Additional Comment and Reader Updates on Cape Verde

I want to thank my readers for the following e-mails this morning:

On Wednesday, February 29, 2012, Marc Raizman wrote:

CABO VERDE.  Sometimes the B sound approaches  a P.  At other times, the E in verde shrinks and almost disappears.

That is how I remember hearing it pronounced many years ago while visiting Portugal and hearing a bunch of 

Cabo Verdeans speak. In the intermediate years the pronunciation may have changed because of the success of some of its musicians who have since gained an international audience.

Best, Marc Raizman

 On Wednesday, February 29, 2012, Helene Scheff wrote:

The kids I had in school who were from this region pronounced it CAPE VERD... Large immigrant Portuguese population in RI and nearby Fall River MA. Emeril Lagasse hails from Fall River but doesn't have a restaurant in NE

 

Just to balance the sharing of information...

You guys look great

Helene

Now, an additional weird narration from our guide yesterday as we returned along the coast road to Porto Novo, Cape Verde Islands:

As we passed through a coastal town, the guide pointed out that we were at the site of a leper colony. Oddly enough, a sign indicated not that but that the area was called, "Sinagog". The guide mentioned the sign as this was also the place, "where people went to celebrate Yol Kipur." We were in and out of the area very quickly, and that was it. Lots to Google when we get home.

Above: albatrosses hovering around our veranda a few minutes ago. We are 200 miles west of Mauritania en route the Canary Islands, arriving at Las Palmas Thursday morning. Now cocktail time. 

 

Porto Novo, Cape Verde Islands Pictures

Praia, Cape Verde Island Pictures

An Island Nation With Ambiguous Pronunciation of Its Name, To Say the Least

Wednesday, 29 February 2012 - At Sea between Cape Verde Islands and The Canary Islands

Cape Verde Islands

It is not clear how to pronounce the Cape Verde Islands. I asked around and got the explanation that the locals say what sounds like capo verdie but English speakers and "The Portuguese" say that this 200 mile long archipelago of nine inhabited and a bunch of uninhabited very volcanic tropical islands 400 miles west of Senegal is called something like cape verd. Since the local language is a dialect of Portuguese, all this seemed a moot point, or at least one that wouldn't be answered. But that question is nothing compared to those questions that arose from what we saw during our two day long visits to islands at opposite ends of the now independent country.

After Muslim Gambia and the seemingly happy Ghana, it seemed strange to find that this clearly African island nation was distinctly European in architecture, religion, and way of life. Of course with a colonial history dating back hundreds of years, Canada and the USA  can be said to be "European" rather than Eskimo or American Indian. Tourism is just developing, mostly by "French Trekkers" (hikers) in the very, very volcanic north, but the most luxurious hotel we saw had a top rack rate of less than 60 euro. This country is poor.

So poor, as a matter or fact, that the largest sources of income we were told are from, 1) Remittances from Cape Verdians who live in Europe or the US, and 2) aid from "China (of course), France, Italy, and Luxembourg." Italy and Luxembourg? I didn't know that Luxembourg gives foreign aid. When our guide talked about the recent elections for Prime Minister and President, it occurred to me that the leaders are elected here for their fund raising abilities primarily. Kind of like university presidents and deans.  

After two days, one a full day exploration of the very scenic most northern island, I can say I know what I looked at but not what I saw. So here's my brief report. I'll let the pictures say the rest.

Monday - Praia, Santiago Island, CVI

Our first stop in my 137th country visited (but who's counting) was at the capital city of Praia. We took the Silversea shuttle bus the short distance to the "Plateau", the site of the busy downtown. I found a amateur radio antenna installation--my first "D4" observed. After checking out the fortifications--always with canons aimed at the occasional cruise ship--we walked extensively around the (3) main streets, visited the proverbial busy public market, checked out the mixture of Western and African street life, and returned to the ship to enjoy the scene of peaches being loaded on a small cargo boat for a very long time. 

Tuesday - Porto Novo, San Antonio Island, CVI

A full, and I mean full, day excursion was a highlight of our voyage so far. We departed the port--which actually is still under construction--so we didn't actually dock at the port but used the ship's tenders to get ashore. The tour was quite comprehensive, if by comprehensive you mean driving a 100 miles or more on one lane mountain roads up and down precipitous cliffs and through very small villages. The volcanic craters were spectacular, terraced farming was everywhere including places where the ever popular family goat had to be bred with shorter front legs than back ones and the family donkey (used instead of pick up trucks I concluded) had to be taught to lean against rocks to keep its footing. The towns were very basic, and the local houses were actually one room concrete affairs. "We have a concrete factory, paid for by the Italians", said the guide. By the way, the Chinese are building roads and maybe an airport, he also said. I didn't ask and will probably never find out what the Luxembourgians are paying for. It sure wasn't Internet access.

I'll have more to say later, and I'm sure Barbara's blog will address this place in more (useful) detail. So check http://barbara-africa1202.blogspot.com in a few days.

Taking Chance a change on The Gambia or Are There More Than One Gambius?

Saturday, 25 February 2012 - Banjul, The Gambia

Arrived at dawn this morning at this long and narrow country that barely straddles the Gambia River for 300 miles from its Atlantic mouth and is completely contained within Senegal. Banjul is the 43,000 population capital. The guidebook boasts as well as exaggerates as it says, "Most of the streets are paved."

Some initial experiences from our quick morning shuttle bus visit as a real half day "city tour" will give us a more comprehensive view commencing in an hour from now.

1. A long boat ferry (the fast way to cross the miles wide mouth of the river compared to the "bucket o' rust" car ferry) provides a guy to carry individual passengers on his shoulders into the surf to avoid their getting their clothes wet. We are told that his "fare" is about 20 cents US.

2. The articulate local tourist guy told me that he is from the interior of country about 100 miles up river. He said that is where the real Africa is. "Banjul is really Europe", he said. He certainly has never been to or seen pictures of Europe.

3. There are feral dogs and goats throughout Banjul.

4. Our tour was delayed from this morning to the afternoon due to the "Monthly National Clean-up Day". We saw one lady in town making a small pile of debris. So, I guess the campaign is working.

5. Two Belgian couples from the ship who were on the shuttle bus this morning asked to get a taxi to visit something called, "The crocodile pond". The bus driver said, "You can get a taxi, but the pond is closed and you might be arrested by the police since this morning is clean up day." They chose to allez maintenant au bateau instead. Wise choice.

Now for lunch. More after the city tour....

Sunday, 26 February 2012 - At Sea on westerly course from Banjul to Praia, Cape Verde Islands

Yesterday's half day tour of Banjul and nearby Bakau exceeded the expectations we had after the morning shuttle when the entire country of The Gambia closed for "Clean-Up Day", actually a dictated half day each last Saturday of month when even taxis are banned from operating. By early afternoon, the port area and more than 200,000 population area nearby (10 mile away Bakau is much larger than the capital) was hopping. The Gambia (called "The Gambia" because the country straddles The Gambia River, the somewhat burnt out guide told us) is the English speaking sliver of a dictatorship surrounded by the very much larger Senegal, a perhaps uncontrollable place where French is spoken. More I don't know, even if there actually was pre-election day unrest that was the cause of our rescheduling Banjul instead of Dakar for yesterday's port call. That is the way of cruise ship travel, the life we've chosen to quote a scene from The Godfather.

Speaking of, our drive through the mostly mangrove area around Banjul was marked by a good road (with police check points--not photographed out of courtesy and self preservation) and perhaps a telling juxtaposition of a sign proclaiming the benevolence of the leader of the country and one of the four GSM cell phone companies. The latter, by the way, was worth at least 10 minutes of the guides' discourse. Apparently two of the mobile phone providers are Gambian enterprises, something at least the guide was very proud of.

We visited a couple of museums, a "sacred site" called The Crocodile Pool where a sign invited us (after consultation with the local guide, Lefty, to pet the sad creatures), a batik factory which was actually a batik field where very tall and pretty young people stood around asking for money, candy, or ball point pens, depending on their age group respectively, then the very large and busy local market. We saw fields of vegetables where all the workers are women and returned to the ship. Before sailing, which was supervised by the maitre d', we enjoyed the comings and goings of the local ferries. One carried a small flock of goats and goatherd as well as flatbed trucks with shipping containers, and lots of people. Apparently the largess of the leader of the country does not extend to the refurbishing of the ferry boats or the soccer field that appears only at low tide.

Please don't misunderstand my comments above. The day in The Gambia was fantastic despite the lack of touristic sights and the 98.6 degree (F) heat. The people are very friendly and they have a quiet dignity. Also they dress really colorfully and actually do seem happy. This is what this kind of travel should be all about. It is sad to be leaving sub-Saharan Africa and the smallest mainland African country for the even smaller African island nation of Cape Verde. Will report on this visit in a few days.

Takoradi Downtown

Ghana! For Heaven's Sake

 Wednesday, 22 February 2012 - Westbound along the Ivory Coast

Silver Wind is heading 260 degrees, paralleling the coast of Cote D'Ivoire at 16 knots about 20 miles out to sea. Big searchlights have appeared on the bridge wings for this stretch abeam the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the various Guineas, no doubt to allow us to enjoy any impromptu nighttime shows by passing locals in small boats. There's Silversea again, getting the best guest entertainment available for our enjoyment.

Yesterday's visit to Takoradi, Ghana

Speaking of, we enjoyed our brief stop to Ghana's new deep water port town yesterday. The two ship's offered tours, an all day visit to a number of slave forts and a short "panoramic" (which means bus ride) tour of downtown Takoradi and the nearby fishing village, were very costly--don't ask--because of the need to import the buses and drivers from the capital, Accra, some 200 miles away. So instead, Barbara and I opted to take the complimentary half hourly ship's shuttle bus into town and wonder around the extensive downtown market area. 

One important lesson to be learned when traveling the world and making brief visits to countries one knows little about is to fight off the strong pre-conceived notions of what one will find in each new place. Yes, there were hoards of well dressed officials waiting on the pier for their share of the ship's stores and an underutilized (good new) security guard watching the port and taking a picture as souvenir. And we did take the usual precautions of leaving all but a few dollar and our wallets in the cabin's safe when going ashore. But we found the market area--actually what seemed like a couple of square miles of actual and impromptu shops and stalls as well as guy selling stuff out of their car trunks and women selling stuff from pallets on their heads--quite clean. The people very friendly, and most of all there were no pushy salesmen trying to escort us to their taxis or other commitments to unwanted purchase or activities. The Ghanaians we discovered are educated, speak the King's English, smile easily, and had a nice dignity when encountering a bunch of somewhat overwhelmed distinctly lighter hued senior seniors from a rarely seen big white ship. Taxi tours were available--mostly to the nearby fishing village or an apparently named park called, "Monkey Hill", for $10 US per hour for up to 4 people. Having been in parks with monkeys in the trees before (they, the monkeys not the trees, are known for throwing stuff of their own making at visitors--if you know what I mean), we just walked around the market for a mile or so and chatted with a number of the vendors. It was really fun and we felt safe. We then came back to the ship and enjoyed the pool and then watching the activities in the little but busy port.

Now for some salient features of our brief visit to this out of the way Ghanaian port and city:

1. A number of gas and oil towers are immediately off shore. They are serviced by US flagged tenders, the first US merchant vessels I've ever seen, perhaps the last of a dying breed.

2. The Christian missionaries have gotten to Western Ghana big time. Passing fishing boats had names like, "Christ Saves", stalls in the market had a line or two of Psalms or just the number of a bible verse quoted on their signs, and it looked like the dock workers had religious services when they ended their shifts (although what I saw might have been a bunch of guys sitting around a TV set). We heard of a local car with the inscription, "God's Vehicle". Make of that what you will. It was amusing, however, that our ship's dock area was protected by the placement of ZIM Line containers. ZIM is a large Israeli shipping country. I suppose the port authorities figure that even Israeli boxes provide excellent security.

3. There seems to be an industriousness trait of the Ghana people. One salesman was fabricating UHF TV antennas and selling them on the spot. I guess, no middle men for him. It was fun to chat with him, and he was willing to do so. He was also selling bananas, I guess as a backup if the TV accessory busy got slow.

4. In port we enjoyed watching the long honored sport of table fishing, apparently a very popular activity as there were a great number of participants, and the sailing of Silver Wind was delayed so that we could observe the also enjoyable display of bow line knotting. The captain didn't enjoy this nearly as much as we did, probably because he had seen better performances elsewhere, and shared his review of the performance freely with the local harbor pilot.

We are now embarked on a three day transit to the formally English country of The Gambia (apparently since there are more than one "Gambiums") where Banjul has been substituted for possibly rioting Dakar in formerly French Senegal. Tiny Banjul is on the mouth of the Gambia River and is the capital of the country that is completely enclosed within Senegal. However, its dictatorship provides political stability in contrast to its neighbor's messy democracy.

In More Ways than One, #2

Tuesday, 21 February 2012 - Takoradi, Ghana

 

In port after 4 1/2 days crossing the big indentation of Africa since leaving Walvis Bay, Namibia. The arrival into port and the short stroll around the downtown market area of Takoradi were most enjoyable. Both activities were brief but prove again that any preconceived notions are usually wrong. I will post commentary and some pictures of both in a day or so as we may go out again and have more to report on. I will at least try to get a picture of the woman with a huge tray of raw eggs on her head as she crossed the busy street--very carefully. Also, the guy manufacturing TV antennas from the back of his small car. Industrious folks, these Ghanians. Stay tuned. In the meantime I thought I'd report on some of the goings on aboard ship during our more than 2000 mile crossing of the Bay of Guinea in the Northern Part of the Southeast Atlantic, as the Captain called it.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Silver Wind currently has an uncharacteristically low passenger load around 210 guests and a full crew complement of 222 on this long cruise segment. Service is excellent, of course, but the ship seems very quiet. More like a private yacht. Except for the deficiency of Champagne, all is well. I'm not even a big fan of Champagne. Also what I'm not a big fan of are smokers, especially the handful of non-English speaking arrogant ones who choose to sit all day at the bottom of the circular stairway to the top deck. They seem to be amused, however, by my feigned coughing fits every time I ascend or decend the stairs. See, how we keep each other entertained  on a small ship.

 

Also providing entertainment are the very small handful of incidents of very unusually less than perfect service and of the even more rare cases of bigotry or at least thoughtlessness that always occur with a mix of different nationalities of guests and crew. While I want to make clear that all is fantastic on the ship, it is worth at least making fun of some of the folks who are not, shall we say, used  to being made fun of. So, here goes.

 

1. The pool bar drink service seems to be the training grounds for the newer bar waiters and bartenders. Bar waiters are tasked with taking drink orders from guests, of course, but also pouring soft drinks and doing minimal mixed drink preparation. While it was understandable that the poor Eastern European bartender had trouble understanding that I wanted a couple of centimeters of the highest proof vodka served neat in a champagne flute (to clean the battery contacts on our cameras, a recurrent need in this salty and humid climate), it was less understandable that when I asked a few days later for a "drizzle of Grand Marnier on my fruit salad" for my lunch dessert, 1) the bar waiter started to proceed to shake some Tabasco Sauce on my watermelon and pineapple and then, 2) the bartender tried to cover for the waiter by explaining in very educated tones that, "That's the way they eat fruit in his country." 

 

2. One of the International Hostesses (no not what you think--they are low level assistants to the Cruise Director who speak a number or languages to translate for non-English speaking guests and perhaps provide some brief cursory language lessons for bored passengers who hang around the various lounges during the day) was called into modelling duties for the weekly show of jewelry from the expensive H. Stern shop on board the ship. When she displayed some burbles to Barbara and me at tea time--I hadn't finished my dairy free chocolate raspberry cake fast enough to avoid the show--this Romanian hostess took one look at me and proclaimed, "H. Stern is Jewish, too." Nice to know, I suppose. (Actually, this reminded me of a tour a few years ago around downtown Riga, Latvia where the guide pointed out many statues and buildings without mentioning the sculpture or architect until she got to an Art Noveaux apartment building and proclaimed it was designed by, "Eisenstein, THE JEW", with appropriate--in her mind--emphasis.

 

3. We had lunch one day with fellow guest on the ship, a handsome woman who lives with her husband in an upscale rural town in England but is traveling alone on this cruise. As she was the only black guest on board, she seemed compelled to expound on how she had found the local English people not bigoted in the least and that she was so much more aware of how she herself judges people on their merits and without any prejudicial thoughts. "All people are alike and no one should every be bigoted as I, myself, am not," she said. So when I could get a word in edgewise to her speech, I thought I would ask her about the "take back England" remarks I had heard frequently when in London. As soon as I mentioned London as a place without yet getting to my story, she said, "London, those people are all awful. Don't talk to me about THEM."

 

4. I will post pictures of the remarkable arrival at Ghana's small but only deep water port likely in my next post, but I do want to mention now that besides the walker who is affronted during his morning ambulations by the large ship's compass each turn around the narrow area in front of the Observations Lounge, there are a couple of fellows who run laps around the bow earlier each day. As this area is directly above the Captain and Staff Captain's cabins, jogging is discouraged at all times up front as there is a much wider jogging track further aft. However, their jogging activities were a bit more impeded by the gathering group of guests who came up to the bow to watch the arrival into port this morning. The joggers, claiming the narrow path around the binnacle as their territory, proceeded to push us photographers out of the way. When I suggested that they might be more comfortable using the designated jogging area especially this morning, they both responded with, Nein!" I guess a few of the passengers from the previous segment have remained after all.

 

5. Yesterday morning we crossed the Equator, approximately at the Prime Meridian. In a ceremony that has remained relatively unchanged since Columbus' sailings, really, King Neptune and an assistant, in this case a lovely soprano from Atlanta in the ship's troupe named Krystal, officiate in torturing volunteers from those guests and crew who have never crossed before. A good time is had by all, apparently. King Neptune is quite a sight, especially as played by our normally staid Scottish classical pianist Cruise Director, Colin, but I do remember fondly my friend Ray's version as Queen Neptune some years ago.

 

6. I just found in our closet that my sandals have again been polished while we were on shore this morning.

 

7. Lastly, I will report on the ship's quartet, a group of friendly Filipino musicians consisting of a keyboardist, a saxophone player, a guy with a bass guitar, and a drummer. These smiling guys appear frequently around the ship on recurrently scheduled activities, such as sailaway cocktails, before dinner in the Panorama Lounge (we go to The Bar, or whatever venue they are not), and for the occasional ice cream "social" on deck and for the even less frequent dinner-dance event in the main dining room. They have a fixed set, actually always identical set to the note, they play at each event. Normally one would know what comes next as they play after a few days on board, they THEY DON'T KNOW. The keyboard fellow, apparently the leader, plays what he kind of remembers of each piece (and his musically memory is not good, to say the least), the saxophone player toots a bit if he can find the note, the guitar player just stands there doing very little, but most of all the very animated drummer for each and every piece does a fantastic imitation of the automatic percussion mechanization that used to be built into turn of the century carousels. Polkas, waltzes, and ballads all have loud snare drum accompaniment. 

 

 

By the way, please excuse if my sentences above seem a bit interrupted. I wrote this while an emergency drill for the crew caused a constant stream of PA announcements in our suite. It was kind of interesting to be distracted by such notices as, "Lower the starboard lifeboats and evacuate all cabins on Deck 5." A nice bunch of young lady crew members even came to our door in emergency gear and said, "Not to worry", as they put up a notice that our room was empty.  

At Sea in More Ways Than One, #1

Monday, 20 February 2012 - Exactly on the Equator, Gulf of Guinea

I thought I'd get you up to date on the the happenings on board Silver Wind during the last 4 days since leaving Walvis Bay, Nambia. In no particular order, here goes.

1. We're at the point of 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude--or at least within a few miles of it--and characteristically the sea is dead smooth and the winds are calm. It's also kind of warm out: 80 degrees temperature and 80 percent humidity, respectively, at 8:59 am GMT which is our current time zone of course. This is the point that Google Earth goes when it doesn't know where you are. We are a few hundred miles from the African coast where there are places like Gabon (home of the deadly gabon viper), Biafra, and the various Guineas. 

2. Tomorrow morning we will visit Takoradi, Ghana, arriving alongside at 8 am and sailing for Gambia (instead of the perhaps rioting Senegal) at 5pm. According to last afternoon's port briefing by the Shore Concierge Manager, there is not much there but you can hire a taxi to see the sights. He did warn us that the taxis as well as their drivers are unreliable. So, we will take the ship's hired shuttle bus to the town market and take a few pictures. He also warned us not to take pictures of "any police personnel--including plainclothesmen". Think about that a moment.

3. The sea days have been wonderful. I've already read three books. The surprise upgrade to the veranda--actually a small balcony with two chairs and a small foot and a half square low cocktail table--has been most appreciated. We've already been threatened that we will have to move back down to our "Vista" (meaning windows only, no balcony) at Las Palmas. Easy come, difficult go. By the way, verandas typically add $120 to $145 a day to the cost of the cruise, when you pay for them. So, I better not complain too much. Maybe just sob a little.

4. Each morning I go up to the Observation Lounge for juice, coffee, and my custom baked dairy free Danish pastries and watch one of the guests walking laps. As he goes by the front of the lounge each time, he walks into the binnacle and looks very surprised. I'll try to get a picture of him one of these mornings, poor chap. Attached is the view from the Obs. Lounge as we cross both from the Southern to the Northern and Eastern to the Western hemispheres.

5. Apparently, it was not noticed during the mad cap reprovisioning operation in Cape Town until inventory was taken that one container was not delivered to the pier. The most egregious omission in the ship's stores now is a more or less complete lack of Champagne on board the ship. As this was discovered after we sailed for Walvis Bay, a delegation consisting of the Chief Sommelier and the Maitre d' visited a large liquor store in small Walvis and found 12 bottles of sparkling South African wine that met their standards. They asked the proprietor if there were any more "in the back". The owner said, "How many bottles do you need." They said, "240 bottles, please." He said, "We only have the 12." Walvis will be talking about this for quite a long time. They don't drink much Champagne in Walvis, but they do drink a lot of beer in Swakopmund I suspect. There are rumors of an emergency shipment coming via air to Accra and being trucked tomorrow the 150 miles to Takoradi. I will report on this.

6. Besides the dust-up with Champagne, there seems to be some sort of consternation among the management on the ship. We've seen what looks like brief serious conversations among the most unlikely combinations of managers, such as the Maitre d' and the Head Butler. I have nothing to complain about as long as our future bookings are not threatened. Still waiting for confirmation of our Summer Solstice 2013 cruise to from Copenhagen to Russia (and back) and some details on our already deposited January 2013 Pacific Ocean crossing from Los Angeles to Sydney via Tahiti. Yikes.

7. The Room Service Manager came by last evening to explain that one of my shirts got "over bleached" and that the ship will compensate us for the loss. I will suggest upgrades to veranda suites for all future cruises.

8. Our friends Bruce and Susan have noticed a lack of customary care of the morning long continental breakfast supplies in the Observation Lounge. They even wrote a short note to the Hotel Director. He responded immediately, but the juice again ran out this morning. For reason's unclear, a number of the restaurants' management have inquired to me about the supplies in the Observation Lounge. Why me? 

9. Last night was a rare formal night without any events that affected us. Barbara and I had a delightful date. We both looked lovely. However, we noticed that the Captain and Chief Engineer were hosting a large table of mostly elderly women who were traveling independently. I asked the Captain this morning in the Obs. Lounge when he came up for his customary espresso who he enjoyed his "harem". For just a second I believe I saw him make a face. It's not easy at the top.

10. Barbara has posted a picture on her blog, http://barbara-africa1202.blogspot.com of her official ringing of the noon ship's bell on the Bridge per her temporary appointment to the crew. The bell was on time and loud and clear. All the other women who were asked respectfully declined. I think I will ask the Captain for compensation for Barbara's work, perhaps more days in a veranda suite.

More during our three additional days at sea after Ghana tomorrow. Please keep in touch and let us know how things are.