West Coast of Africa with an Explorer.

[drron29]

The next stop was a fishing village.Definitely no super trawlers here-

.

 

Some made good use of their time whilst others were more laid back-

.

 

It was hard to know what this fellow as all about.He asked everyone to take his photo-

 

One vessel though had been out fishing-

[drron29]

Alas there were no fish.There is no shortage of helpers though to get the canoe back up the beach using the old reliable method-

.

 

Before rolling it up the beach they asked me if I wanted to go fishing-maybe they thought I would change their luck.However I am the world's worst fisherman so I declined.Necessity is the mother of invention.many of the young boys had these toy cars based on a plastic soft drink bottle-

 

Once again it was the kids who stole the show-

.

 

Then it was off to the local market with a last look back to the fishing village-

[drron29]

On our way to the markets we passed this statue-

 

We were told that it commemorated a sad day in Sao Tome's past.Research shows it was the Massacre of Batepa in 1953 when Portugese landowners and troops shot over 1000 local descendants of the slaves as they refused to work on the cacao plantations.As the total population was just 60000 at the time you can see it was horrendous.

 

But to the markets where it seemed most of the locals were that day-

.

 

You could buy almost anything.Though most of the clothes and shoes were second hand and we were told donated by overseas charities-

.

 

Plenty of local taxis-

[fdnycruiser]

Thanks for posting the great pictures. Just got home from The Whisper,and it was great to see some pix from some of the same ports we stopped. Did you happen to take any pix of The Explorer & Whisper sailing side by side off the coast of Africa ? Made for a great and rare photo.

[drron29]

Sorry fdnycruiser that must have occurred on the voyage from Accra to dakkar.We got off in Accra so missed that.

 

There was a great array of fresh fruit and veggies onlong with spices-

..

 

Inside there was greater variety but boy was it hot-

.

 

and the hard sell was apparent-

.

[drron29]

The fish was all dried-

.

The meat was outside and most was heavily salted-

.

 

there were some recognisable treats-

 

But this obviously tasted good-

[drron29]

The area though was quite dirty.The people in this taxi were probably going to get an earful-

 

One of the problems is that many of the simple products are imported.Sao Tome is one of the poorest countries in Africa-

 

With a wine cask on her head this lady will probably sleep well-

 

We were then off to a gift store with Sao Tome chocolate.Passed churches on the way-

..

 

The store was in this renovated building.With all us tourists inside the place was stifling so I headed off to walk back to the ship.

[drron29]

I walked up to the old Portugese fort which appears well maintained.they still have the large Portugese statues outside.This in itself is interesting as the Portugese had a terrible reputation here.In the early 1900s Sao Tome was the world's largest producer of Cacao.In 1908 both Britain and Germany both banned the import of Cacao from Sao Tome because of the slave like treatment of the workers.

.

 

An interesting use of old cannon.Perfect frame for the Explorer-

.

 

On the way back to the ship I noticed this-

 

Interesting because when Sao Tome got it's Independence the President who had been educated in East Germany became yet another Communist dictator.However he stepped down in 1991-there had been a couple of attempted coups.Russia imploded so the new government turned to the West.The soviet radar system was replaced by US equipment etc.In 2009 the old dictator was re elcted President.But now he seems much more comfortable with the West with the Taiwanese putting there money here rather than the mainland Chinese.

 

But then I was once again impressed with the lovely nature of our Expedition staff.

 

So in summary Sao Tome feels like the Carribean before tourism.people are lovely and happy.Facilities are obviously a bit basic but for those with a sense of adventure it should be on your radar.Would help if you spoke Portugese.

[duct tape]

Obrigada!

[drron29]

And thank you duct tape.You have now doubled my Portugese vocabulary!The next few posts should be about the resort you visited.Bom bom island at the northern tip of Principe Island.There were 3 options for the day-relax at the resort,go on a birding trip or walk from the resort to Principe's main town.In the briefing it was described as being a few kilometres,mainly sealed road and a gentle incline.

So I opted for the walk which turned out to be 7 KM,5 of which were unsealed and muddy,with the incline being at least moderate in parts and lasting for 5 of the 7KM.Did I also mention it was very hot with very high humidity?Thank goodness I am a masochist!

 

On the day the seas were a little rough so the plan to unload the zodiacs at the jetty was changed to a wet landing on the beach.

.

 

So we got a little wet.On the other side of Bom bom was this beach-

 

The resort was picturesque and already I was having doubts as to the wisdom of my choice-

.

 

But I made myself a little challenge-to see more birds than the birders-

[drron29]

Seeing the resort up close I seriously considered changing my option-

.

 

And why did they need a cannon at the entrance-

 

Then my first view of the road.True at this point the incline was slight.However I soon got dropped by the peloton-

.

 

The images of nature gave me comfort-

[drron29]

Another thing we were told was that you would pass through local villages.however the first is about 4 KM from the resort.i have never been good uphill and with my suspect knee I was being passed by everyone.An older Swiss woman passed me and I said Good morning.Her brusque reply was dont talk you need the energy.However my progress was obviously noted and for the first 5 KM to the airport I was accompanied by a local from the resort.

So my occasional pictures along the way-

.

 

once again the children are just delightful.The 2 young girls were playing outside-one rushed inside and brought out their brothers so they could have their picture taken.They giggle when shown their picture.

Soon after this three young women I think propositioned me.Fortunately I only now know 2 words of the language.I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.My minder laughed his head off.

 

You reach the airport as the road flattens out and from there it is sealed.The view from there is spectacular-

 

Though I doubt that this gives passengers a feeling of reassurance-

 

And the only person at the terminal was this young fellow-

 

Just past the old terminal they are slowly building a new terminal.goodness knows why.I asked several people and the best estimate of the number of flights was 4 per week.

At the terminal my minder changed-he hopped into an SUV back to the resort and I got a fillipino who worked at the resort.he was a man of few words for me but many for the locals who all knew him.

Just past the airport the road started downhill.Now downhill i am much better and even went past a few.The fellow in the green shirt in front of me in this shot was my minder-

[UKCruiseJeff]

Your pictures are really lovely. Thanks for posting them. It looks like a genuine adventure. It's great to have a picture on how people live. :)

 

ps if you are a Dr then get that knee unsuspected!

[drron29]

Going down hill I was reinvigorated and started noticing things like the fruit on the cacao trees-

 

A large land snail-

 

A woman with half a pig on her head-

 

And then my first glimpse of Principe's main town,San Antonio-

 

past the new and old wharves-

 

And now getting a better look at the town-

[drron29]

Some of it looked a little down at heel-

.

 

Others showed a little love-

.

 

The view made up for a lot-

 

But there were signs it was a fishing town with a drinking problem-

[drron29]

The town was well set out with little squares-

.

 

I was basically exhausted when i reached San antonio so i basically just got another bottle of water which I dispatched quite quickly and then hopped on the minibus which took you back to the airport where you changed to 4WDs to get back to the resort.I was stuck in the luggage compartment of one with Roddy from the Expedition team.I just wanted to get back to the ship and have a nice cold shower.

 

Meanwhile back at the resort Rojaan was taking it easy watching the crew swimming-

 

And discovering a pleasant little lagoon-

.

 

As well as enjoying the views-

 

Although Rojaan wanted to stay on we went back to the Zodiac loading point.A young ray was swimming around in circles there keeping us amused until the zodiac arrived.

So a nice shower,lunch and then i slept for 4 hours.

Next-Cameroon.

[drron29]

After I woke it was time for the recap and briefing.When i had got back to the ship my shoes were covered in mud.I had just taken them off,then showered had lunch and went to sleep.When i came back after the briefing our butler had them clean.I like this sort of service on SS.

We had breakfast in our suite as it was a reasonably early start and we were in the first group off.We were to drive through the town of Kribi to the Lobe river and then be paddled up river to a pygmy(bushmen) village.

 

We were boarded on to a brand new bus still with the plastic on the seats.We were told not to take photos in Kribi.I asked the local guide why and he said it was a new regulation but hinted if a politician were involved it could be waived.

On the way to the river the road was not in the best condition especially when we came to the numerous bridges.Then this happened-

 

So it was all out of the bus whilst some improvements were made to the road.So we were a little lat to the river.our canoes were waiting-

.

 

The pots were baited to catch shrimp-we were probably taking the craft away from normal duties-

 

We were soon on our way and it was very peaceful and a deal cooler on the river-

.

[Paulchili]

drron,

Enjoying your posts and pictures along with others here. We are booked on a similar cruise next year on the Wind so I am taking all this in and looking forward to our adventures.

Did you have any private tours in any of the ports?

Paul

[duct tape]

paulchili, when on the Wind? Look forward to seeing you again. Drron, keep up the excellent work!

[rojaan19]

drron,

Enjoying your posts and pictures along with others here. We are booked on a similar cruise next year on the Wind so I am taking all this in and looking forward to our adventures.

Did you have any private tours in any of the ports?

Paul

 

 

Paul - all tours on the Explorer are included, so the only private tour we did was when we got off the Explorer in Accra, and our flight was not till 10pm that day, we had a car and driver take us around Accra.

 

Ann

[Paulchili]

Paul - all tours on the Explorer are included, so the only private tour we did was when we got off the Explorer in Accra, and our flight was not till 10pm that day, we had a car and driver take us around Accra.

 

Ann

 

Ann,

Thank you. Obviously I am not familiar with the Explorer :)

[Paulchili]

paulchili, when on the Wind? Look forward to seeing you again.

 

We'll be on the Wind from Feb 27 to March 24, 2014.

See you then - we look forward to sailing with you again.

Paul

[drron29]

The paddle up the river was relaxing-

.

 

We saw many birds,a monkey and kids doing what kids do-

.

 

There were quite a few rocks in one section of the river.We negotiated these successfully-

 

But then our paddler tried to take a short cut.We got stuck.He hopped out and pulled us out.All I had to do was hold his mobile phone whilst watching a canoe pass us on the deeper side of the river-

 

After about 30 minutes we arrive at our destination-

[drron29]

Fortunately there are fellows there to help us out of the canoe-

 

and I must say here that the Expedition crew go out of there way to organise help.there was a quite frail older woman on the cruise yet she got to do this excursion.one of the locals carried her from the bus to the canoe and another did the same through the jungle.And the path through the jungle was not easy.this is one of the better sections-

 

Yes that is Rojaan in front.I got a foot caught in a vine and got a nasty cut above my ankle.I decided on western first aid rather than pygmy traditional treatments.for most of the journey through the jungle we could here drums.finally we came out of the jungle and into the village.the dancing was well under way-

.

 

The men were providing the music-

 

From first impressions it appears the group is doing well-

 

However it actually was a little confronting being here.We are in a way spectators in the slow death of an ancient culture.The major problem is land clearing.Even national parks here are being bulldozed(If you wish to read this is one example in Cameroon-

http://www.irinnews.org/report/97051/CAMEROON-Campaigners-oppose-industrial-palm-oil-plantation)

As well the Government is trying to force the pygmys into better organised villages-for their own good as our guide said.

 

However whether we visit or not it will not make a difference to the eventual outcome.

[duct tape]

Another good one! Since there were no westerners in the pix for comparison. How tall are the people?