Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Thursday, April 28^th we arrived in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal to sunny skies which quickly turned dark ending in thunder, lightning and rain.    Funchal is the most populous Portuguese city outside of mainland Portugal.  Portuguese is the official language but English is spoken in most places and by most people.

Madeira is known as the Purple Islands, probably because of the rich Madeira wine for which the area is best known.  Many passengers were anxious to sample the wine but didn’t find any good buys, the stores are selling in Euro’s and the exchange rate is not the best!

Because of the great profusion of trees, the name Madeira (meaning “wooded”) is actually where the name originated – not from the great wines.

Funchal offers a fun hop on-hop off sightseeing bus to all the important areas.  You can ride the cable car to Monte and visit the famous Our Lady of Monte Church.  One of the most fun things is to take a “Snowless Sled Ride” in a wicker basket, visit the embroidery factory for hand-stitched items and of course, wine tasting.

Spring is in bloom and the flowers and trees were beautiful – and then the rain came!

Dakar, Senegal

Monday, April 25th we arrived in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.  Dakar is Senegal’s largest city and positioned as the westernmost African city.  Senegal has limited natural resources and primarily exports fish, phosphates and peanuts.  Fortunately, we arrived during the still dry season as it only has two well-defined seasons – dry and humid.  An interesting point is Senegal, being very conservative in their dress, many religious places, restaurants and museums will not admit anyone (men or women) if wearing shorts.

Because Curt is still under the weather with bronchitis, I toured alone selecting to travel 90 minutes outside the city to the Pink Lake of Retba.  Yes, the lake actually has a pink cast due to the rose-colored salt crystals but turns a more muddy color during the humid, tropical season. 

Arriving at the lake, we boarded 4 wheel drive vehicles and traveled around the shores of Lake Retba visiting the salt works where laborers harvest salt from the briny waters.   What labor intensive work!  They separate the salt from the other sediment and then bag it for sale.

Lake Retba is surrounded by sand dunes,   Living on one of these dunes is a semi-nomadic village of Fulani tribesmen.  We visited this village, watched a performance of their music and dancing, looked into their homes and purchased some home-made crafts.

As in other African countries, Senegal people do all their farming by hand.  What large vegetables they grow!  Senegal is a lush green country, surprising as it boarders the Sahara dessert.  They also, in the country, do not use automobiles but only horse drawn carts.

Senegal is slightly smaller than the state of South Dakota with a population of approximately 13 million with French the official language.  80 to 90% of the population is Muslim but you didn’t see lots of Muslim dress in evidence.  The average age is in the low 20’s, which was “old” because most of the other countries we have visited the average age was 17!   Another staggering statistic is unemployment at 49%.

As we sailed out of the harbor we passed Goree Island, a very popular tour for passengers.  It lies about 3 miles off-shore and was known for housing /trading slaves in the 1600’s.

Our next port will be Funchal, Madeira.  Which is an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, which belongs to Portugal.

Easter

As the sun rose today, Easter, April 24, 2011 we were off the coast of Guinea sailing north toward Senegal.  Easter eggs were all around decorating the ship.  On the top deck there was a Sunrise Service and at mid-morning there was a Champagne Brunch hosted by Executive Chef Antonio and Maître d’ Hotel Francisco.  The Master Chef, Commendatore Alfredo Marzi is still onboard with inspiring meals and culinary demonstrations.   The brunch was overwhelming with everything from crab legs to beef tenderloin.   The chef prepared a great chocolate display with a large 4 foot tall Easter Egg as the centerpiece.

Lome, Togo and Tema, Ghana

 On Wednesday, April 20 we docked at Lome, the capital and largest city of Togo.  It is the country’s administrative and industrial center and chief port.  The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra and palm kernels.  Togo is slightly smaller in size than West Virginia with a population of approximately 6 million people.  The people speak principally French as the official language but with several African languages as well and also English.

Togolese people are friendly and have a natural interest in others.  The children all attend school and are well behaved and educated.  Many of the people today still live in tribes and follow life as we think of as true Africa – believing in voodoo rituals.

Along the coast of Togo are wide beautiful beaches with clean sand.  You will find lots of people relaxing on the beaches especially during the afternoon as the temperatures get very hot with high humidity and most stores close between noon and 3pm.  The day we were here it reached 43 degrees Celsius (about 110 F) with very high humidity.  The tour buses had NO air conditioning.  I will save my thoughts……..

We visited a fishing village where everything is done by hand.  We were invited into one of their thatch roofed homes.  Each house is a separate room, i.e., kitchen, bedroom.  All roads are dirt, all farming is done by hand and watering is done by hose.  Saw no irrigation or farm equipment anywhere, just nothing mechanical being used.  And as in India, no sanitation either!

Voodoo villages truly exist where we viewed shrines and watched a stone-raising  ceremony with a traditional voodoo priest.  Also, in  Hland Village we witnessed the stunning ritual dance of Zangbeto tribe, called “Dance of the Night Watchman”.  The man pictured in the red was actually smoking a pipe filled with very powerful stuff!!!!!!!

Along the way we visited Agbodrafo, a traditional village where we met the Chief, his wife, and many of the villagers and learned about their culture and history.  It was once an important hub in the West African slave trade.

Located  in Lome, the Fetish Market is a fascinating place to visit. Shamans, sorcerers and healers still shop for warthog teeth and porcupine skins, bird skulls and other ingredients for their rituals.  If you’re not into rituals, the artisan’s center was a wonderful place to see and purchase the crafts of Africa.  Beautiful woven cloth, macramé, carved wood statues and beaded jewelry.

We departed at 6pm and sailed a mere 78 miles to our next port of Tema, Ghana, West Africa, arriving at 7am the following morning, April 21.

Curt has been ill the past week with a respiratory infection.  So, since Ghana is so similar to Togo, I chose to just do a taxi shopping tour with two friends. I had done an all day tour of Togo yesterday.   I did not go to Accra, an hour away, but stayed in Tema.  My assessment is, except that English is the official language of Ghana, there is little difference between the two countries.

Luderitz and Walvis Bay, Namibia

On April 14, 2011 we arrived in Luderitz, Namibia.  Luderitz is a very small town that was settled in the early 1800’s by German Lutheran missionaries.  The area around the city is noted for diamond mining and vast sand dunes.  Most of the streets in the town are dirt/sand.  The architecture has a German colonial influence. 

For our visit to Luderitz we decided to just walk the town and see the local happenings.  We climbed to the high point of the town where stands the Felsenkirche (the Lutheran church that was built in 1911).  Of course we did a little shopping before we headed back onboard, no diamonds purchased!  One of our passengers was confronted by two men with knives who stole this person’s camera.  This is the first incident that we have heard about on this cruise.  We departed at 1:30pm en route to Walvis Bay, Namibia.

On April 15, 2011 we arrived in Walvis Bay, Namibia.  This is a large modern town with a growing sea port.  There is plenty of local industry and the city is surrounded by sand dunes.  Some of our passengers elected to venture to the Namib-Naukluft National Park and explore the dunes and the desert.  This tour was full, with a waiting list of approximately 80 persons, so we were not able to go.  Since there wasn’t anything very unusual in the city, no photos are included.  We depart here at 6:00pm tonight and have 4 sea days before our arrival in Lome, Togo on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.