I spy with my little eye

3/24/2023

An imaginary red line. 0°N-S 0°E-W. I’m officially back in the northern hemisphere!

There was a ceremony with king Neptune to commemorate the crossing, which was great. A bunch of crew got covered in meringue, people were dressed up as pirates and other sea characters, and it was a ton of fun.

3/25 Ghana

Ghana is the second biggest cocoa exporter in the world, second only to Ivory Coast. But according to my guide today, the only reason Ivory Coast is higher is due to smuggling. So, I did a tour of a cocoa farm!

We started the tour going to the small village of 1,500 people and the chief and queen of the village held a ceremony for us! We were greeted immediately with all the children in the village, and a drummer playing music to start off the ceremony.

During the ceremony, they shared some of their moonshine- kill me quick. It was warm the second it touched my tongue and all the way down my throat…

After the ceremony we were able to see how they dry the cocoa beans. Similar to a pistachio, you can take off the shell and eat the inside. Not as tasty as the end result, but it was still worth a shot!

Our last stop was at the cocoa farm itself. I was imagining it to be one large farm, but instead it’s multiple small farms owned by different people. We got to watch the farmer cut down a piece of the fruit from the tree, cut it, and give us each pieces of seed, or pods, to suck on. It tasted similar to coconut in my opinion.

3/26 Ivory Coast

Another market. So many markets. On one hand, I love markets. There’s so much art and culture. At this market in particular it was huge with lots of masks, wood items, clothing, and musical instruments. But on another hand I don’t enjoy the slightly aggressive salespeople. It’s something you can prepare yourself for, but no necessarily something you want to deal with for three weeks straight.

Because of this, today, I hit a wall with Africa. Traveling for many is like a honeymoon stage where everything is rainbows and butterflies. But there’s a hard reality to traveling. It’s real, and sometimes it’s very raw. Sometimes it’s smelling the odor of the impoverished area and seeing the remnants of buildings that have worn away. The trashed filled gutters. It can be argued that poverty is everywhere, which is true. And I believe it’s important to address, not shy away from. People are people, and if you open your heart and remain open minded you learn that people are COOL. Learning about others, their life, is neat. It’s help you become more worldly, more kind, and learn more about yourself.

Anyway, enough rambling.

3/29 Gambia, Banjul

Originally Shauna and I had opted out of this port because we would’ve needed to pay a $155 visa just to get off the ship. However, about 12 hours before arriving the port authority informed us that every person, regardless if they got off the ship or not, had to pay the visa.

So, we made the most of our day and found ourselves at an all inclusive resort for $40 we had an afternoon of beach, pool, food, and drinks.

The gin went down easy, the beach was fun, and the company was great.

We took a 30 minute taxi ride to get there, and while there were some logistical hiccups it ended up working out. That’s another thing with traveling, you have to be flexible. Someone started the saying TIA- this is Africa. Essentially meaning that you have to be flexible because you never know what’s going to happen. Omar, our driver, was great. He spent the time with us at the repairs and took people back for a great price.

Some of us went back a little later… and got back on the ship right at 4:30 which was all aboard. We cut it a bit close, but the extra hour at the resort was worth it.

3/30 Senegal

Today we were supposed to do a safari tour in hopes of seeing a giraffe before leaving Africa. But, due to civil unrest, the port was cancelled. People rioting, setting buildings on fire, and the like.

We’re so lucky that we live the life we do. That we have a safety net, and the choice to get to stay in a bubble of safety and luxury. While some people were upset about the cancellation, I’m grateful that we have the power of choice.

On another note, we've been sailing past Senegal the last few days headed to the Canary Islands. I thought it was hazy, but I found out that it's actually dust coming from the Sahara Desert. Which I thought was super neat!

Cheers,

Tay