West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Morocco

Morocco: Agadir, Marrakech, Casablanca, Home

April 27 - 29, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Captain Kruess waves goodbye

Friday, April 27 found us docked in Agadir, Morocco, our final ship based destination. As with all ship trips, that final morning was hectic with early rising, bags out, breakfast and then waiting for the right disembarkation time. By 8:30 we were all loaded into the big buses for the three-hour drive to Marrakech. On the way we made one short rest stop.

The first destination in Marrakech was a beautiful 12-acre garden designed by Jardin Majorelle and built in the 1920s. We took some time to walk through the lush garden with a wide variety of plants. It was restored by Yves St Laurent after 1950 and has been open to the public. The special blue color used in the garden was named after Majorelle.

By 1:00 it was past time to arrive at the Sofitel Marrakech Hotel where we would spend the night. Lunch was a buffet with a variety of local dishes. Since it was so early, many in our group did not get their room assignments until later.

We went to some very interesting places during the afternoon tour. As we drove through the city we passed the Koutoubia Mosque. Its minaret towered prominently over the landscape but we did not go inside.

The next stop was the Bahai Palace. Si Moussa, grand vizier to the sultan, built it in the late 19th century for his private use and to house his harem. There are two acres of gardens and rooms that open onto courtyards. The walls, doors and ceilings are detailed carvings and paintings.

We made the obligatory stop at a higher-end shop that carried a wide variety of handcrafts form throughout the country. The selection also included carpets. I resisted everything but a number in our group found things they liked and wanted.

To continue the shopping opportunities, the next stop was at the huge market place, called “Souks.” This is a labyrinth of narrow streets lined with small individually owned shops. There was about anything available that a person would want to buy. It was a good thing our guide led us through because getting lost would have been easy. The area was both colorful and interesting.

We exited the Souks onto the Djenaa El Fna Square, a large open area occupied by locals and tourists. A variety of storytellers, musicians and performers changes throughout the day and evening. The square is so important to the history of the area. UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity has preserved the area, which was threatened by economic development.

At this point there were plans to enjoy some refreshments at a restaurant but our entire group voted to skip it and go directly back to the hotel. It was late, and we would not have very much time to spruce up for the dinner.

The Farewell Dinner was held at the Stylia Palace, which dates back to the 1400s. After a short bus ride we walked what seemed like a long way back through the Souks. Along the way there were men holding torches and groups of singers and dancers. This was a very impressive walk but we were kept moving or we would again have become lost.

The dinning room in the palace was very ornate. It was large with a high ceiling and beautifully decorated walls and chandeliers. The floor was covered with carpets and the tables were elaborately set. Dinner consisted of a number of typical local courses and included wine and desert.

Paul, Grace, Richard, Mary Ann, Judy, Frank

For entertainment there was a small group of musicians and a belly dancer. We sat with our friends with whom we had spent most of our dinners throughout the cruise. It was sad to realize that our time together was ending. Since it had been a long day we walked back through the Souks where all the stalls were now closed, and caught the first bus back to the hotel.

Saturday, April 28 we rose early for breakfast and departure to the airport for the short flight to Casablanca. We regretted not being able to see the city, but were confined to the airport to catch our Royal Air Moroc flight to New York, where we arrived in the early evening. The flight was uneventful but eight hours is long, no matter how you look at it. We spent the night in a hotel near JFK.

Sunday, April 29 we caught a reasonably timed series of flights from NY to DC to Denver on finally arrived in Tucson, Arizona where we spent the next month.

The whole trip was a great adventure and allowed us to visit many exotic places that had not been on our wish list. We are still working on absorbing all the history and cultures that we had an opportunity to experience.

Who knows where we will head next. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Canary Islands

Canary Islands: Tenerife and Day at Sea

April 25, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

The Canary Islands are located a little over 60 miles west of Morocco and Western Sahara. They consist of seven islands,  belong to Spain, and are a member of the EU. The Canary Islands were named after some form of dog, as in canine, and there is much speculation as to why.

Wednesday, April 25 we had several lectures in the morning as it took until about 2:00 in the afternoon to arrive in Tenerife. We went alongside the dock behind the large Holland American Ryndam. Tenerife has about five million tourists a year. The main city of Santa Cruz is one of the two capitals in the islands.

The four-hour-long tours of the island ran from 3:00 – 7:00. Our first stop was a mile-long beach where they had imported over 200,000 tons of sand from the Spanish Sahara. It was cool and windy, which made us glad we had not chosen to spend the afternoon at the beach.

The drive took us up into the Anaga Mountains on a very windy road though remote ravines, villages and forests. At one viewpoint we could see the coast on the north side of the island.

As we drove nearer the top sumit the fog started to roll up and over us, obstructing any further views. There was a rest stop in the Mercedes Forest, but no view.

La Laguna

After another windy drive along a different route, we arrived at La Laguna, Tenerife’s second most important city. It was the island’s capital until 1723. It is the cultural and religious capital and full of 17^th and 18^th century monuments, palaces, and traditional homes.

La Laguna is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent about a half hour walking through the town and enjoyed the architecture and almost car-free streets.

Back at the ship, we ate dinner. The ship remained docked until 11:30 allowing passengers to use a shuttle service and enjoy a night on the town if anyone wished.

Thursday, April 26 was a day at sea. Our first session involved all of our disembarkation instructions for Friday, and then there was serious packing.

In the afternoon we had the second Laptop Photo Gallery Show and I joined many others in the lounge with my three-minute looping slideshow. Again, there were many compliments.

Friday we arrived in Morocco for the drive to Marrakech where we spend the night then head home. We had very mixed feelings as this fabulous, but long trip was coming to a close.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Western Sahara

Western Sahara: Dakhla

April 24, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Tuesday, April 24, found us in Western Sahara which is a large, mostly flat desert country bordered on the north by Morocco, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the south and east, and the Atlantic to the west. It is considered one of the more sparsely populated territories in the world.

After Spain relinquished rule over the colony in 1975, control of it has flitted back and forth between its neighbors and various political factions. Today it is considered a non self-governing territory by the United Nations.

We docked in the small city of Dakhla for a daylong adventure out into the Sahara. It seemed like they had rounded up every available 4X4 vehicle in the city (I counted 34) to drive us out into the desert to the White Dunes.

After a brief stop in town at a local church, for an orientation briefing in the park across the street, we all climbed back into the vehicles (4 in each one) for the hour-long caravan drive, first on paved road, then off road across the dunes. The drivers set the four wheel drive and locked the hubs but even then some of the vehicles got stuck in the soft sand.

It was a very bumpy ride but as we came over a hill we saw an array of white Bedouin tents set up especially for us. There were two large tents with tables. In one tent the tables were low in the traditional style and people sat on the ground, which was covered with carpets. In the second tent, where we ate, the tables were regular height and we had chairs.

While we waited for lunch some went for a walk with a naturalist. He explained how archeologists were exploring the area where there were obvious signs of early human life. Others walked along the beach while still others enjoyed the musicians.

There was even a shopping opportunity as they had filled a separate tent with many antiques, and types of souvenirs representative of the Moroccan and Bedouin lifestyle.

The food was typical Moroccan and served with large pieces of bread. It really was good, although a little gritty because the wind blew hard the whole time and sand was in everything.

Eventually it was time to leave and we did appreciate all the work they had gone to to see that we had this type of typical Saharan experience.

The trip reversed as we drove, caravan style, back through the desert, then to the paved road and back to the ship.

We set sail about 3:00 for Tenerife, Canary Islands, the next day’s destination.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Senegal

Senegal: Dakar and 2 Days At Sea

April 21 - 23, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Saturday, April 21, began with the usual clearance procedures in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. We walked a short way down the dock to board a ferry and a 20-minute, 1.2-mile ride to Gorée Island. The 45-acre island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its historic role in the slave trade. There are debates about how many slaves were actually processed through Gorée Island.

The Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) is a popular tourist destination and place of pilgrimage for African Americans, especially after Alex Haley’s book Roots came out. It was restored in 1962 as a museum and houses a “Door of No Return.” There are many others elsewhere.

Fort Estrées on Gorée Island

We had time to stroll around the island where many areas were photogenic. The small population has maintained it well and it was nice to have no cars. The other optional tour for the morning was for shopping, but the island was much more interesting.

Viola Vaughn

After the ferry ride back to the dock, and lunch aboard we met in the lounge for two guest speakers. Viola Vaughn talked about the 10,000 Girls Project. She is an American who has lived in Senegal for many years. Her story is amazing. It started with a few girls asking her for help with their schoolwork and that evolved into an education and employment project for many young women from rural Senegal. You can listen to her story and learn about the project. We also had a talk from Brandy Whitthoft from the USAID: Agency for International Development.

The afternoon outing involved driving around the city of Dakar. The streets were modern, wide and paved and traffic seemed to be organized. There were many modern multistory buildings and more under construction. We drove through the heart of the business district and embassy areas before heading to the Marché Sandaga market; the busiest in Dakar. This was a small area with many shops and packed with people. I still can’t believe that we drove, very slowly, through the area giving those in the front seats a great view. Had the windows of the big bus been open, we could have reached out and touched some things.

We next stopped at the Sand Painting Center where we watched one artist at work. He first drew a picture using a brush and very thick glue. He then took pinches of various colors of sand and sprinkled them over the glue in a way he knew would produce the desired picture. It was amazing to watch and I could not resist buying one of his pieces.

A short way out of town were the twin hills. On one of them we saw the bronze African Renaissance Monument that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Designed by a Senegalese artist and built by a North Korean company, it is the tallest statue in Africa. It was completed and unveiled in 2010. Some in our group climbed up to the base of the statue while I photographed it from below.

The last stop of the day was Soumbédioune, a very picturesque and bustling fishing village. Boats were still coming in with the catch of the day and the market was lively with both sellers and buyers.

It was interesting to watch the men use large rollers to pull their boats onto the shore for the night. Our bus stopped to let us walk around through the area, which was a great experience. There was color everywhere. That was a great way to finish the afternoon.

Dinner that night was on shore at Just4U, a Senegalese nightclub. We packed the place and had three meal choices along with wine and other drinks. A local band played Mbalax music for us throughout the evening. This music is a combination of many forms of popular Western music combined with the traditional drumming and dance music of Senegal.

Musician playing a Kora

The band included a Balafon, which is like a marimba but with large, different sized Calbash (bottle gourds) under the bars. Besides various kinds of drums there was a fellow playing the Kora, which is a 21-string bridge-harp, that is unique to West Africa. Although the music was loud, it was interesting. By the time dinner was finished we decided to catch the first bus back to the ship. It had been a long day.

Sunday and Monday, April 22 – 23, we were at sea, sailing past Mauritania. The days were filled with lectures and lots of picture editing. There were also whales that came to check us out and interrupt whatever else was going on.

Our next stop on Tuesday was Western Sahara.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

West Africa Odyssey 2012 - The Gambia

At Sea and The Gambia: Banjul

April 19-20, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Thursday, April 19 was a relaxing day at sea sailing past Guinea and Guinea Bissau. The day was filled with lectures and picture editing. In the afternoon we had a “Super-sized Recap” which included a briefing on the next day’s plans.

Friday, April 20 found us in Banjul, The Gambia's, capital city. It is located at the mouth of the Gambia River. The Gambia is a long narrow country that stretches along both sides of the Gambia River. The country is only about 225 miles long and varies from about 20 – 30 miles wide. As with all the countries in the area, it was heavily involved in the slave trade and after the Portuguese, the British took over control; hence the official language is now English.

Again, we were greeting by music and acrobat troupes on the dock, performing for us as we disembarked for the morning tours.

 

Morning and afternoon tours basically split the passengers into two groups and rotated through six activities and stops. Our first stop was at the Lamin Lodge in the Tandi Wetlands area along the Gambia River. We boarded a double deck boat for a cruise to enjoy the mangrove trees and variety of birds.

Red Colobus Monkey

The second morning stop was at the Abuko Nature Center, a large protected area in the city with a large variety of birds and red colobus monkeys. We had a peaceful walk through the forest.

When we arrived back at the ship for lunch we found another market set up for our convenience. Following lunch we met in the lounge for a visit and discussion with employees from the US Embassy. Cindy Gregg, the chargé d’affaires represented the ambassador. Three others joined her. They all had a chance to describe their jobs and tell us how the US is helping The Gambia. There are now 84 Peace Corp Volunteers currently in the country. It was interesting to learn that girls are now staying in school and the students who go abroad for education are coming back home.

The afternoon outings took us first for a walk through part of the Serrekunda Market. The visit was just for the experience and not for shopping. The section we saw mostly sold clothing. Other groups visited different parts of the market.

Hoopoe Bird

Batik is the most widespread art form in The Gambia and we were taken to a factory where many sizes and designs are made. It is combined with a tie-dying technique that produces very interesting pieces. Several artists demonstrated their skill for us.

We returned to the ship with little time left to jump in the shower and get to the lounge for Recap.

The next day we were in Dakar, Senegal.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul