24 MAY 2010 - DAY AT SEA - ANOTHER DAY OF ROCKING AND ROLLING

We are headed out into the open sea towards the Cape Verde Islands, and the ship is rocking and rolling again. Today was like most other sea days-eat, play trivia, eat, take a nap, play trivia, exercise, eat-in other words a day of relaxation and a break from the sun and humidity.

23 MAY 2010 - DAKAR, SENEGAL - THE LAST STOP IN WEST AFRICA

There are a couple of different seasoned cruisers who arranged small group private tours for some of the stops, and fortunately for us we were able to join in on their group today in Dakar. Dakar is the largest and most developed of the five West African cities we have visited. A large, air conditioned bus picked us up at 8 AM, and drove us into the city where we stopped for a photo op with the guard at the palace.







We proceeded onto the pier where we got on the ferry to take us to Goree Island.























































Goree Island was one of the places where slaves were taken to await passage to the Americas. It is a beautiful little island, and it is incomprehensible to my mind to try to imagine the horrors that once existed here.









































































































We spent three hours walking around, with one stop at the actual slave house.









































“If all the sky were paper and all the seas ink, I would not be able to describe the brutality of the slave trade.” W. Bosman, 1701














































We walked to the top of a hill that had a beautiful lookout along with some old cannons.






The hawkers never stopped leaving us alone, trying to sell bracelets, necklaces, clothing, and carvings. I did buy a small statuette of an African lady that will go on our mantel.

After taking the ferry back to Dakar, the air conditioned bus was a bit of heaven. It took us north along the coast to a restaurant where we had lunch. The interesting thing about the restaurant was it had a swimming pool for customers to swim in. There were lots of kids using it, but only a few adults.





















































Senegal has a beautiful coast line. We stopped at a huge sculpture honoring the West African Renaissance. Some of us walked up the 200+ steps. It is a magnificent sculpture.
























It had a beautiful view of Dakar.





The tour included a stop at the Dakar market, but several of the women got together and told the guide they had been to enough markets, so they brought us back to the ship. The heat really drains you, and Jim and I decided to take a day off from exercising. The ship was supposed to leave at 6 PM, but it had to refuel, and the fueling dock is separate from the passenger dock, so at six the ship moved over to the fueling dock, and when I went to bed at 10:30 we still had not left.

22 MAY 2010 - BANJUL, THE GAMBIA - DAY 16 OF THE CRUISE WHICH MEANS IT IS HALF OVER

The plan for today was to get off the ship with Brynn and Eunice and find a taxi to take us around. Brynn struck up a conversation with one of the Banjul tourist “officials” allowed on the ship. His name was Abraham, and he said he would get a taxi for us and take us wherever we wanted to go. We told them we wanted to see crocodiles, birds, and ride a pirogue on the river. They told us it would cost $150 for all of us (the ship’s price was $119 per person).


We hopped in the mini bus and headed for the Kachikaly Pool where they have a small pond with crocodiles in it. On the way we saw some baobob trees. They are huge, old tree, whose trunks feel like cement.








Kopok tree.





























One crocodile was on the path and the guide told us it was okay to touch it.
































































































There were a lot of children hanging out on the road, and Eunice made the comment that she wished we had some sweets to offer them. Our driver stopped by a small shop and Abraham hopped out and bought four bags of little suckers, which ended up costing us $5 a bag! It was amazing how many kids and adults swarmed the van when we started giving them out.

















































Next we drove to the river to an area where oysters are harvested. They were very small oysters, and Jim had no desire to try them. We got on one of the pirogues and they took us around the mangrove trees.










We saw a couple of women harvesting oysters, and a few sand birds but none of them were too exciting. It was too hot to view any of the exotic birds.








After leaving the river we stopped at a meat market full of goats and cattle. They keep them tied up and wait for someone to buy one, where they can have them slaughtered there or take them home and have it done.



















Arch 22 is a 114 foot archway that commemorates the bloodless military coup of 22 July 1994. It offered a nice view of Banjul.












The Banjul market was much like all of the other markets we’ve visited on this trip. We walked out onto the beach and saw some fishing boats and many people drying out fish, sharks, and stingrays.





















The guys dropped us off at the ship, and we has a large throng of vendors to walk through before we could get to the gangway. It was very hot, but a fulfilling day.

19-21 MAY 2010 - 3 SEA DAYS

21 MAY 2010 - DAY 3 OF 3 SEA DAYS

Today was a ditto of Thursday. I finished my cross stitch and laid out at the pool for an hour. There was a magician for the show tonight-he did a couple of levitation tricks that were amazing.

20 MAY 2010 - DAY 2 OF 3 SEA DAYS
We got up earlier this morning to fight for a washing machine. There are four washing machines and four dryers in the laundry. We had to wait about 20 minutes for one, and now we have clean clothes. Afterwards it was breakfast, trivia, journaling/reading, English Pub lunch, nap, trivia, juggling show, dinner.

19 MAY 2010 - DAY 1 OF 3 SEA DAYS
Like other sea days-sleep in until 9 AM, eat, cross stitch/read, play trivia, eat, cross stitch/read, play trivia, walk/jog for an hour, eat.

18 MAY 2010 - ACCRA, GHANA - 3 WEEKS DOWN, 3 TO GO, THAT MEANS IT’S HALF OVER

The ship was supposed to dock at 7 AM, but there was a cargo container ship in the berth, so we didn’t get in until after 7:30. The dock was a long way from the entrance to the port, and they didn’t allow single tour guides down to the ship, so we had to wait half an hour for the shuttle to take us out. In the mean time we were entertained by dancers and drummers.































This one is for Linda and Hank!











We didn’t see our guide Chuku, but fortunately Princess had a man at the drop off to help out. He called for us, and we found Chuku on the other side of a gas station. He had been waiting for us since 5 AM!

















The traffic was very heavy in the morning. Our first stop was a coffin making shop. A man got the idea in his head 40 years ago to custom make coffins for people’s likes-we saw fish, birds, a piano, a wrench, an airplane, a movie projector-it was crazy.
























There was a Mormon church about 100 yards from the shop, so Chuku walked us over to it. Six missionaries were studying together. One elder and one sister were from Nigeria, one elder and one sister were from Ghana, and two were from the USA-Star Valley, WY and North Carolina.










The elder from Wyoming had only been out for three months and looked shell shocked. The humidity can be overwhelming for someone who comes from an arid place

















Next Chuku drove us downtown to the market. It is a huge market, and we soon found out that people get down right angry if they think there is any chance you might take their picture. Jim had his camera around his neck, not aiming it at anybody, and people yelled at him as we walked along.




































































Their attitude changes if you buy something-I bought some material from one lady and she was more than happy to let Jim take her picture. One thing we saw that we’ve never seen before was dried bats and rats.






























The next stop was the temple in Accra. Chuku was impressed with the atmosphere of the grounds. One of the African area headquarters building is on the temple grounds.















I went inside to use the bathroom, and when I left I asked the lady at the security desk if she knew the Sabeys (Mel and Sandy Sabey are from Denver, and two of their sons played lacrosse with Zach at BYU. I met them because of my involvement in the post game meals, and knew that Mel was the mission president of one of the Ghana missions). She told me they had just left. When I walked outside I saw a van stopped in front of the building and was sure the Sabeys were sitting inside. I walked over and asked if they remembered me-they both looked at me without saying anything-I then said BYU lacrosse, and then they remembered. We chatted for a few minutes, introduced Chuku to them, then went on our way.








After leaving the market Chuku took us to a township type neighborhood where the Fast Track Ghana office was. It was in a small hut, painted on the outside with the Fast Track Ghana logo. Here we met Issac, the vice president.















After paying for our tour, Isaac walked us to his home, where his mother, Agnes, lives.





















We met several ladies and children.















































Two of the ladies were making Fufu, which is a mixture of plantains and casava. They pound it in a large bowl until it becomes of a consistency of dough. While one pounds the other folds it over. I don’t know how there are no broken fingers. They let me try the pounding, but the woman who was folding kept her fingers out.


























When I arranged the tour I was told we would receive a traditional blessing. Agnes would be the one to give us the blessing. Isaac took his shirt off and wrapped some African material around his waist, then looked at Jim and told him he had to take his shirt off. I was snickering to myself until they looked at me and told me the same thing. Then my eyes started bugging out of my head. One of the ladies took me inside where I was unseen to the guys, and held up some material for me to wrap around while I took my top off. Jim, Isaac, and Chuku came in, and Jim and I sat down in some chairs in front of a doorway covered with a couple of flags. There was incense burning, and Agnes went into the room and started chanting and pounding. Then she came out and offered everybody a sip of Jim in a cup-Jim and I put the cup to our lips then threw the gin onto the ground. Agnes called out to Isaac in their native language-he asked us where we were going next, and I told him Gambia. Then he asked if we had a guide arranged like we did in Ghana. I told him yes. Then when the chanting was over Agnes came out and told us we needed to be very careful in Gambia because danger lurked with our driver.

After the blessing we got dressed, then Isaac walked to a home next to the office where we were fed some of the fufu. It was served with a beef and fish stew-we were told to take a chunk of the fufu with our fingers, dip it into the stew, then swallow it without chewing. It was good.



















When we were done eating Chuku took us back to the ship. It was a very nice day.