To be or not to be......in Capetown

Well, things didn't turn out as we had wished it had.  After we landed, we were told to stay on the ship because the field trip people were working desparately to get a flight or even a charter to get us to Elizabethtown for our safari.  By 2 pm they told us we could leave the ship; we went shopping and walking around the city, which is gorgeous...still no news.  When we returned at 5 pm, we were told by a note on the field trip desk that our safari had been cancelled.  We were furious, but not surprised.   Bono was playing in concert Friday evening in Capetown, just down the way from our dock,  and there were no planes available for anyone to go anywhere. 


So.......Sat. morning we went shopping, bumped into Bob and Melody who said they had  booked a safari/trip overnight Sun. night so we went down and booked with them. (SAS is supposed to refund cancelled trips so hopefully we will receive a refund for our other safari.)  This is not a SAS approved trip but we couldn't get on any others.  So tomorrow we are leaving at 8 am for Inverdoorn Game reserve, 2-hour drive from Capetown and a reserve for 1000 cheetahs.  You can see it online and we're hoping it is good.  Nothing could compare, however, to our Serengeti safari 10 years ago.


Capetown is filled with visitors, some for the concert, others here because it's Sat. and it has a real European feeling.  The shopping center is fantastic, right next to our dock, with every kind of shop imaginable.  We walked for 5 hours today, had lunch on the waterfront (pizza and beer!), listened to a small band,  and came back for dinner to hear everyone's stories of their trips today.  It's so good to be in a clean, English-speaking, gorgeous city!  Snob that I am!

Capetown at last

Although we arrived in Capetown on Thursday at 8 am, we spent all day Thursday  circling in the South Atlantic  because the sea was rough, winds high and the pilot wouldn't take us in into port.  We kept getting reports that we would hear any time, but nothing came of all the announcements.  So last evening a bunch of us, Bob, Melody, Marshall, Ellen, Rick, Donna and Jeff all met in Donna and Rick's room next door and had a few! Announcements kept up all night until finally we just went to sleep.  We were told to be dressed, ready to go, in case immigration had come aboard during the night and the ship was cleared. 

We woke up at 4 am still cruising, everyone getting more and more upset because we can't get in.  Rumors were rampant.  Finally about an hour ago, 9:30 am Friday,  the Captain announced the the pilots would board in about an hour.  We were supposed to leave on our safari, along with hundreds of others, at 8 am so we'll see what time we actually land and get off the ship.  We have to pick up our passports (the Purser keeps them while we're on board) because we'll be flying to Elizabethtown and then drive to Keriga preserve.

In the meantime, Kelly, the IT whizkid, tracked our ship's path on GPS and this is what it looked like!  Capetown is in the lower right corner, right on the tip of South Africa.  Kelly and his wife, Mary, the librarian, are leaders of our safari so we ought to have a ball - if all the flights get changed, etc.

The picture of Capetown and Table Rock Mountain covered in a "tablecloth" cloud cover.

John wanted a picture of the ship, so here it is!

Well, we finally entered the Capetown port about 10:00 am.  Madhouse sorting out the delayed overnight and day trips. Immigration insists that each person do a face-to-face with an immigration official before receiving your passport. Our 8am safari trip is now scheduledfor 3pm.

On the briny seas!

This is what 0 latitude, 0 longitude looks like. Not it, but looks like it.  We crossed the equator on Friday, 2/11 but won't celebrate Neptune's Day until after we leave Mauritius bound for India.  The Captain announced that if we would look over the starboard side we would see the meeting of the longitue and latitude.  People actually rushed to the side to see the X marks the spot!  The sea was silken, shimmering and smooth and we enjoyed the smooth ride for about 4 days.

In addition to Global Studies, which everyone must take, I am now in John Cerrone's class on the United Nations and Human Rights.  He is brilliant, a Notre Dame law graduate, and he never looks at his notes.  He also makes the students do a lot of talking. The age of computers has changed the way professors lecture.  Bob, for instance, puts all of his lectures on ship's computers for students to read and he rarely refers to them, expecting the students to have read the lectures, he continues from there. However, we have all decided that probably 25% of the students are here to party and go on their own trips, not the SAS trips.  For many students, the courses will not transfer  to their university, so they don't care what grade they get as long as they pass.

                                                                

 Every day seems to roll  into another, breakfast, read, go to class, lunch, read, go to LLL class, dinner and movies or special events.  Many have been sick since Ghana with pretty serious bacterial upsets but so far we have been lucky.  Once the seas got rough yesterday, we both felt queasy.  But we take our seasick pills and we're fine.
We had a tour of the kitchen yesterday with John the first Officer or Hotelier.  He is a character, also English, as is the Captain, Jeremy.  The menus repeat once a month, although to me it seems like we have the same thing every day: pasta, curried something, salad, sandwiches, and some sort of meat.  The soups are the best.  There is also a bar/restaurant on the 7th deck where the students hang out, sunbath and does who knows what.  The kitchen keeps track of food thrown away, 40 some lbs a day for 1000 passengers, isn't bad.  We carry tons of water and he told us that when we arrive in India, we will be using mineral water for drinking water and for bathing, because they can't provide fresh water and we can't make water in the port.

We took our onboard kids for pizza and enjoyed hearing their experiences in Ghana and what they're going  to do inSouth Africa.  Most are going on independent trips, not SAS

trips as they are cheaper and they can go where they want to go.  We stick to SAS, dependable, air-conditioned busses, etc.  Some girls are going cage diving, diving with sharks!  This is actually prohibited and any injury will not be cover by  our medical insurance.

We have Rhoda Kadalie on board, a South African from Capetown, who is politically active, and has lectured several times on the good and bad about Capetown:  high HIV rate 85%., reducing life expectancy to 40, down 20 years in the last 10 years; high crime rate.  Mbeci, former president, denied that HIV existed, and refused to make antiviral available.  At least now, some drugs are available.

So here we are. Thursday morning, in Capetown, after a terribly rough night.  None of us got any sleep but then were told that we could not get into  our berth in Capetown as the winds were too strong at the harbor entrance for the ship to safely land!  So here we are going around in circles in the South Atlantic waiting for the winds to die down!  Rick has already missed  his Habitat for Humanity project and my guess is that we'll be here all day!  We better not miss our safari tomorrow!

Ghana and no water

A few facts about the Republic of Ghana: It is slightly smaller than Oregon; supplies most of the world's cocoa beans (and bauxite); there are over 50 languages spoken although English is the official language; is located almost on the equator so it is hot; was visited by President Obama in 2009, his first visit to an African country; and was a major port for the exportation of slaves.


 There are several "castles", more like  forts, where the slaves were held until they were sent abroad.  During the height of the slave trade, 1000 slaves were crammed into dungeons to await departure. These dark rooms contained little air, and those held captive, received little to no food and water with no facilities to eliminate waste.  Those who were "troublesome" were bound to dungeon walls, and women were often raped.  Those who died were thrown into the ocean.  Upon leaving the castle, Africans were forced through an opening that was called "The Door of No Return" as all those who departed through the doorway would never return to Africa again.


Interestingly, of the 10 million slaves forced across the Atlantic, only 5% of the slaves ended up in the US; most went to Brazil and the Caribbean Islands.  One of the reasons this percentage is low is because of the natural population growth.  The largest trading countries were the British, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese.


The reason we have no water is a mystery.  First the Captain said there would be no laundry while we are in port; then he said no china would be used, only paper plates and cups; then the said the water would be turned off from 10 pm to 7 am.  Then last night the Asst. to the Dean (The Voice) announced that water would be turned off from 10 pm to 7 pm tonight!  And we may have the same routine tomorrow night.  The rumors are rampant:  the City couldn't supply enough fresh water and we couldn't use water from the ocean to desalinate because it is too dirty in port.  We do have drinking water.    We leave tomorrow night and we have already packed up our dirty laundry to send as soon as the ship hits open ocean.

The Voice is so called because she makes all of the announcements at 9 am, noon and 5 pm, and in between.  Her voice is rather harsh, so  whenever she makes an announcement, everyone cringes.  Turns out she's a litigation attorney!  Figures.

We have as much fun watching the port traffic and  the loading and unloading of container ships.  The cocoa beans in burlap bags arrive on huge trucks, driven into the warehouse, loaded into containers and trucks take the containers to the ship for the cranes to take on board.  Watching the loading of containers on the ship is like watching a dance: all the containers are piled on the pier; frontend loaders pick them up and put them on the pier for the cranes to lift onto the ship.  Yesterday, there was a container ship with three cranes unloading and was gone this morning.  It was huge.  I can't understand why the ship doesn't tip over in heavy seas.

Walked to the Central Market one morning, about 2 miles after a shuttle bus ride to the port entrance. Bought some Kente print fabric. Print being the operative word. Real Kente fabric is thick, almost beaded and of a distinctive pattern. Got the print of the pattern. Heavy bargaining to determine final cost. Getting better, but I don't think I took advantage of any of the vendors.  The market is a huge circle and you can find most anything in or around it. VERY narrow aisles going every which way with sellers also babysitting and cooking at/in their stalls.

This is the lady that Prof Cecil and I bought fabric from. Lots of choices. Note the children in lower left. As we walked through and around the market, we saw everything from eggs to appliances.  Remember that most have no refrigeration, so they must go to market every day. Not unusual to see a purchase of one or two eggs; or a potato.
 The market appeared to be segmented by various groups/tribes and/or religons.  You always ask before taking a persons picture. Most are happy to allow it and overjoyed to see the digital image. However, some were very outspoken about denying one to take their picture. Okay to film the product but not the person.  

Saw some interesting architecture.






A stairway to an abandoned building.




An exterior stairway to everywhere.




And a modern bank building.
Note the barbed wire fence around the bank. Not unusual!

Ghana, West Africa, Port of Takoradi

Before we get to Ghana...... after our tour of the bridge, the Captain told us the story of the MV Explorer in 2005, and if I had known about it, might not have come on the trip.  What happened is that on the way from Japan to Hawaii, the ship was caught in three converging storms with waves 40 feet high.  A monster wave crashed through a bridge window, flooding the control room and all the controls.  It tool 45 min. to start the engines manually, while the ship was tossed about at 45  degree angles in troughs of the swells. The only compass the Captain had was a small compass from a lifeboat.  Using this compass, they sailed 800 miles to Hawaii.  There was extensive structural damage and many injuries to the passengers.  But apparently it is fixed!!!

Saturday evening we had dinner with our onboard "children" on the 7th deck where we can get hamburgers, pizzas, smoothies, etc.  Of course, they all had pizza and they told us what they had done in the Olympics.

We arrived in Ghana Sunday February 6 at 8 am (another Sunday port!), an English speaking country, formerly a British colony.   We could smell land long before we got here: the smell of charcoal burning or the burning of the fields by farmers, I don't know which.  This is the dry season and the smog in the morning is dreadful until the sun burns it off.  We went on a bus tour (we got to ride in a small bus - big buses carry 50 passengers) of the cities, Sekondi and Takoradi which turned out to be a tour of a fishing village.  The village was built right on the beautiful white beach.  Children came running from everywhere to follow all 60 of us trooping through the shacks, ships, nets and garbage. The guides showed us the ships they build, quite impressive given the materials, how they throw out nets and how they dry the fish: salt and air.

     The houses were really shacks with no facilities and no sleeping areas that we could see.  However, they all looked pretty healthy although there has to be a lot of disease with open sewage and filth on the beach.  We then had lunch at a nice hotel and the food was good.  Then someone complained to the guide that we were supposed to have a tour of the city and a tour of a cocoa factory, cocoa being a major export.  So we drove back to Takoradi which is really a series of shacks for houses and businesses.  The dominance of Christianity is very evident:  boats are named My Father, Heavenly God, as are the businesses, Jesus is Alive Beauty Salon, God is Good Telephone Co., etc.  Seventh Day Adventists just built a huge new temple.  In fact, the largest and nicest buildings are banks and churches.  This is really a Third World country, with poverty everywhere, where garbage is thrown wherever one chooses, there are no garbage collectors, and buildings are built with whatever materials are available.  The city streets are paved but once you leave the city, there are pot holes everywhere  Of course the tour operators only show you the  best .                                                                                                                                                              

We drove past Monkey Mountain but didn't see any monkeys.  Then we came to the center of Takoradi where there is a huge circular market, selling everything on earth, literally:  used shoes, fabric, salted fish, charcoal, vegetables, clothing, etc. Very smelly.  Upon our return, hawkers were set up beside the dock which we investigated but then went to the Duty Free Store to see what they had.  Super Bowl game was televised on board ship, started at 1 am.  We didn't go to the Union to watch.  And then Montezuma's revenge struck me with fury and I spent the next day on board ship while Rick went on Habitat for Humanity trip, which he'll tell you about.  Joan

Habitat for Humanity project. Traveled North for 3 hour bus ride to a small village, then onto VERY primitive dirt road for 3-4 more miles. All this in a 48 passenger bus.  My first time 4 wheeling in a bus.  Then we walked a mile or more to a building site of six homes in various degrees of completion.


We split up into groups of six to work on the homes.  Our first job was finishing a 8 foot deep pit for the septic tank. the digging was 3 foot when we started. I got pulled off after about 2 foot more. 3 young ladies did most of the scooping out after two Ghanaians pick axed the dirt.  The guys seemed to find other stuff to do. Not sure what it was tho. At days end the pit was 8 foot deep and ready to be lined with concrete(?) blocks. They make their own blocks. The real work crew is lower right.

All the homes are of cinder block construction, corrugated metal roofing and windows with rebar instead of glass. I worked with one of the locals installing door frames. Most unusual, first removing the bracing used when 5 foot of block was laid. When we set the taller frames, any gaps were simply plugged with mortar. Looks ragged but everything gets an adobe sort of coating to smooth things out. No electric or indoor water. Primitive by our standards but way better than anything I saw outside the city.

At sea frivolity and entertainment, i.e. Neptune Olympics!

What a wild and wacky week!  I wondered what we were going to do for 7 days crossing the Atlantic to Ghana and now we know.  Maybe it's because we are in 25,000 feet of ocean or in the Doldrums or something, but this has been absolutely crazy.


First all of the students are divided into groups called Seas: Bering, Red, Yellow, Mediterrean, Baltic, Carribbean, Arabian, and Aegean.  We as LLCs called ourselves Sea Salts and the faculty and staff were called Luna for " Lunacy". We have several young persons in LLC, 27, 36 and early 40s who organized us.  We learned cheers, songs, had banners, shredded laundry bags for pompoms, had head bands, etc.and practiced for 2 days prior to events.  Wednesday evening was the kickoff at 9 pm.  We, all dressed in white (each Sea had a different color) gathered in the Lounge and entered the Union as a group. We sang and cheered our way to the front, where thank God  we had seats.  Then all of the other Seas came in one by one,  The noise from the yelling and cheering was outrageous.  There was so much testerone in the auditorium, it moved the ship.


Each Sea paraded its banner, did its cheer and song, including our group.  Our men even did a pyramid with Amy on top which was a real hit.  Rick was in the second tier on top of poor Jeff and Dick. Each element was judged by a panel of faculty and staff and guess who won!  We had perfect 10s and the next best had 2 9s and 1-10.

The Olympics were held the next day.  Games included volleyball, basketball, balancing pingpong ball on a spoon, 3-legged race, synchronized swimming, etc.  The day dawned, raining torrential showers but by noon had stopped.  The crew squigeed off the decks and swimming was first event.  I can't begin to describe our team.  Only photos can tell the story.  They were dressed in swimming trunks, (except Boyd, age 86, who wore his whitey BVDs), life jackets, shower caps and white towel capes with S on back and swam to Superman music.  It was ridiculously funny. The pool area was packed with students who hooted and hollered of course.  The did their synchornized swimming as best they could with life jackets on !The students were actually very original and good, others were not.

The LLLs then went down to watch Tug-of-War.  Our team consisted of the 5 oldest women in the group, 88, 80, 77, 75 and 73.  They walked on canes and I thought the guys on the other end were going to die.  They didn't know what to do. The original plan was the women were going to pretend to pull and then let go and let the guys fall down.  Finally, the women just kind of slid over the line and let them win.  What hoots they received.

Jim, Theresa, Carol and I competed in building a tower from 2 decks of cards.  I had googled how to do it and we had practised for days.  Well!  We knew these kids were smarter than we are, but didn't imagine how inventive they would be. We were allowed to tear or mutilate the cards (didn't know that beforehand) and they had towers12 stories high.  Ours immediately collapsed and our group kept coming back to us,saying do it this way, or that way.  We were miserable failures.  The rolling of the ship didn't help!

                                                                         

By the time the games were over, we were exhausted and headed to the Lounge for cocktails.  Then  the crew prepared a great barbecue - ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, etc. and even ice cream for dessert.  We stuffed ourselves on the ribs and ice cream. Then at 8 pm, the closing ceremonies were held.  Of course, emphasis had been made on good sportsmanship, fair play, etc. but still were the annoucements were made as to the winners, there were...not boos exactly, but a 3-way tie for 3rd place satisfied a lot of students.


The Sea Salts didn't win anything in the Olympics.  Synchonized swimming was disqualified because they took too much time, mainly in getting out of the pool and people wanting to take pictures.  However, we did win the best cheering.


The next morning many students had tests and others slept in, so it was a very quiet ship.  We did a tour of the bridge. Joan

Scary thought, That is Joan at the controls of our ship!  EEEEK!!!

Four (4) engines driving 2 shafts w/staggered propellers that can be feathered to any degree.

Max speed to date was 32.5 knots running for high tide as we exited the Amazon.

Needed the depth of high tide as we only had 18 inches depth entering the river. Rick

In the Argentina current on the Atlantic Ocean

Well here we are heading for Ghana crossing from the Amazon to Africa.  We left Manaus Thursday evening after a few rather uneventful days.  However, before we hit the ocean, we sent our laundry out, got my hair cut (don't trust scissors in waves), tried out our walky-talkies with Rick in Manaus and me on the ship (they work), bought some beer and gin in town,  and rearranged bottles and things in the bathroom.  We went from 19 meters on the River to 4480 meters depth on the ocean, in a half a day.

This view of Faculty/Staff lounge in the bow and on the upper (7th) deck.  Quiet time all day, bar opens at 5:30 PM. LLL's meet here each day at 4:30.

                                                                                    

On Friday on the River, we anchored to let American and Brazilian diplomats off and also to bring on some Brazilian National Health officials after we learned that a little girl was bitten by a monkey and some others were scratched.  All received the shots and the officials said the monkey was put down.  All who were bitten were on a home visit in the jungle with a family who kept the monkey as a pet.   All passengers were warned not to touch monkeys but apparently the monkey jumped on the little girl.  The little girl is a dependant of a faculty member.  There are probably 10 children on board and they go to school here.


It's funny, rumors are rampant on the ship.  From how many people have gone off the ship to why we always land on Sundays to when we're going to have tacos for lunch!  The Dean's Memo, which is on the intranet, always dispells these rumors with facts.


Saturday we had dinner with our onboard family.  400 students signed up for surrogate-like parents and were asssigned to each LLL who volunteered.  We have 5 students, Paul from .U. of Maine, Carla from Bentley in Boston, Natalie from U. of Colo., Brittany from Marquette, Hannah from Viterbo in Wisc., and Kyle who adopted us as his family.  Had a lively dinner with them and we'll do several dinners, etc. with them during the course of the voyage.  They can talk to us anytime about anything, although there is a resident psychologist on board.


That same evening, our cultural group met, which started out as a book review group.  The students talked about their experiences in Brazil, especially those who went to Rio.   While we were meeting, the seas began to get rough and I didn't have my bracelets on, nor had I taken myclicine, so no sooner did I get back to our cabin, then I threw up and continued to do so all night.  I spent yesterday  in bed and both Rick and I slept all day.  I couldn't keep anything down until today, even though the seas turned calm.  It is just beautiful out there now, blue skies, blue seas.


We've been invited to dine with the Captain this evening, first group to do so, a combination of students, faculty and LLLs.

                                               Our cabin with balcony and hide-a-bed

                              Students running from ferries through torrential rain to get on ship.