ETC!

I can’t believe that I am sitting up here in the computer lab for the last time.

The next Port is Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  During the last few days we have been bombarded with information telling us how to handle disembarkation. We have been given outsized garbage bags for our accumulated unwanted ‘stuff’,  we have been delivered colour-coded tags for our luggage, we are busy separating what can be packed to be picked up tomorrow and delivered to the dock, from what we will need for the next 48 hours and will have to carry off the ship ourselves.  On the lighter side we enjoyed ‘The Ambassadors Ball’ last night – everyone got dressed up – you should have seen  the students – guys wearing suits, and the girls in fabulous dresses, some long and some VERY SHORT!!  It was fun just watching them all, and we had a delicious dinner as well.

So how am I feeling?  Mixed.  Of course I have mixed feelings.  I am really looking forward to coming home.  I am really looking forward to seeing the many of you that I can see.  I am looking forward to phoning the rest of you and talking, talking, talking.  I am looking forward to living in a larger space than a small room which is shared.  I am looking forward to driving the car!  Driving to Fortinos, walking up and down the aisles choosing what I want to eat, will be fun.  Even having to do my own cooking will be fun!  I can’t wait to wash my clothes myself!  And I can’t wait to be able to open the doors, back or front, and go outside and just walk.  Walk as far as I want, as fast as I want – freedom.

But of course there is so much I will miss.  It will be sad to say goodbye to many, many people. It will also be hard to say goodbye to the community – to community living. There is always someone interesting to talk to at meal times.  I have rediscovered that I thrive in the company of people!!

And I will miss the sea.  I love being at sea.  I love being able to walk out on deck, lean against the rail and just watch the sea going by.  So I am going to send you just a couple more photos.  I took these over the side of the ship, capturing the curve of the waves made by the bow.  Of course you can’t see the movement in the photos, but it reminds me of how I felt as I watched!

 

Finally here are a couple of sunsets. One with other folk also watching, and one just the sea and the sky.

 

Composing this Blog has been a very important part of this voyage.  I have felt that I have been able to share it with you all, my nearest and dearest.

THANK YOU ALL – GOODBYE TILL I SEE YOU!

Liz, Mum, Granny

SALVADORE

I can’t believe that we have left the last port of call.  We are sailing up the east coast of S.America, will soon be in the Carribean, then arrive at Fort Lauderdale, stay one night in a hotel, and then finally fly back to Canada – Toronto – HOME!!

$@&%!%* I composed a couple of paragraphs for this blog this morning from the cabin, when without any warning all went black!  Can’t find what I did, so here I start again from the computer room.  So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  It is chaos up here.  All the students are working overtime to get all their work in by the due deadlines – fingers are flashing on them there computers!  Yes, we are really on the last leg.  Feelings are mixed.  We all look forward to being home, I certainly am, but there will be a lot of good-byes that will be sad.  It was the last Global Studies class this morning.  Lots of wise things were said, the class ended with a song and I have to admit I felt a bit choked.  I went out on deck and looked at the sea – how I love the sea.  We are now sailing up the coast from Brazil, will soon be in the Carribean .  But before I start talking about the approaching end I must fill you in on our last port: Salvadore, Brazil.

As we left the ship we  were met by the drummers on the dock.  Music is one of the best things about this part of the world.

Then they brought on the clowns on stlits and a couple of jugglers.  What a lovely welcome.

 

Here is Audrey watching with our ship in the back-ground.

It is a very, very old city.  It is now basically built at two levels, the newer, commercial, shopping, administrative areas are on the lower level, and the older historic area is on top of the hill.  We walked off the dock to take the usual city tour offered by the ship and soon found ourselves in one of five old city squares overlooking the lower city and the sea. 

Brazil was occupied by the Portugese in the 16th century and the old city is full of Roman Catholic churches. All very ornate – very beautiful

The old streets all narrow and cobbled fan out from the several squares.

 

 

We were lucky enough to come across a group of performers on one of the squares.  It was fun watching and listening to the wild samba-like music.

Yes it was very beautiful, but I have to be honest that walking on the rough cobbled streets was not easy for me.  It put me off spending too much time in the old city.  This feeling was compounded when on getting back to the ship that evening we heard that there had been several muggings, with students having cameras and purses snatched.  We also discovered that cab-drivers could be very aggressive, trying to charge too much.  In fact Salvatore did not come across as a friendly city – so different from the cities we visited in Africa.

But we had some good experiences.  We went to a theatre to see some fabulous dancing.  (I have left the programme down in the cabin so I can’t give you the name of the company, but it travels  the world. ) The dancing was incredible, set to drums and vocals.  One set aped the movements of Condoble church worshippers as they went into trances, another was a fire dance and the finale was an incredible mixture of dance with acrobatics.  Wow.  After the theatre we all went out to dinner, where the waiters came around the tables to carve the meat right off the joints – a choice of beef, chicken or pork.  It was quite an evening!

  

On another day five of us arranged our own mini-trip out of Salvadore to three neighbouring little towns. It was a Saturday morning so the local food market was in full swing. I really enjoyed walking through that – I think I have a ‘thing’ for markets.

Don’t you love this little girl who ‘picked us up’  She stayed with us for ages, holding my hand.

Dried fish and live crab!!

For lunch we went to a fabulous farmhouse on a hillside.  They obviously offered lunches as a side-line.  It was a beautiful house and the food was superb.

 

So I have mixed memories of Salvatore and Brazil. Some of it was very beautiful, but it there were overtones that were scary.  Now from the safety of the ship I remember the good experiences, but I can’t say I love Brazil as I can say I love Africa.

Talking of Africa, remember I told you of how Audrey and I walked in the jungle canopy. Well, here we are showing off our matching Tshirts.

 

 

I have lots more I want to share with you as this trip nears it’s end, but I am going to send this now. I want to send one more Blog with pictures of our life on this ship.

Till then, all my love

Liz, Mum, Granny

GHANA 2

I suddenly realized that I had better get a move-on, if I wanted to send you this second Ghana Blog before we got to Salvadore.  We arrive there tomorrow morning, and it is now mid-afternoon so here I go.

The day after we went on the canopy walk, we joined up with another couple of lifelonglearners, rented a taxi for the day and went shopping.  Vicki and Louanne wanted to buy fabric and art, I wanted to go to the craft market again.  We had visited it briefly during the city tour and I wanted to go back.  Some of the people on the ship were put off by what they saw as harassment as the vendors approached you from all sides, but I actually loved it.  If you kept laughing they laughed with you!  I had a great time.  Here I am, very happy,  surrounded by happy Ghanains.

 

 

The next day was the visit to Togorme Village.  The chief and elders were all assembled to greet us and we were treated to traditional drumming and dancing by the young people.  We all took part in a naming ceremony, where we went up and individually were given an African name and a commemorative pot. It was very moving.  Let me share with you just some of the pictures I took.

 

 

 

Next, between the trees you can see Audrey receiving her African name ‘Aki Makafui.

Followed by me, Adzo Edem!

After the ceremony were were led through the village and shown where they did the weaving, and made their pots.  The children were so friendly and I had two little boys holding my hands, one carrying my stick and the other my bag.  The children seldom smile when a photo is being taken, but grin happily when you show them the picture afterwards. Here are more photos of the children including the one of my boys!

 

I took SO many pictures.  I can’t put them all on my blog.  I look forward to showing them to you later.  You can see why I fell in love!

We left the village and drove through the Shai Hills game reserve.  The only animals we saw were these antelope and a few monkeys in the distance, but it was lovely.

Then back to the ship in the bus.  Later that night we stood on deck  and watched the tugs manoeuvre us away from the dock.

Good bye Africa.

Tomorrow it will be Hello Salvadore.

Lots of love

Liz, Mum, Granny

GHANA

I felt sad as we sailed away from Ghana.  It meant  that we were sailing away from Africa.  We were leaving that great continent, to cross the Atlantic to the Americas.  Back in January we crossed the Pacific to Asia,  then sailed on to India,  then Africa.  I know India is not a continent, but somehow it seems like one.  So we visited three parts of the world that are so different in every way – so exciting.  We saw peoples and cultures,  to say nothing of landscapes, that challenged our understanding and stimulated our imagination.  It has been so exciting.  Sometimes it has been a bit scary.  As one of the lecturers said, we have been travelling outside our usual comfort zone. But being challenged in so many ways has only added to the excitement.  I said to Maggie the other day, it almost feels as though the real journey is over.  Brazil feels like a ‘ps’!  It is after all in the American continent, part of the ‘New World’, whereas we have been immersing ourselves in the ‘Old World’. What a snob I am!  But I am open to finding Brazil very exciting in its own way – I hope so.

Back to sharing my experiences, emotions, and thoughts about Ghana with you.  Experiences first.  Day 1 we did the standard City Tour of Accra.  Did I say standard? – hardly!!  To begin with the port is not in Accra, but an advertised 45 minute drive away.  I say ‘advertised’ because the time was so unpredictable because of the traffic – which was also unpredictable – from slow, to stop-start, to periods of complete stasis.  The ship had organized a shuttle service to run once an hour to and from the dock to Accra. Everyone on board was charged $10 for this service, but it didn’t work!!  Luckily Audrey and I weren’t affected, but there were folk stranded in Accra for hours.  Yesterday there was an apology from the powers that be in the ‘Deans Memo’, also announcing that all our $10s were being refunded!  If I say this is just so ‘Africa’ I’m not being critical.  You have to take Africa as it is, a crazy chaos.  You love it for the people, you accept the chaos.

Day 1 we escaped the shuttle bus chaos, because we were on a special ‘Ship Trip’ with a chartered coach.  Mind you the coach just didn’t show up on time , and we all stood around on the dock, wondering.  Then about half an hour after we were supposed to have left we were guided to another coach that had been designated for a later trip.  God knows what happened to that trip!  So we set off for Accra.  The streets were crowded with traffic and I noted the chaos at the side of the roads. Some recognizable modern buildings next to buildings in every stage of construction, surrounded by piles of bricks, girders, and what looked like rubble.  It was as though so much had been started and then just stopped. And then, filling every available space were random shacks and stalls, goats, and even cattle, and people everywhere.  As soon as the traffic actually stopped,  vendors would rush into the road trying  to sell their wares to the drivers and passengers of the cars. I tried from time to time to take pictures from our bus, but it was not easy. Big vehicles were getting in the line of vision, and we were swerving and stopping and starting.  The couple of photos I got seem to be without enough people, but it will give you some idea.

 

 

As you might already know, Ghana was the very first sub-saharan state in Africa to gain its independance from its Colonial ruler – in this case guess which one – Britain.  In 1957 Nkrumo became the first African ruler of the Gold Coast and its name was changed to Ghana.   The present day Africans are still incredibly proud of this fact and see Ghana   as the inspiration of all the independent movements which followed.  They have built a huge monument, with statue and fountains to honour Nkrumo.

His body lies in a special mausoleum.

There were moments when I questioned the appropriateness of all the expense involved in such a lavish display, when so much of the city was obviously in such a state of disrepair. They have one short stretch of motorway, repairs to which are scheduled to be completed in three years (they say!).  The street lighting along this road stopped working a few years after it was put up and has not yet been repaired.  A rail service has been promised for years.  Meanwhile the traffic snarls are as bad as any I’ve seen anywhere on this trip.   Furthermore Nkrumo was accused of amassing a personal fortune (does Kenya come to mind, David?) and toppled by the first of many military coups which have plagued this country for over 50 years.  It is now two years since the election of the latest ‘democratic’ leader but who knows how long he will last?  Incidentally the dwelling of the president equals if not surpasses the monument to Nkruma!  No photos – we drove past too quickly.

But then, I decided it is crazy to judge Africa by the sane and sensible (?) standards of the west.  It is carried away by it’s own romance.  We were told by our tour guide that Africans love to show off their wealth.  They love to build monuments and palaces and hang gold around their necks.  And who is to say they are wrong?  Or any more wrong than the CEO’s in the West who amass their millions. We are all a greedy lot we homo-sapiens.  At least the Africans display their wealth with a certain flair.

I think I have fallen in love with the African people, just as I fell in love with the Vietnamese.  Almost all the Africans I met in Ghana were so kind, so happy, so ready to laugh.  As you used to say David, of the Kenyans,  their default mode seems to be happiness. And the happiness rubs off.  I felt happy when with them. I look forward to when I am back and can talk to you all severally about some of these feelings.  Writing on this blog makes everything too simplistic.

Day 2 was an entirely different experience.  We went on another ship organized trip.  This was a much longer bus ride – 4 hours - to the Kakum National Park, one of West Africa’s surviving tropical rainforests. I’m going to quote from the advertising blurb: ‘Kakum’s most popular attraction is the Canopy Walkway, which consists of seven bridges extending 350 meters and hanging 40 meters above the forest floor’.  Believe it or not AUDREY AND I DID IT. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Yes, the figure in the distance is Audrey!

Our tour guide followed by Audrey.

Me! At the very end. Red of face and dripping with sweat, but oh so happy to be at the end! 

Actually it was the climb up to the canopy walkway, and even more the climb down, which I found most challenging. The path was very steep, with huge steps every few feet and the surface was rocky.

This shot is at the bottom of the path that eventually leads UP, UP, UP to the canopy.  You can see the roughness of the stones at the right of the picture and it got much WORSE, WORSE, WORSE!

So both Audrey and I were only too glad to be helped; she by the tour guide and I by one of the life-long-learners called Richard.  The rest of the group had to wait for us and I felt a bit guilty, but they all applauded us for having done it and I think we deserved it!  We each bought 2 Tshirts with a picture of the walk and a logo on the back saying ‘I SURVIVED THE WALKWAY.  The shirts are pillar-box red!  When we are both wearing them we get quite a few comments from the students.  Apart from the challenge I really loved being so high in the trees. I was also happy that I could do it despite my agoraphobia.  Yes, it was obviously safe, but it was pretty far off the ground!

I have decided to send this part of my Ghana blog now.  Part 2 will be about the craft market and the fabulous visit to the village – big ceremony puit on for us – dancing and drumming etc – lots and lots of photos.  It will all come to you never fear.

As always, lots and lots of love to you all.

Liz, Mum, Granny

xoxoxoxo