone quite a bit as we returned to the ship. He was the operations manager. He was struggling to keep everything going, but he was doing very well in our estimation. We were happy to have had him as our guide. Our tour was not short-changed in any way. In our minds the tour through the last market more than made up for our delayed start.

Wednesday - April 11, 2018 to Sunday - April 15, 2018

Wednesday, April 11 to Sunday April 15, 2015

These five sea days will have us cruising 2,500 miles from Luanda, Angola to Banjul, Gambia. As I write this it is Sunday and we are experiencing the same calm seas that have accompanied us up the whole western coast of Africa.

On April 12^th at 11:20 PM we crossed the intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian. This is Latitude 00:00:00 and Longitude 00:00:00. This is truly a neat experience for us. The Crow’s Nest was full of passengers when we arrived. There was no way we would be able to see the GPS display for the junction. We adjourned to our cabin and watched this on the ship’s bridge channel. It was a fleeting moment as we were traveling 10 miles per hour at the time. My screen shot shows 00:00:01 and 00:00:01. Close enough.

On another night we were awakened at 3:55 AM by the ship’s alarm. The officer of the deck announced that smoke detectors and fire suppression systems had been activated in the incinerator room. We did not need to do anything at this time. Crew response teams had been dispatched to the area. 15 minutes later the captain announced that the fire had been put out, and he encouraged us to return to sleep. We did.

On Friday and Saturday Alice did an admirable job of packing 2 of our suitcases with items we have collected and clothes we no longer need. That is100 pounds down. We still have 2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons to go. And we have 2 weeks to do it. We have decided to ship three bags home via FedEx. This will save a lot of grief at the airports and allow for a greater weight than the airline does. It also assures that the bags we take will fit in the trunk of the taxi at O’Hare. They tend to use Prius cabs with inadequate trunks.

Tuesday - April 10, 2018

Tuesday – April 10, 2018

Today we arrived in Luanda, Angola. We have a tour of old and new Luanda this afternoon, but this morning we are walking. At the exit of the port a local market of hard goods has been set up. We will visit it on our way back. A prominent feature here is the Marginal. This is a pedestrian walkway that runs along the waterfront to an historic fort 3 miles away. Our tour will take us there so we only went half way on our walk.

We had been warned to be alert to our surroundings, and to mind our stuff. We were also told not to drink the water, eat anything washed like salads, and not to wash our hands. The water supply is iffy, and the poverty level is conducive to petty crime. We took water from the ship because bottled water sold is sometimes counterfeit. They fill bottles with tap water, and reseal them to look like new.

Our walk was uneventful until we encountered an overzealous passenger. As we walked, there were small fish jumping near the shore. At the edge of the walkway was a painted yellow line where concrete changed to pavers that sloped down to the water at a significant angle. This passenger, who was older than we are, (yes that is possible on this cruise) decided to go to the water’s edge. As he started down the embankment, a police officer started yelling for him to stop. He and his friends apparently had hearing problems. He continued. We yelled for him to stop to no avail. The policeman finally reached him. He scolded him soundly and sent him on his way.

This was alarming because we had also been warned to avoid doing anything that might arouse officials. This included a warning not to photograph government buildings, military personnel and policemen. We were to always ask permission before photographing people.

Our walk was pleasant, but it was very hot. We decided to turn back when we got half way to the fort. This allowed us to walk through the market at the port. The artworks, carvings, fabrics and clothing were beautiful. We did a quick walk-through because our tour was to allow time for shopping.

We did not take our cameras the walk in heed of the dire security warnings we had been given. This was too bad because we were never felt threatened in any way.

Our tour, The Changing Face of Luanda, departed after lunch. It made several stops. 

The first stop was at another steel house supposedly designed by Eiffel. He got around.

The most impressive old location was the fort. Its position overlooking the bay offered us marvelous views of the city and Marginal Bay. Our guide, who spoke excellent English, insisted that we go into one of the rooms with him before we walked the parapet for photos. This room was astounding. All of the walls were covered with Portuguese tiles in blue white. These told various stories and were very beautiful. The workmanship was excellent. This was not obvious from the outside, and many people never enter this series of rooms. Andres. Our guide, did us a great service. We talked to passengers who got to the fort on their own and did not know about the tiles.

Some views from the fort.

The newest site we visited was the Mausoleum of the first president of Angola, Agostinho Neto. He was dearly loved by the people as the magnitude of this monument suggests. From there we saw the Presidential Palace, House of Parliament, and other government buildings. All of these are new and are painted the same rose color.

As we toured the city we saw many rehabilitated buildings. Angola just achieved independence in 1975. A long and devastating Civil War followed with much self-inflicted harm. Luanda is striving to rebuild, but it has been a slow process. Just a few blocks from the main street one finds buildings in ill repair and people living in squalor. As has been the case in many of the ports we have visited, new construction funded by the Chinese is all around. Here we counted 7 tower cranes near the city center. None of them were working. Andres answered my question, telling us that they were idle because funding had dried up. The loans were in default. Current returns did not support the debt. They are waiting for the government to step in.

Our tour was thorough, but it did run long. While that was a benefit, we did suffer a loss because we could not shop the market before all aboard. We were told that similar markets will be available in Banjul and Dakar. Prices may also be lower there.

We enjoyed this stop very much. It is touching to learn the plight of these countries. The determination and ambition of the population are encouraging. To think that they only became independent 40 years ago gives pause to consider what it must have been like for the American colonies 240 years ago.

Sailing out of Luanda was bittersweet.