On The Sea Again, I Just Can't Wait To Get On The Sea Again: ATW Day 88

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.