May 31 - West Africa

 May 31 -West Africa

Today, we arrived at a country which the ship called “The Ivory Coast” with a population of 32 million, but the official name is “Côte d’Ivoire”, that’s the French name they prefer internationally.  The port city is Abidjan with a population of 7 million.  It is built around a very large “Ebrie” lagoon, rather like the San Francisco Bay area.  The city became important once a deep-water canal was dug, connecting the lagoon the short distance to the Atlantic Ocean.

Yellow fever devastated the city in the past, and as a result, a new capital city, “Yamoussoukro,” was established farther inland, but after the yellow fever left the area, Abidjan remained more important due to its location and port.  The country in the north is a savanna, and in the south is mainly forest.  In 1960, it gained independence from France. 

To go ashore, we needed to take a quick trip through the immigration line, which was a breeze this time, and we found our tour bus.  We were pleased to see it had AC. It was comfortable and well-maintained.

Abidjan is a modern-looking port with a modest city skyline and modern highways, but beyond downtown and the highways, we saw only dirt roads and simple housing that soon gave way to shantytowns.  However, even the low-quality houses all had satellite dishes, which I assume means electricity and probably running water.  

    

We learned that the country has gold and refined petroleum resources, as well as cocoa, coffee, cashews, palm oil, cotton, pineapple, banana, and rubber. 

We drove to the very large and modern St Paul’s Cathedral, which was built in 1975 and can hold 4,000 people.  Unfortunately, a service was in process, so we could not stop and go inside.

We passed an almost-complete 77-floor building for administrative and prestigious businesses.  When complete, it will be the tallest building on the African continent, establishing the city as a major business center.

  

Our first stop was a museum of culture.  We viewed the exhibits and were given a mesmerizing demonstration by a young man dancing to the beat of his fellow musicians.

  

We drove through the city and extensive suburbs.

Our second stop was another museum, the Charles Combs Museum, which opened in 1975.  It was full of busts depicting historic figures and cultures, all carved by Mr. Charles Combes.  Many of the carvings were cut from the very hard wood called Iron Wood.  As a carpenter and carver, I was most impressed.  There was an empty pedestal that I thought would be perfect for me.

  

Our next stop was the Botanical Garden of Bingerville.  The gardens were created in 1904, a total of 134 acres and is only trees  We saw the following trees: Cashew, Yellow allamanda, Mango, Traveler palm, Milk Apple, Bamboo, an old mango tree100 years, Elonbar [or Ilomba] -which is good for building and furniture, Young Kapok, which is too soft to make anything but cheese boxes, so the call it a cheese tree.  We also saw a 100-year-old kapok tree that we could walk right through at its base.

   

Our next stop was an Orphanage for boys, built in 1912.  A small group of kids were out front to greet us.  It can accommodate up to 180 boys who live in dormitories and attend school on-site, with 30 kids per class.  Conditions were very basic, but clean and hygienic.

      

Our last stop was an open-air souvenir market.  It was very large, mostly selling the same or similar items.  I found some treasures.

   

On the way back to the ship, the police continued to escort our bus, stopping traffic ahead so we could navigate the streets, even blocking traffic to let us go the wrong way around a large roundabout.  This was not really needed today, since it was Sunday and there was less traffic.  This is the rainy season, but thankfully, today was dry.

As we sailed out through the cut canal, we saw a very large shanty town next to the industrial area.  As we reached the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, a large group of residents from this shanty town cheered and waved as we passed by.  Quite moving.

 

 

Jun 1 & 2 Seadays

On June 1, we took a three-hour guided tour of the ship.  A dozen of us gathered in the atrium and started our tour of the theater backstage.  We learned the theater has a seating capacity of 545.  The stage is very wide on deck 5 at the very front of the ship.  The backstage is quite extensive, considering it is on very valuable ships' real estate.  We first viewed the port wing, the storage area for the props.  Everything was secured so that it would not move with the ship's motion.  The guitar player was practicing his music for an upcoming show.  The area seems crowded, and they explained that they know where everything is.

 

Next, we moved to the starboard stage wing, where the dressing rooms are located.  Costumes are organized by actor and by what is next needed.  Personal props are also there.  There are makeup stations for each actor, which they must do themselves.  A wardrobe assistant helps organize everything. 

   

Our second stop was the navigation bridge.  An officer gave us a detailed description of the bridge, the equipment, and the duties of 11 staff members.  General photos were permitted, but no close-ups of equipment.  It looked more like a Star Trek bridge than the image we have of a massive steering wheel, etc.  Of course, everything is computerized, and at the time, the ship was underway, miles from land, so the autopilot was doing everything.  The only interaction needed was if another vessel, large or small, was in its pathway. Or, in today's case, some whales were in its path, so a small adjustment was made to avoid them.

  

There are always two officers on the bridge, in shifts 24 hours a day, and two lookouts using binoculars to look for hazards.  Manual control of the ship is done with a tiny joystick, but when coming into the dock, control shifts to a smaller control station on the bridge wing, which offers an excellent view as the ship approaches the dock, making infinitely small sideways adjustments using massive bow and stern thrusters.  

After a very interesting Q&A period with the officers, our next stop was the Laundry, located in the bowels of the ship.  With a guest capacity of 1,200 plus 750 crew, with all the bedding, towels, and dining linens. The volume of laundry is daunting.  The modest yet crowded space was run very efficiently by the highly experienced laundry master and a well-trained, disciplined crew.  This is a remote space where the crew can let their hair down to work in harmony.

     

All guest and crew clothes are labeled with the room number.  Giant machines handle the washing and drying of clothes.  Dry-cleaning machines are used when necessary.  Large machines take care of folding clean sheets, towels, and napkins.  Ironing is mostly done with a hot press, but some spot hand ironing is also needed.

Staying in the lower deck, we visited the engine control room.  Most of the ship's mechanical equipment is controlled in this quiet but complex space.  Knobs, dials, digital displays, and video monitors give the engineers 100% control of the four generators, two propulsion motors, fuel, water storage, sewage storage, and power consumption, amongst other things.   Everything has a backup and emergency contingency plans.

       

Further down the ship, we visited the stores department. Everything needed for the voyage must be ordered 90 days in advance, so it is waiting at the port when the ship arrives. The extensive dry, refrigerated, and freezer storage areas were all exceptionally well organized by the store’s manager and his team. A major itinerary change left some containers at a port we will no longer visit, so they must be rerouted. New supplies also need to be sourced and delivered to upcoming ports on short notice, while still meeting the required quality standards.

   

Our last stop is the most important part of the ship, the Kitchens.  Each dining room has its own fully contained and sparklingly clean kitchen and staff.  Everything needed is bought in bulk and cooked to order.  The executive chef told us every item on the menu MUST be available at each restaurant and each setting.  The head chef for each restaurant must, based on experience and statistics, anticipate the demand for each item.  The grand dining room is the most complex as it is a walk-in [no reservation], and demand can vary from 100 to 700 customers for each seating.  The head chef explained that they had only once run out of a dish due to a single order.  They cooked that dish especially for that guest the next night.  Note the escalators for kitchen staff only.

   

At the end of the tour, we were given time to ask the general manager questions.  This is a most impressive tour of a most impressive ship and crew.

  

June 3

We arrived at the port of Banjul in the country of “The Gambia”.  When the British invaded Senegal, they only wanted the river “Gambia”, 380 miles long, and a few miles on either side.  They told Senegal they could keep the rest.  To distinguish the country from the river's name, they called the country “The Gambia,” which is bordered by Senegal except along the ocean front.  It is one of two countries with “the” in the name.  Do you know the other?

The Gambia gained independence from Britain in 1965.  The population of Banjul now is 40,000.  Because of the shape of the river in relation to the shape of Africa, its nickname is ‘The smile of Africa’. The population of The Gambia is 2.6 million now. 

The country has areas of extreme poverty with a daily average pay of $3.16 [USD] per day.  Its few assets include: peanuts, coffee, grains, oysters, and mangos.  It has no oil assets.  It is, however, a bird lover's paradise.

We took an excursion that included a 90-minute ride to Makasutu Palm Forest.  The paved roads wound through village after village with no green space in between.  Along the road were mom-and-pop type businesses, taking advantage of the through traffic.  There seem to be more tire shops than expected; many sell used tires.  Everywhere seemed to be covered with blown sand from the Sahara Desert.  We passed many horse [or donkey] and carts.  Power tools are not available to the general public.  I watched a carpenter rip-sawing wood [that is, cutting longways].  I did that during my apprenticeship almost 60 years ago.  It is hard work and requires great skill. 

Access to our destination was via an unkempt dirt road, giving us a good shake-up.  On arrival, a guide met us and took us on a forest walk.  He started by demonstrating how to climb a palm tree.

Along the route, he pointed out the trees and many birds.  The birds were small and well camouflaged in the trees, and I managed to photograph only one, a White-throated Bee-eater in a Locus bean tree. 

He told us about the foliage that has many medicinal benefits.

We stopped at a large termite mound, which is very beneficial to the forest but a disaster for homes.  The mounds indicate the groundwater is shallow.  The queen can lay 350 eggs a day. 

The guide pointed out a large Mahogany tree.

Next, we had a 30-minute cruise using two 12-seater canoes.   It was very uncomfortable for my replaced hips, and it only had 2” of freeboard (water to the top of the boat), and the slightest move by anyone in the boat tipped sharply.  This is all under the blazing sun and high humidity.  More bird sightings and a group of young local children swimming in the cool waters.

After we disembarked, gingerly from our canoe, we were greeted by baboons of all shapes and sizes. 

Finally, at 4:30pm we were served a barbeque lunch out in the forest under a tiki hut.  It is risky to eat this kind of local food in these primitive conditions.   Bottled drinks were ok.  

We made the long ride back to the ship and arrived exhausted.  Merry stayed at the dockside to visit the local stall holders, while I took a shower.  Then, the ship called me to ask if Merry had come on board, as they were ready to depart, and she was noted as not checked back in.  I explained she was on the dock shopping, but within minutes, she arrived on board.

This type of visit is not intended to be a luxurious vacation, but a real-world experience.

 

Jun 4  Sea-day

Jun 5 

We arrived at the port of Mindel, on Sao Vicente Island in the country of Cape (Cabo) Verde.  The country is an archipelago 350 miles west of the African continent.  It consists of 10 major volcanic islands, 9 of which are inhabited, with a total population of 580,000.  It gained independence from the Portuguese dictatorship in 1975.  It is now an independent democratic country known as The Peaceful Country.  The islands were formed by volcanic activity and have several active volcanoes, including Monte Verde, which is 2,500 ft above sea level.  The country has limited natural resources.

Mindel is a charming town modeled after many historic Portuguese cities.  The island's population is about 80,000.  It has a Mediterranean climate with very little rain.  Its main income is from tourism and fishing.  Our tour took us first to the main town square, which is clean and very attractive.  A sharp contrast to the African nations we have been visiting.  We continued out of town and up the mountain, navigating tight switchbacks and steep drop-offs.  Halfway up, the road turned to rock, laid in 1874, and while it is a bit bumpy, it is in excellent condition.  We soon stopped for a photo opportunity.  A wonderful view of the city, and we thought that was it, but no, onward we went, climbing higher and higher. 

We passed goats grazing, who feel at home here, finally arriving at the top, near where the transmitting equipment sits.  By now, the clouds are passing, revealing incredible views below.

 After taking in all the views, we set off down again, nervously hoping the brakes don’t fail.  When we finally reached the blacktop, our driver realized we had picked up a rock, wedged solid between two tandem rear tires.  He could not budge the rock, and it made quite a noise as we limped along.  The driver called for another bus to transfer to, and one set out ahead to Rendezvous with us.

Back at sea level, we found sand all over, which looked quite out of place.  Our guide explained that all the sand in this area has blown in from the Sahara Desert.  We pulled into a parking area to visit a beach where turtles have laid their eggs.  Several other tour buses were there already.  The first bus tried to leave but got stuck in the very soft sand.  All the bus drivers worked together and, after 30 minutes, got the bus up the slope and onto the road, allowing the other buses to exit.  By now, our replacement bus had arrived, and off we went.

Our route took us on the inland road, now back to the rock road, through the agricultural valley.  Homes in this remote area have no running water.  The houses are much cruder, brick structures, most of which are unfinished.

Eventually, we looped around and ended up in the town of Mindel.  The bus stopped at an overlook for more photos.

Then on to our final stop, an open-air souvenir market.  Because of our delays, our time was cut short as the driver had to get back for his next ship's tour.

The island was very enjoyable.  A perfect vacation opportunity for Portuguese and African travelers who can afford to travel.

Jun 6  Seaday

We have completed our visit to Africa, and I wanted to add a few notes on our experience.  We were not expecting exotic ports and excursions.  Our mission was to take a snapshot of several African countries for our own reference.  As expected, these developing countries are struggling to provide safe infrastructure, quality education, and a decent quality of life for their populations.  Countries seem to have poor or corrupt leadership.  Equality has a long way to go. 

As the internet has started to become available to the masses, it is hoped that the population will see how the world has developed and seek to emulate it.  The internet can provide instant access to education and knowledge if it is not restricted or censored.

We have come away humbled at how people are locked into poverty, while others lavish in luxury.  Progress is slow, but we hope it is inevitable.