This Easter Sunday was the first “big” celebration I have had on board- having escaped spending Christmas/New Year’s/Australia Day on board this far in my career.
Easter Sunday was out of control on the ship, food wise. The Atrium was decked out with the most insane display of jumbo sized chocolate eggs, all decorated obsessively with carefully crafted plumes of coloured chocolates. There were all sorts of crazy effects, text, and artworks – all done in 100 percent sweet sweet chocolate. You could smell the chocolate from the doors of the cabaret lounge- intoxicating!
I woke up early to go to mass. I am not at all religious, but it was nice to go to the Catholic service with Tim, Jasmine and the passengers. It really made it feel like Easter.
I had 11:15 morning trivia, which of course, was Non-denominational Easter themed (i.e. questions about eggs, chickens and bunnies). I was very very careful to keep it non-denominational as we had a Passover disaster on board for our Jewish passengers when the Rabbi pulled out at the last minute, leaving them to have to host their own Passover service. Let’s just say (somewhat understandably) they were NOT happy chappies regarding this. So, I was careful.
Whilst hosting trivia I dropped about a million hints for an Easter Sunday Brunch Invitation – and eventually got a bite from Merle & Eddie, a lovely Aussie couple from Perth. Sunday Brunch is CRAP in the Officer’s Mess- but it is INSANELY AWESOME in the passenger dining room – and EASTER Sunday brunch is even more extreme on the awesome factor.
So I went in with Merle and Eddie and came out about 5kg heavier.. It was simply divine! I would have been OK had I not found the dessert table at the last minute and had to go back for sky high lemon meringue pie, chocolate éclairs and sugar pastry ear things. Damn. It was also nice to have brunch with some fellow Aussies. The rest of the day was a chocolate-y haze and I got kicked out of the gym for being in there before five.. so needless to say it was a “fat day”. Although, as I told the passengers at trivia, it is a fact that the calories you eat on Easter Sunday don’t count at all.
Today we were docked in Dakar, Senegal- famous for the rally, the slave trade and little else. It was also ANZAC day. At 6:15 David and Karen (the production singers) hosted a dawn service for us- attended by myself, Toby, Michelle (crew SAP), two Aussie passengers and two American ladies (who had heard about the ceremony from David the night before and wanted to “experience” it – very sweet of them). It was a simple ceremony. We sang the national anthem, listened to some poems, heard the last post and a minute’s silence then drank hot toddies and ate pastries afterwards. Tim and Jasmine arrived at the end of the minute’s silence. But they made it in the end. It was a nice start to the day.
I didn’t really know what to expect in Dakar. I had done a little research on Trip Advisor, but it didn’t really help me work out what ‘type’ of Africa we were about to experience. Nathaniel and I met at the gangway at 9. The carpet on deck 3 was all covered in plastic because the dock was “greasy”. Our plan for the day was to visit ‘slave island’, an historical island that was the main jumping off point for the African slave trade, and also served as a fort during the history of the once-French-owned trading post.
But we decided to go into the market first. We met Domenico and Ryan on the bus, two third engineers and they joined our party. On the way in, the guide constantly lectured us about security. Constantly. Do not go ANYWHERE without security guards. It was a little ominous. But when we got to the market we saw why. This was REAL Africa- but not cheerful crazy real Africa like Togo, but scary busy Africa. We followed our security guard into the market, a mess of half constructed structures and tumbledown shacks serving as stalls propped against the walls of the new yet seemingly decrepit building. Inside was.. amazing. The entrance to the market channelled us between the open stalls into the dank darkness inside. Gracing the sides of the tall arched entrance way were filthy wooden tables stacked with half plucked chicken carcasses, just sitting there in the dust and heat. Kittens and Cats crowded the table around the chickens, occasionally licking the dehydrated looking birds. It was something different for sure- very exciting but also super gross.
There was no rhyme nor reason to the layout of the market- so around every corner was the threat of stinky fish or worse- unexpected butchering of cattle and goats. At one point there was a table covered in entrails- a giant cow liver just sitting there on the raw wood. We were constantly followed by people asking us to visit their “factory”, whatever that meant, and also were pursued by a crazy guy who yelled at us constantly. The guide/security guard said he was totally nuts and not to make eye contact. It was exciting and an amazing place to see, but I was glad when we headed back to the shuttle bus to return to the ship. I am really good in crowded market situations –I have the knack of being able to ignore people so they don’t bother me (which is a horrible thing to do but necessary for self preservation sometimes). Others do not possess that skill and ended up coming back to the shuttle with bags full of wooden statues and assorted crap.
We returned to the ship momentarily to change currency and then hopped on the next shuttle bus that would take us to the pier as we followed our initial plan of visiting Slave Island. Along the way we picked up Wayne Hoffman – the mentalist/illusionist who had performed on the ship two nights prior. Due to the public holiday the ferry was running only once every two hours. We had an hour wait inside the terminal- which was nice and modern – which was made to fly by thanks to the presence of Wayne and his magic tricks. Best hour wait have ever experienced- except for the part where I had to go to the toilet. It was a new building; there was no reason for the toilets to be horrible. But they were. It was a squat toilet (which I am totally cool with these days- I am master of the squat toilet), but there was no toilet paper, only a bucket of water sitting in each cubicle. The floor was wet and grimy and there were unfortunate smears of.. umm.. poo where people had umm.. missed.
I was wearing shoes that were not appropriate for this kind of hygiene nightmare, little cheapo canvas ballet flats from Rubi shoes, and I felt the wet floor seeping in to the sides of them. Needless to say these shoes now sit in my cabin in a plastic bag in the rubbish bin.
After a stampede to the ferry and a 15 minute ride to the island we finally arrived. What an awesome place. It was part historical village, with all the original buildings complete with French-style charm, part craft market Mecca, part public beach resort. It was a very cool place. The sales people on the island were far more chilled out – with all the artisans showcasing their own works underneath the baobab trees. We strolled down the charming vistas, punctuated by random goats and sheep, and then up the hill to the fort that graced the top of the island. This place was trippy as shit! There were inexplicably concreted sections, huge 40’s era guns, bunkers and a huge Jetsons style memorial, all of which had been taken over by local artists.
On one end of the island “the end of the world” we went into the bunker for one of the crazy guns where the artists were creating works out of discarded electrical equipment. The gun looked like a freakin' Darlek. The artists were also totally stoned and Nathaniel jammed with them on the drums. We then went to the biggest gun – with a 10m long double barrel, it was a monster and met the crazy artists sitting in a tree house nearby, who offered to show us the bunker for the gun (which I think, is also where they lived). We clambered down into the concrete darkness and followed the catacombs until we were under the rusted base of the gun. It was phenomenal. The artist guy said that the gun had a range of 14km but had only been fired once, in 1940. We then climbed up into the gun and sat on the top. All the while, we were circled by hawks, who called the cliffs at the “end of the world” (so called because it is the most westerly point of Africa, apparently) home and spent all day wheeling about in the clear skies above the island.
When we came back down the hill, people bought a whole lot of sand art, which is apparently characteristic of the area. I bought a small basket to keep my hair ties in. When we got down to the beach, Nathaniel and each bought a pair of the most convincing fake ray ban sunnies I’ve ever seen – for $5. Wayne then came into his own, performing magic tricks on the beach, much to the delight of the locals (and also helpfully distracting them from trying to sell stuff to us). It was really cool to see the looks on their faces – they definitely thought he was magic. Wayne reckons he did tricks in the voodoo villages in Togo and the big chief came up to him and said “can you give this power to me- I want this power”, treating Wayne as I f he was a prophet, sent from the voodoo powers. The Senegalese were a little more modern in their understanding of magic, but they were still pretty freaked out by his tricks. Having a professional illusionist in your party is certainly a bonus.
We caught the ferry back to the ship and the rest is history. Except that throughout the day, although enjoying the island immensely, I got sicker and sicker. The cough I have had for the last week was developing into a nasty cold. By the time we got back to the ship, I was really unwell. I went to the medical centre and have been dosed up to the eye teeth on cold meds. I also got the night off work and have been lying in the cabin, unable to sleep due to pseudoephedrine tablets keeping me up. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow. I need to so I can hit the gym and start to burn off some of those Easter calories.. Yuk
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
African Adventures
(just so you know i tried to upload photos but the internet is too slow)
Today we are in Tema, capital of Ghana. Just the fact that I have had the opportunity to be in Ghana blows my mind. Unfortunately, I am IPM, meaning I’m stuck on the ship all day. But from what I can see it looks like a fairly modern port. From where I’m sitting, I can glimpse…… a container port (oh god so sick of constant complaints from passengers regarding or docking in container ports.. its Africa.. they don’t have cruise terminals).
Beyond the limits of the fairly modern industrial docklands I can see several high rise buildings, the towering lights of a soccer stadium and rows of brick housing fading into the distance. There are only new cars in view – and the tour busses all look comfortable and air conditioned. And sadly, this will be the total of my experience of Ghana.
We’ve been in Africa (or the seas around the said continent) for the past 10 days and it has been absolutely stunning. Nights out in Cape Town, visiting the little Xhosa orphan girls and mama tutu in the African Savannah, Quad biking in the towering dunes of Namibia surviving the surreally frenetic markets of Togo – this is a continent of dynamic contrasts. Every place we have visited has been strikingly different from the last.
Our first port of call on the African continent was Maputo, an interesting city with dilapidated and abandoned Portuguese buildings lining the streets, yet with a brilliant new mall set to the west of the city centre. Mozambique is a country with strong South African influences, and although very dusty, was hardly what you would think of when told you were going to a small city in an impoverished African nation. It was very pleasant; a fairly laid back place, with all the action centred on the main market, an enclosed place full of vendors selling almost anything you could imagine. There were wide open vistas filled with fresh fruits, meats, baskets and vegetables which lead on to claustrophobic lanes fully enveloped by their vendors stores and hanging with beauty products, snack options and swatches of hair. There were so many swatches of hair that at points, you had to physically push through them to advance any further. I wondered if I would end up in Narnia.
Maputo Mall was a direct contrast to this. A sparkling jewel of cement and glass, this gaudy building appears to be the pride of the city. Boasting a huge array of shops including a modern grocery store, clothes shops and a big fat Nike store smacked in the middle, It could have been anywhere in the world (despite the fact that there was no ATM within 2 kilometres- we were informed it was “all credit cards”in the centre). After wandering, we found our way to a wonderful alfresco dining area dotted with nice restaurants (a la South Bank). We sat in the communal area in the middle and were able to order from several restaurants at the same time. It was a big group, so nice to have plenty of space to spread out. I ordered food from the Lebanese restaurant, but chicken cottage and some unnamed place were also bringing food to our banquet table. We sat in the sun, drank beers, ate food, had a shisha pipe (thanks to the Lebanese restaurant) and watched the people go about their daily lives. Everyone we saw seemed to be well dressed and happy, although security at the gate probably had something to do with this. They are so proud of this mall. In the grocery store, I found stacks of exercise books and school stationary printed with pictures of the mall and details about it. In Maputo, they don't have Barbie or superman on their school books – they have Maputo Mall.
Our next stop was South Africa. I have always had mixed feelings about my desire to visit this country. I mean, I knew the natural splendour would be unmatchable, but I was unsure about the people. A lot of South Africans live in Australia, and in general, I have found them all to be racists and... Well, to be frank, elitist snobs (not ALL of them, mind you, but MOST).
We first stopped in Durban, where I was IPM. Our second stop was East London, a mid-sized city on the Eastern Cape. I was lucky enough to score a tour to the “cultural village”, which turned out to be pretty much the best thing ever!
Along with two busloads of passengers (fortunately including several of my favourites), I was ferried through the savannah into Xhosa country. The whole area was treated like a different country during Apartheid, where this group was particularly oppressed by the regime. The landscape was stunning. The village had been set up as a Canadian initiative to preserve the Xhosa culture. Upon arrival to the village we were met by 15 girls, ranging in age from 6 to 13, singing and dancing at us as we walked down the grassy path to the speckling of huts that constituted the village. I cannot even begin to explain how gorgeous these little girls were. Wearing nothing but little white skirts they sung to us in four part harmony. Upon seeing me – who obviously was young and “pretty” (I guess.. to them) they forcibly attached themselves to me. At one point, I was holding 6 little hands in my own as we walked the village. Upon arrival they did a full song and dance concert for us, showcasing their traditional dancing.
After this, we were separated into two groups – males and females. The menfolk went down to the “circumcision hut” to learn about that ritual’s place in our culture and we accompanied the matriarch, Mama Tofu into the learning hut. Mama Tofu talked to us about women’s business- and teaching the girls about sex education. They have a terrible AIDS problem in the area – Mama Tofu said there are around two funerals a week. She takes care of 15 little orphans at her home in her own village. They try to get the girls to stay virgins – even doing a virgin test. The virgin test, interestingly enough, is to get all the girls to stand in a line and have them jump on the spot for up to 20 minutes. She says that after 10 minutes, girls that have not remained abstinent have to stop. She says “you can see the spark is gone”. Mama Tofu at 92 was sprightly and a real comedienne and a real inspiration of what a strong woman can do for her community.
There was a craft market and a splendid buffet lunch, cooked for us by mama tofu’s daughters in traditional pots on traditional fire pit in a tradititional hut. It was amazing! No one could really believe what a wonderful experience we had just had. Saying goodbye to the girls was hard- they wouldn’t let go, and one of the little ones even cried and chased after our busses as we left. Absolutely gorgeous.
The next stop was the one we had all been waiting for – Cape Town! This marked the end of the third segment of the world cruise, and we said goodbye to many passengers who had become good friends throughout the duration of the first three segments. Cape Town was also my first experience of an overnight in port- and I couldn’t wait to get out on the town.
But before the partying came... Shark diving. A group of 10 of us had had this planned for over a month, and had been counting down the days til our great white shark diving adventure. And the day had finally arrived. Come 9am, we bundled into a mini bus and began the 2 hour trip to our destination, a small coastal town known as the Great White Shark capital of SA. The town is in close proximity to seal island, drawing the itinerant sharks from the entire coast to the flesh rich waters.
It was an absolutely stunning day when we arrived in town, blue sky and sea stretching long to the horizon. We met our diving instructor at Shark Lady Tours and snacked on hot buttered muffins as we received our instructions on how the day would run. We were told the dangers, how we might see sharks up to 6 metres, how they might attack the cage or mouth the bars. When asked who would like to go first, of course my hand shot up. I was in group one with Tim, Ashley and Nathaniel (all pacific princess dancer/cruise staff. Cruise staff represent!). We boarded our boat and sliced through the sea towards our destination – a cage tied to a buoy about 3 km away.
The day was warm but the water was freezing. All the while during our transit to the cage, I was being slapped by damp hanging wetsuits that already began to freeze me. Also, the chum bucket, containing all sorts of fish guts was being stirred and readied. Once we reached the cage and it was safely secured, we were instructed to don our wetsuits, booties and masks. We then slid down into the cage.
The cage itself was about 1.5m wide, 2.5 m tall and maybe 5m wide - the proportions for 4 people to fit snugly alongside one another with only mild claustrophobia. Once the first shark had been sighted, attracted by the stinky chum we were about to swim in, we slid down into the cage one at a time. The water was breathtakingly cold- about 10 degrees centigrade. The dive master then threw out the “lure” (a giant fish head) and shouted directions for us to look. You then had to push yourself under the frigid water and hook your feet under a yellow bar to keep you submerged.
And there it was. Great white shark. Coming straight for us. Seeing these huge creatures close up was unbelievable. Over the course of the day we saw 10 sharks, ranging in size from 2.5 to 4m in length. They mouthed the cage and hit it with their tails. At times the sharks were only 40cm or so away from us. Once out of the cage, it was still thrilling to watch the shark’s approach, especially when they breached the water’s surface, teeth gnashing, just like jaws. When we saw the 4m shark, it was simply unbelievable. So big- and SO FAST. If you were to fall out of the boat, you would not stand a chance against these giants.
After two dives each, the sharks gradually dispersed. We then visited Seal Island to see what brought the sharks for 100’s of miles to this one spot. The seals were cute, but I have never smelt anything more offensive. The scent was an abomination – kind of like... I can’t even compare it to anything – but no wonder the sharks find them so easily – they REEK!
We watched the video of our trip back on dry land with vegetable soup and coffee, then got in the minibus for our trip back. Our bus driver had, very intelligently, got us a huge quantity of beer, which we all smashed on the 2 hour drive. It was one of the best bus rides I have ever experienced- people mooning passing traffic, singing along, going crazy, the boys peeing in the bush in a line not realising they were in full view of a school- classic times.
We got back to the ship very boozed and set about resurrecting ourselves for the night ahead. It was so cool to get ready to actually GO OUT somewhere... getting ready to go to the crew bar has some how lost its allure.
I’m not going to go into detail about the night out on the town but after many detours a big group of us ended up in some random club – mercury I think? They were playing crazy dubstep music and everything got rather hazy from that point. I do know Nat, Jas and I made it back to the ship at about 4am, where we collapsed into our bunks and passed out.
Next morning, Toby, Jas, Sam, Amy and I met at the gangway at 9am to begin our day of “exploring cape town”. I was particularly impressed to see Toby on time as, rumour had it, he was seen walking up the gangway only one hour earlier as the disembarking passengers left the ship.
That day we took the cable car up the magnificent table mountain and spend about two hours on top posing for photos and enjoying the unbelievable view. We then went on a wild goose chase for Nandos, which unfortunately ended at KFC on the dockside. Then we shopped up a storm in the dockside shopping centre until heading back to the ship for a much needed power nap
Sail away was absolutely beautiful. The sun was setting over the sea as we sailed away from port, and we were followed by dolphins, porpoises and seals. It was an amazing finish to two mind blowing days in one of the best cities in the world. I can’t wait to get back to Cape Town- the atmosphere and ambiance is unmatched by anything I’ve ever seen.
Next stop on the African Adventure portion of the world cruise was Namibia. I was IPM for the first port, Luderitz. Apparently it wasn’t very exciting. The next port was Walvis Bay. Welcome to the skeleton coast. This is the part of the world where the desert stretches all the way down to the sea, rising in magnificent sand dunes as far as the eye can see. A big group of us decided to go into the desert that day … on quad bikes. I can’t tell you how much fun it was gunning it along the sand, then riding up the side of a huge crescent dune to come careering down the other face at breakneck pace. It was terrifying and hair raising and so much fun. We rode for about an hour and a half, following our guide to the most amazing vistas and then down to the beach. Things got a little hectic towards the end when certain people got a little careless... but we all made it back unscathed... although we did pass ashley’s original quad bike half submerged in quicksand on the way home. Getting off those bikes, we felt as if we could conquer the world. Namibia is quite an interesting place... it’s like South Africa but extremely sandy and a bit more chilled out. It seems like the different races get along a lot better as well.
Following Namibia we spent four “glorious” days at sea (yuck), before hitting Lome, the capital of Togo. This was “real” Africa. We took a shuttle bus into town, and looking out the window during the ride, the comment was made “this place is going to be WAY too hardcore for our passengers”.
WE were dropped off at a tourist market, where extremely insistent shop keepers annoyed the crap out of us. I bought a little mask key ring, a pair of crazy African pants (which I later discovered, I am too fat for), a carved wooden game of “scruitiny” and regrettably, an overpriced skirt that I purchased due to the lack of ability to escape the seller. We then escaped the hustlers of the tourist market to walk the streets of the town. It seems that markets extended about 10km in all directions. We walked for maybe an hour and a half and saw no break in the frenetic stores laden with all sorts of goods. The streets were packed out with people, some carrying their wares (including pets) on giant pillars on their heads. Once we hit this area, no one noticed us, and it was amazing just to walk through and observe this crazy-busy world. Cars and motorbikes hurtled between the meandering pedestrians, about with about 6 near-accidents occurring every minute.
We then caught a taxi out to the “fetish market”. This market is the centre for purchasing ingredients for voodoo spells and black magic- which is big in Togo. The market consisted of a patch of dirt surrounded by shacks. Out the front of each shack were huge tables piled to capacity with freakish dried creatures and monkey skulls. The dried creatures were all partially decomposed, their fur and entrails still clinging to the bones. The dried bodies of rats, Snakes, Lizards, Birds, Owls and even meerkats lay there on the tables... their little eyes closed with horrible expressions on their faces. There was a freaky monkey as well. It was SO cool! A little man took us into his hut and explained black magic and white magic etc. then we browsed the aisles of this deathly supermarket. I bought a “souvenir” voodoo doll – a horrible little wooden figure with all these nails stuck into it and freakish human hair on its head. SO AWESOME!
Whilst waiting to get on the bus, we were all held up by one of the waiters from the dining room, who had come ashore with only his crew card, had some voodoo spells cast on him and didn’t have the $100 to pay. I told him if he gave me $50 I would put a curse on him.
And that is where we are up to. After leaving Ghana, we will sail for three days to Senegal where we will be docking in Dakar. Then it’s on to Madeira, Gibraltar and then we are into the Med! I can’t believe the world cruise has almost come to an end! 2 weeks to go! After that... Hello Greek islands!
Today we are in Tema, capital of Ghana. Just the fact that I have had the opportunity to be in Ghana blows my mind. Unfortunately, I am IPM, meaning I’m stuck on the ship all day. But from what I can see it looks like a fairly modern port. From where I’m sitting, I can glimpse…… a container port (oh god so sick of constant complaints from passengers regarding or docking in container ports.. its Africa.. they don’t have cruise terminals).
Beyond the limits of the fairly modern industrial docklands I can see several high rise buildings, the towering lights of a soccer stadium and rows of brick housing fading into the distance. There are only new cars in view – and the tour busses all look comfortable and air conditioned. And sadly, this will be the total of my experience of Ghana.
We’ve been in Africa (or the seas around the said continent) for the past 10 days and it has been absolutely stunning. Nights out in Cape Town, visiting the little Xhosa orphan girls and mama tutu in the African Savannah, Quad biking in the towering dunes of Namibia surviving the surreally frenetic markets of Togo – this is a continent of dynamic contrasts. Every place we have visited has been strikingly different from the last.
Our first port of call on the African continent was Maputo, an interesting city with dilapidated and abandoned Portuguese buildings lining the streets, yet with a brilliant new mall set to the west of the city centre. Mozambique is a country with strong South African influences, and although very dusty, was hardly what you would think of when told you were going to a small city in an impoverished African nation. It was very pleasant; a fairly laid back place, with all the action centred on the main market, an enclosed place full of vendors selling almost anything you could imagine. There were wide open vistas filled with fresh fruits, meats, baskets and vegetables which lead on to claustrophobic lanes fully enveloped by their vendors stores and hanging with beauty products, snack options and swatches of hair. There were so many swatches of hair that at points, you had to physically push through them to advance any further. I wondered if I would end up in Narnia.
Maputo Mall was a direct contrast to this. A sparkling jewel of cement and glass, this gaudy building appears to be the pride of the city. Boasting a huge array of shops including a modern grocery store, clothes shops and a big fat Nike store smacked in the middle, It could have been anywhere in the world (despite the fact that there was no ATM within 2 kilometres- we were informed it was “all credit cards”in the centre). After wandering, we found our way to a wonderful alfresco dining area dotted with nice restaurants (a la South Bank). We sat in the communal area in the middle and were able to order from several restaurants at the same time. It was a big group, so nice to have plenty of space to spread out. I ordered food from the Lebanese restaurant, but chicken cottage and some unnamed place were also bringing food to our banquet table. We sat in the sun, drank beers, ate food, had a shisha pipe (thanks to the Lebanese restaurant) and watched the people go about their daily lives. Everyone we saw seemed to be well dressed and happy, although security at the gate probably had something to do with this. They are so proud of this mall. In the grocery store, I found stacks of exercise books and school stationary printed with pictures of the mall and details about it. In Maputo, they don't have Barbie or superman on their school books – they have Maputo Mall.
Our next stop was South Africa. I have always had mixed feelings about my desire to visit this country. I mean, I knew the natural splendour would be unmatchable, but I was unsure about the people. A lot of South Africans live in Australia, and in general, I have found them all to be racists and... Well, to be frank, elitist snobs (not ALL of them, mind you, but MOST).
We first stopped in Durban, where I was IPM. Our second stop was East London, a mid-sized city on the Eastern Cape. I was lucky enough to score a tour to the “cultural village”, which turned out to be pretty much the best thing ever!
Along with two busloads of passengers (fortunately including several of my favourites), I was ferried through the savannah into Xhosa country. The whole area was treated like a different country during Apartheid, where this group was particularly oppressed by the regime. The landscape was stunning. The village had been set up as a Canadian initiative to preserve the Xhosa culture. Upon arrival to the village we were met by 15 girls, ranging in age from 6 to 13, singing and dancing at us as we walked down the grassy path to the speckling of huts that constituted the village. I cannot even begin to explain how gorgeous these little girls were. Wearing nothing but little white skirts they sung to us in four part harmony. Upon seeing me – who obviously was young and “pretty” (I guess.. to them) they forcibly attached themselves to me. At one point, I was holding 6 little hands in my own as we walked the village. Upon arrival they did a full song and dance concert for us, showcasing their traditional dancing.
After this, we were separated into two groups – males and females. The menfolk went down to the “circumcision hut” to learn about that ritual’s place in our culture and we accompanied the matriarch, Mama Tofu into the learning hut. Mama Tofu talked to us about women’s business- and teaching the girls about sex education. They have a terrible AIDS problem in the area – Mama Tofu said there are around two funerals a week. She takes care of 15 little orphans at her home in her own village. They try to get the girls to stay virgins – even doing a virgin test. The virgin test, interestingly enough, is to get all the girls to stand in a line and have them jump on the spot for up to 20 minutes. She says that after 10 minutes, girls that have not remained abstinent have to stop. She says “you can see the spark is gone”. Mama Tofu at 92 was sprightly and a real comedienne and a real inspiration of what a strong woman can do for her community.
There was a craft market and a splendid buffet lunch, cooked for us by mama tofu’s daughters in traditional pots on traditional fire pit in a tradititional hut. It was amazing! No one could really believe what a wonderful experience we had just had. Saying goodbye to the girls was hard- they wouldn’t let go, and one of the little ones even cried and chased after our busses as we left. Absolutely gorgeous.
The next stop was the one we had all been waiting for – Cape Town! This marked the end of the third segment of the world cruise, and we said goodbye to many passengers who had become good friends throughout the duration of the first three segments. Cape Town was also my first experience of an overnight in port- and I couldn’t wait to get out on the town.
But before the partying came... Shark diving. A group of 10 of us had had this planned for over a month, and had been counting down the days til our great white shark diving adventure. And the day had finally arrived. Come 9am, we bundled into a mini bus and began the 2 hour trip to our destination, a small coastal town known as the Great White Shark capital of SA. The town is in close proximity to seal island, drawing the itinerant sharks from the entire coast to the flesh rich waters.
It was an absolutely stunning day when we arrived in town, blue sky and sea stretching long to the horizon. We met our diving instructor at Shark Lady Tours and snacked on hot buttered muffins as we received our instructions on how the day would run. We were told the dangers, how we might see sharks up to 6 metres, how they might attack the cage or mouth the bars. When asked who would like to go first, of course my hand shot up. I was in group one with Tim, Ashley and Nathaniel (all pacific princess dancer/cruise staff. Cruise staff represent!). We boarded our boat and sliced through the sea towards our destination – a cage tied to a buoy about 3 km away.
The day was warm but the water was freezing. All the while during our transit to the cage, I was being slapped by damp hanging wetsuits that already began to freeze me. Also, the chum bucket, containing all sorts of fish guts was being stirred and readied. Once we reached the cage and it was safely secured, we were instructed to don our wetsuits, booties and masks. We then slid down into the cage.
The cage itself was about 1.5m wide, 2.5 m tall and maybe 5m wide - the proportions for 4 people to fit snugly alongside one another with only mild claustrophobia. Once the first shark had been sighted, attracted by the stinky chum we were about to swim in, we slid down into the cage one at a time. The water was breathtakingly cold- about 10 degrees centigrade. The dive master then threw out the “lure” (a giant fish head) and shouted directions for us to look. You then had to push yourself under the frigid water and hook your feet under a yellow bar to keep you submerged.
And there it was. Great white shark. Coming straight for us. Seeing these huge creatures close up was unbelievable. Over the course of the day we saw 10 sharks, ranging in size from 2.5 to 4m in length. They mouthed the cage and hit it with their tails. At times the sharks were only 40cm or so away from us. Once out of the cage, it was still thrilling to watch the shark’s approach, especially when they breached the water’s surface, teeth gnashing, just like jaws. When we saw the 4m shark, it was simply unbelievable. So big- and SO FAST. If you were to fall out of the boat, you would not stand a chance against these giants.
After two dives each, the sharks gradually dispersed. We then visited Seal Island to see what brought the sharks for 100’s of miles to this one spot. The seals were cute, but I have never smelt anything more offensive. The scent was an abomination – kind of like... I can’t even compare it to anything – but no wonder the sharks find them so easily – they REEK!
We watched the video of our trip back on dry land with vegetable soup and coffee, then got in the minibus for our trip back. Our bus driver had, very intelligently, got us a huge quantity of beer, which we all smashed on the 2 hour drive. It was one of the best bus rides I have ever experienced- people mooning passing traffic, singing along, going crazy, the boys peeing in the bush in a line not realising they were in full view of a school- classic times.
We got back to the ship very boozed and set about resurrecting ourselves for the night ahead. It was so cool to get ready to actually GO OUT somewhere... getting ready to go to the crew bar has some how lost its allure.
I’m not going to go into detail about the night out on the town but after many detours a big group of us ended up in some random club – mercury I think? They were playing crazy dubstep music and everything got rather hazy from that point. I do know Nat, Jas and I made it back to the ship at about 4am, where we collapsed into our bunks and passed out.
Next morning, Toby, Jas, Sam, Amy and I met at the gangway at 9am to begin our day of “exploring cape town”. I was particularly impressed to see Toby on time as, rumour had it, he was seen walking up the gangway only one hour earlier as the disembarking passengers left the ship.
That day we took the cable car up the magnificent table mountain and spend about two hours on top posing for photos and enjoying the unbelievable view. We then went on a wild goose chase for Nandos, which unfortunately ended at KFC on the dockside. Then we shopped up a storm in the dockside shopping centre until heading back to the ship for a much needed power nap
Sail away was absolutely beautiful. The sun was setting over the sea as we sailed away from port, and we were followed by dolphins, porpoises and seals. It was an amazing finish to two mind blowing days in one of the best cities in the world. I can’t wait to get back to Cape Town- the atmosphere and ambiance is unmatched by anything I’ve ever seen.
Next stop on the African Adventure portion of the world cruise was Namibia. I was IPM for the first port, Luderitz. Apparently it wasn’t very exciting. The next port was Walvis Bay. Welcome to the skeleton coast. This is the part of the world where the desert stretches all the way down to the sea, rising in magnificent sand dunes as far as the eye can see. A big group of us decided to go into the desert that day … on quad bikes. I can’t tell you how much fun it was gunning it along the sand, then riding up the side of a huge crescent dune to come careering down the other face at breakneck pace. It was terrifying and hair raising and so much fun. We rode for about an hour and a half, following our guide to the most amazing vistas and then down to the beach. Things got a little hectic towards the end when certain people got a little careless... but we all made it back unscathed... although we did pass ashley’s original quad bike half submerged in quicksand on the way home. Getting off those bikes, we felt as if we could conquer the world. Namibia is quite an interesting place... it’s like South Africa but extremely sandy and a bit more chilled out. It seems like the different races get along a lot better as well.
Following Namibia we spent four “glorious” days at sea (yuck), before hitting Lome, the capital of Togo. This was “real” Africa. We took a shuttle bus into town, and looking out the window during the ride, the comment was made “this place is going to be WAY too hardcore for our passengers”.
WE were dropped off at a tourist market, where extremely insistent shop keepers annoyed the crap out of us. I bought a little mask key ring, a pair of crazy African pants (which I later discovered, I am too fat for), a carved wooden game of “scruitiny” and regrettably, an overpriced skirt that I purchased due to the lack of ability to escape the seller. We then escaped the hustlers of the tourist market to walk the streets of the town. It seems that markets extended about 10km in all directions. We walked for maybe an hour and a half and saw no break in the frenetic stores laden with all sorts of goods. The streets were packed out with people, some carrying their wares (including pets) on giant pillars on their heads. Once we hit this area, no one noticed us, and it was amazing just to walk through and observe this crazy-busy world. Cars and motorbikes hurtled between the meandering pedestrians, about with about 6 near-accidents occurring every minute.
We then caught a taxi out to the “fetish market”. This market is the centre for purchasing ingredients for voodoo spells and black magic- which is big in Togo. The market consisted of a patch of dirt surrounded by shacks. Out the front of each shack were huge tables piled to capacity with freakish dried creatures and monkey skulls. The dried creatures were all partially decomposed, their fur and entrails still clinging to the bones. The dried bodies of rats, Snakes, Lizards, Birds, Owls and even meerkats lay there on the tables... their little eyes closed with horrible expressions on their faces. There was a freaky monkey as well. It was SO cool! A little man took us into his hut and explained black magic and white magic etc. then we browsed the aisles of this deathly supermarket. I bought a “souvenir” voodoo doll – a horrible little wooden figure with all these nails stuck into it and freakish human hair on its head. SO AWESOME!
Whilst waiting to get on the bus, we were all held up by one of the waiters from the dining room, who had come ashore with only his crew card, had some voodoo spells cast on him and didn’t have the $100 to pay. I told him if he gave me $50 I would put a curse on him.
And that is where we are up to. After leaving Ghana, we will sail for three days to Senegal where we will be docking in Dakar. Then it’s on to Madeira, Gibraltar and then we are into the Med! I can’t believe the world cruise has almost come to an end! 2 weeks to go! After that... Hello Greek islands!
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