ATW Day 88 - THE Gambia

Today, ATW day 89, we are sailing away from continental Africa, heading to Cape Verde, an island country that is considered to be part of Africa.  It will be our second visit to Cape Verde, but on the first one we didn't see much of it for a reason I might explain in my next post.  I'll keep it a mystery for now.

Yesterday, we were docked in Banjul, The Gambia.  I guess that the pretentious Gambian decided to add the "The" just like the pretentious Buckeyes of The Ohio State University!  Anyhow, it was another of these lovely ports.

We did not expect much of The Gambia since someone who had been here before told us that it was the poorest of all of the African countries that we have been to.  We booked an Oceania excursion - Ida's African Cooking Experience.  The excursion started with a one hour bus ride to Ida's.  It took us almost immediately out of Banjul and must have taken us to a different part of the country than others had seen.  Yes, there were some typical African villages (complete with cattle, donkeys, and goats), but also some fairly modern areas.

Getting to the venue proved to be a bit of a challenge for our driver.  He had to find the correct unmarked dirt track off of the main road to get there.  The area around Ida's was not too inviting.

But once we found the gate and entered the venue, it was a very different world.

The women who would be leading the cooking experience greeted us. We were then dressed in African garb and given welcome drinks made from fresh ingredients from their garden.

                                                            

We were then split into 2 groups who prepared vegetables to be cooked for lunch.  Our group sliced onions, diced carrots, cut green beans, and sliced garlic.  It was then all mixed with mustard and vinegar before being cooked in oil over a fire.

While the vegetables cooked we were again split into 2 groups - women and men.  While the men were led around the garden to gather leaves to be brewed into tea, the women were given a lesson in how to be a good Gambian wife!  I am still waiting for Linda to put it into practice.

The veggies were combined with grilled chicken.  Linda and I were given the vegetarian option of just the veggies and white rice.  They were quite good, as was the tea.

On the excursion with us were our lovely next door neighbors on the ship, sisters Liz and Jeanne.

It was truly an excellent experience.

After tomorrow, after Cape Verde, we head north to Europe!

Until then, enjoy your experiences,

Linda and Larry

ATW Day 85 - The West Africa Journey Continues

Today we are sailing on the Atlantic Ocean on our way to our last 2 ports in western Africa - Gambia and Cape Verde.  Yesterday, we were in Abdijan, Cote d'Ivoire, aka the Ivory Coast.  As we were docking, we saw the city in the distance with its modern looking buildings and one very tall skyscraper under construction.  

We took an excursion to Grand Bassam, a city about an hour away from Abdijan.  Grand Bassam was once the capital of Cote d'Ivoire with a French-colonial town center. (Once is the key word there as I'll show you later).  Today, it is said to be a resort town with a busy beach.  We never saw the beach there but as we drove along the Abdijan beach which our guide explained  was not used because it was a dangerous place to swim.  So, all of the locals go to Grand Bassam for the beach.

As for the excursion, the buses were once again escorted by police and even an ambulance this time!  I believe that the police serve a dual purpose - protection and getting quickly through traffic.

The drive to Grand Bassam seemed quite similar to the other drives in these west African cities - a mix of poor areas and the touch of modernity.

Our first stop was at the Centre Artisanal Grand Bassam which was a craft market at which we, of course, purchased nothing.  We briefly considered the colorful batiks but decided we had no wall space for anything.

We were then given a panoramic drive through Grand Bassam.  The old French colonial buildings were quite decrepit.  About the only nice building was the former Royal Palace.  And maybe the College Moderne.

We did see a man weaving, people selling goods, and, of course, lots of garbage.

The next stop was at the Costume Museum which is housed in the former governor's palace. on display were many of the traditional clothing worn by the native people.  And the former bathroom of the governor!

And, believe it or not, there was a craft market in the grounds.  And, believe it or not, we purchased nothing.

On the drive back to Abdijan, we passed some interesting and more modern buildings and statues in Moossou.

The final stop on the excursion I have to say was false advertising.  The description said that we would be stopping at the CAVA Museum.  Well, believe it or not, the CAVA Museum turned out to be another craft market!  We were told that we would have an hour there which was quite disappointing.  Linda and I walked around the market for about 10 minutes and then sat on the air conditioned bus until everyone was through shopping.  There did not seem to be any place of interest or safe to walk around near there.  Fortunately, I think that it was less than an hour.

So, in summary, I'd have to say that the excursion was somewhat interesting, somewhat repetitive, and somewhat disappointing.

The sail away from Abdijan provided interesting views of the area (some nice and some not so nice), views of people having a good time and views of no one swimming at the beach.

Now to backtrack for a bit.  The special dinner a couple of nights ago was great with wonderful Grouper and Amberjack.  The interesting story was that the Food & Beverage Manager and the Executive Chef, had to go shopping at the last minute when the port agent told them that the fish they had ordered was not available.  They went to one shop where they bought out their entire stock of fish.  And the fish the next evening was still fresh and delicious under the nearly full moon.

We are looking forward to going to Gambia where we will be doing an African Cooking class (and, hopefully, no craft market).

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry