Back to Africa

Dec - 14   Tonight was Orange Party, quite fun really. They had everything orange you could think of. They decorated and prepped for it all day. People were excited for this. You saw all sorts of outfits, hats, scarves, glasses, hair – all ORANGE and more! The blood orange gin was delicious in a gin and tonic! I got a good photo of the captain in the dining room with Josephine and Roni. Up on the Lido deck there was quite the party, the band was great! The Captain and Chantal were also dancing with the party crowd for a little bit. He has been a great Captain with good communication with the crew and cruisers.

Dec 12 - At Sea Another enjoyable day at sea. The dinner had African choices; Chicken Kati Kati was delicious. We ran into Forrest and Roberta again and we plan to have dinner with them tomorrow. Dec 13 - Mindelo, Cape Verde We had a nice day in Cape Verde, or Cabo Verde as they call it. Our tour was Cachupa Culinary Experience. It was not quite what we thought it would be, but we still had a nice day. We participated in very little of the cooking process. Then the guide took us around the city to a few markets, past a church and the city hall. I was able to find a postcard and stamp so I was happy about that! After the walking tour we made our way back to the restaurant for the sumptuous lunch. We skipped dessert and went down the stairs to a little market and bought treats for the casino staff They were excited about that. Dinner with Forrest and Roberta was very interesting. They are an interesting couple from Chicago, she is a writer and producer and he is a physician. She gave Stu

Dec 11 - Dakar, Senegal.  Our shuttle to the presidential square was timely, but there was not much to see there. Since I printed out information for ports where we did not buy excursions, I did have some limited information about the area. We made our way to the corner of the square (really a big rectangle) and found the Hotel Pullman mentioned in the article. It is accurate to say there were great views from the outdoor eating area. However, it is so smoky and gray it isn’t as astounding as it could have been with sun and clear skies. Nevertheless, we had a cheese platter and Carpaccio along with a drink and enjoyed every moment at the Teranga Lounge. Something was out in the water and the best guess was a small or young whale because that is what the pectoral fins looked like anyway. We chatted with an interesting couple from the ship, Forrest and Roberta. He is a doctor and she is a writer. After an enjoyable, time we made our way back to the ship. When we got to the shuttle, we di

Dec 10 - Banjul, The Gambia.   Today we took the ship shuttle into the town. They talked about it being such a wonderful market, for them, I guess it is. Mostly arts and crafts. Fred rode there with us but when it was time to leave, he was nowhere to be found. It was so dirty with garbage everywhere; it is hard to see because we are not used to it. The port area was actually cleaner that the streets outside. There was a nice market set up by the ship and they even had a post office with cards and stamps. I was happy about that! The guys running it were so nice, so accommodating. The people are so warm and friendly. We really felt welcomed to this port.

Dec 8 - At Sea Another lovely sea day. We had dinner with Pat and Cindy, which was nice. They are a friendly couple that are serving as some sort of escort for a group of people on board. They are hired to do that and either get a break on the cruise fare or a free cruise. Earlier it was Mexican train and Sea View pool. We played craps and at least broke even with that. Dec 9 At Sea Today we ate in the dining room, a Culinary Council menu, which is always a step above the typical dining experience. Other than that, is was Mexican Train and the other delights of days at sea.

Dec 7 - Abidjan, Ivory Coast This stop has been the least successful so far. It is not anyone’s fault. This is, of course, another working port. We were supposed to come into one berth and that was changed. Cargo ships have priority here. We did have shuttle busses but only 2 in the beginning. The captain made several announcements about the pressure the port authorities were putting on us but he said the pressure points are holding at this time. I’m not exactly sure what that meant but we are here. It was necessary to issue tickets for the shuttle busses. They did use the busses that came back from the morning tours. We weren’t sure we would even get to board a shuttle so we did get off the ship and walk around the port by the ship. We took a few silly photos and then got back on to await our possible turn.  We finally got called about 2:30 for our turn. The trip to the market was supposed to take 20 minutes; it took 45+ meanwhile torrential rains began. When the bus finally got to th