West Coast of Africa with an Explorer.

[drron29]

Apologies duct tape the two of us didn't really think of comparisons when we were there.only one photo where you get an idea-

 

the fellow in the green shirt and the fellow in the white shirt next to him are both adults.About 5 foot tall.some were about 6 inches taller because Bantu genes are becoming more common in their population.I did find an article explaining this-

http://www.livescience.com/19929-pygmy-height-genetics.html

[duct tape]

Interesting. Thanx

[ijkh]

Wow. Now this is my idea of cruise travel. How often does the Expedition do a voyage like this? It is going on the bucket list. I am an Africa fan.

 

Ilene

[rojaan19]

Wow. Now this is my idea of cruise travel. How often does the Expedition do a voyage like this? It is going on the bucket list. I am an Africa fan.

 

Ilene

 

Usually every two years - the Silver Explorer has been using two routes on its return from antarctica - either up the west african coast or south american coast, it alternates year about on its journey as it relocates from antarctica to the arctic. We had to wait 2 years for this cruise. :D

[drron29]

Ilene you may have to wait awhile for the Explorer to do this itinerary again.It is retutning to the northern hemisphere via South america next year and in conrad's talk about 2015 itineraries it seemed Africa is not on the list.

 

But back to the story.

The living quarters are basic-

.

 

Traditionally the pygmies would move around frequently as they are hunters.Looking at the roof of a hut suggests these have been here a while.We were told a tale that this group sold their nets which are their way of trapping animals-then finished off with poison tipped arrows.Certainly evidence that they now are more gatherers with this lady preparing the palm oil seeds-

 

Then we were taken to a presentation of their traditional medicine.The healer and his assistant and some of the ingredients-

.

 

And the healer performing the ceremony to assure the potency-

[drron29]

Then we went for another walk through the jungle crossing a little stream several times.We then saw more evidence that the pygmies way of life is changing-slash and burn agriculture-

 

We then noticed this structure-

 

That turned out to be the school.the children were not overly happy as it is a saturday and normally they wouldn't be at school-

.

 

Silverseas donated goods to the village and as passengers we had been asked to bring along school necessities such as pencils,exercise books etc.These were then pooled and divided up amongst the schools visited in Africa.

Near the school was a more substantial building I guessed may have been the teachers.a glance in the window suggested i would not be comfortable with the sleeping arrangements-

.

[drron29]

It was then a short walk back to the river along a better pathway.We passed another village-

 

Now the canoes were meant to drop their passengers a little downstream and then come a little way further to pick up the departing people-we had been divided into 4 groups.This canoe though arrived still with all it's passengers.so we had to wait-

.

 

A much easier and faster trip with the current back to the bridge where we noticed a large bird's nest-

 

At the bridge a sign announcing some works at the nearby Lobe falls-not quite the way we would advertise it-

 

Then a short bus trip to the beach.We had to walk a couple of hundred metres to a hotel for lunch.There was a group of men playing cards where we got of the bus.They called out to me-"Papa,how you hurt your knee?"I told them an old Futbol injury.So they asked if i played in the Pan African cup.I said no,I played in Australia.They took that to mean i played in the Australia soccer team.I let that one stand.

On the way to the hotel we saw this colourful fellow-

[drron29]

Lunch was at a "resort"hotel.The setting was nice-

 

and that little speck in the distance is the Explorer-

 

Lunch was salads,some very tough pork,chicken and fish.I was one of several who had a not so good 24 hours after this meal.At least i had a good selection of drinks-

 

After lunch it was a walk along the beach to see Lobe Falls-

 

At the point there was a yacht in an unusual position.it was obvious it wasn't going anywhere-

.

[ijkh]

Ann,

I can only hope this trip is offered in 2016. We will be on a circumnavigation that includes two stops in Madagascar in 2015. This is precisely the sort of trip my husband and I would love as a followup in 2016.

 

Two comments:

1. The extremely basic teachers housing looks pretty similar to that offered our US Peace Corp Volunteers in rural Africa. Those volunteers manage to make something look a little like home for two years. That is with a lot of sprucing up.

 

2. In terms of eating locally in rural Africa, it is never will you become ill? It is always just a matter of when will you get ill? Personally I never had a better figure than after our rural Africa trip.

 

Carry on Ann and leave no detail behind! I am loving this trip report

 

Ilene

Edited May 8, 2013 by ijkh

[RachelG]

My son worked in Ghana as a volunteer for awhile. The first 2 weeks he was sick as a dog, despite my sending pepto and Cipro with him. Then he was fine. He lost a lot of weight, but that was a good thing.

[drron29]

Around the point and I got the first sight of the falls.Interesting as they go straight into the Atlantic ocean-

 

First past the local fishing vessels-

 

And then into a zodiac for a close up look-

.

 

This shot is due to our zodiac drivers.They get in very close to the falls-

.

[drron29]

A last couple of shots of the falls-

.

 

Birds cruised overhead-

.

 

While this fellow was surprisingly unpeturbed by my presence-

.

[drron29]

We had a different guide on our bus back to the ship and when I asked again if I could take photos she said I dont see why not.So here are a few-

.

 

That lot were part of a wedding procession.they were supplying the music.just look at those smiles.

.

 

The beach front looked nice.In places there were lots of people out having a saturday picnic.

 

And the President had a little place in case he wanted a break in Kribi-

 

Next Limbe.

[turtlemichael]

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

 

And we join Wind on March 13 in Accra for the run up to Barcelona 23 days later so we look forward to meeting you too.

 

Thanks Ron for your continuing report. The photos are just great.

[drron29]

Sunday and we awoke just before the sun was to make an appearance.We were off the city of Limbe-

.

 

As it got lighter we could make out some impressive buildings-

.

 

But Mt.Cameroon,an active volcano,dominated-

.

[drron29]

So some more pictures offshore from Limbe-

.

 

Also near to where we anchored offshore drilling platforms were anchored ready to be deployed-

 

But we decided to concentrate on the natural scenery-

.

 

And then this came past our windows so we knew more adventure was at hand-

[drron29]

For half of the passengers the first stop was a former zoo now a primate rescue centre.For one of the Australian guests it had extra meaning-her son worked here for several years when it first became a rescue centre.

 

Some signs had a little humour-

 

But this one was serious-

 

The gorillas have learnt how to lob stones over the fence and reputedly they are pretty accurate.

We were all starting to check out the gorillas-

 

And they were checking out us-

 

But this fellow just couldn't be bothered-

 

But next our plans are thrown into disarray.

[ging466]

Hi drron

 

Just wondering how did u get your visa for Ghana? I've now been told by SS that I need a Ghana visa even though I'm not disembarking there.

 

Were u able to obtain it in Australia?

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[rojaan19]

Hi drron

 

Just wondering how did u get your visa for Ghana? I've now been told by SS that I need a Ghana visa even though I'm not disembarking there.

 

Were u able to obtain it in Australia?

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

 

Hi Jennifer,

 

I actually do all the visas for us. I did it thru the Ghana Embassy in Canberra.

http://www.ghanahighcom.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=59

 

Allow plenty of time as it takes a few weeks. If you are going to South Africa also make sure you have plenty of pages in your passport, as we saw a guy refused entry into SA because of this ! There was also a story in the Jo'berg newspaper about the number of people refused entry because of this ! So it is not a myth ! Also if you are travelling a lot in africa, a lot of the visas take up a full page. We got new passports for this trip and so we got the " Frequent Traveller " passport with the extra pages. Dont forget your Yellow Fever immunisation book as well. :)

Ann

[drron29]

Suddenly the emergency alarm went off and we were all told to evacuate the centre.A chimpanzee had escaped from his enclosure.We were told later that he has done this a few times.He has learnt how to trip the electricity supply so that he can climb over the fence.

We all went and sat in the bus outside.After a while it was decided that we would have a change of plans and drive to the site of the last lava flow from Mt.Cameroon.This occurred in 1999.Passed a nice looking restaurant-

 

When we got to the lava flow people were selling rocks of all sizes,shells,bits of coral,bones from a whale that had washed up on the beach a few years ago-

.

 

And a little fellow was taking an interest in these bottles.We were told it was whale oil from the dead whale-

 

The stairs up to the lava flow were not in the best condition-

 

But I made it up-

[drron29]

We passed this little hut where there was a family living-

 

And a nice view of the volcano-

 

We were then driven to a resort beach.The life guards chair didn't inspire confidence-

 

The rules were strict-

 

A fellow there wanted us to pay to go on the beach.He was out of luck.Certainly it appeared nice-

 

But you had a nice view of the oil terminal-

[drron29]

Here is the "resort"-

 

And it's view-

 

We then got the word the chimp was safely behind bars again so it was back to the wildlife centre.They have a breeding troop of Mandrills as only 3000 still exist in the wild mainly in Cameroon.Hopefully some can be released back to the jungle-

.

 

There are quite a few youngsters-

.

[drron29]

Then there are the chimpanzees-

.

 

This couple seem close-

 

But he got his marching orders as only enough banana for one-

.

 

This fellow appears sad-

[duct tape]

Ann and Jennifer, we were in

Ghana last year and did not need visas. A new twist for tourist bucks?

[RachelG]

Duct Tape, my son had to have a visa for Ghana last year. We had to send his passport off to the Ghanian embassy in Washington DC.