Benin 2010

AF-10 - West Coast of Africa - MOROCCO (Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain), Western Sahara (Morocco), SENEGAL, GAMBIA, SIERRA LEONE, GHANA, TOGO, BENIN, CAMEROON, GABON, SAN TOME & PRINCIPE, REPUBLIC CONGO, NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NETHERLANDS Date of travel: Nov 30, 2010 - Jan 10, 2011 ITINERARY: An hour after midnight on Nov 30, 2010 I leave Vista and in a rented car drive to Los Angeles airport. Here I board a plane for New York, where I change to Royal Air Maroc flight to Casablanca, MOROCCO, landing there in the morning on Dec 1. After several hours in a hotel we board our ship Corinthian II. Next morning a bus tour of Casablanca with sightseeing of The Hassan II. Mosque and of the country capital, Rabat. Overnight our ship sailed to Safi, from where we drive to see mysterious Marrakesh with its Koutouba Minaret and Djemaa El Fna Square. On Dec 4, our ship is moored in Agadir and we make a bus trip to walled town Taroudanut. At noon on Dec 5 Corinthian II. makes its port in Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote on CANARY ISLANDS, part of Spain. In the afternoon, I take a trip through this volcanic island with its whitewashed houses and collection of art by local artist Cesar Manrique. On Dec 6 we were to visit Laayoune, a capital of WESTERN SAHARA which was annexed by Morocco in 1975, but for high waves and possible terrorist danger we will visit Dakhla in southern part of this territory tomorrow. So the next day there is a bus tour of Dakhla and its vicinity. At a beach there are sand dunes and in them a large camp with Europeans and their RVs. They stay here part of the winter. We have opportunity to walk the streets of Dakhla in the afternoon. After a day on the Atlantic Ocean our ship takes mooring in harbor of Dakar, SENEGAL on Dec 9. In the afternoon by ferry to Goree Island. From there the slaves were shipped to both Americas and Caribbean (my second visit to this island). Next day there is a sightseeing tour of 4 mil. city Dakar, a capital of Senegal, and afternoon we drive 42 km out of the city to Pink Lake. Local people dig salt from its bottom. There is also a visit to a Fulany village. After night sailing we find ourselves in Banjul, capital of GAMBIA, in the morning on Dec 11. This narrow country is wedged inside Senegal. During the day trip we visit Abuko Nature Reserve, Makasutu Forest and a museum in Banjul. Another day on the ocean. On Dec 13, Freetown, a capital of SIERRA LEONE. This was the first place where Blacks from America were brought back to Africa. There is a sightseeing trip of the capital. Our bus is escorted by 2 motorcycle policemen. When out of this 1 million people city the road goes past beautiful but empty beaches. At one we stop for refreshment. Pleasant music and interesting dances performed by a local group. For lunch we are in a nice hotel while getting an interesting speech of American ambassador to Sierra Leone. On the end of the tour is a visit to National Rail Museum. The following day afternoon we should visit Monrovia in Liberia. Our ship is waiting several hours for a Liberian pilot to take our ship into the harbor, but nobody shows up, so we leave for our next destination. It is a disappointment. Next almost 2 days Corinthian II. rounds Africa to Gulf of Guinea. At noon on Dec 16 we land in Takoradi, GHANA. In the afternoon there is a bus trip through towns Takoradi and Sekondi. Next day another trip from Takoradi on the main highway along the coast east visiting local villages and an impressive fortress, Cape Coast Castle, started 1652 by Swedes and finish by British. Served for slaves to be sent to Americas and the British ruled Gold Coast from here until 1876 when they moved the capital to Accra. After lunch we see the Emina Castle and its St. Jago fort. At night Corinthian II. sailed to another Ghana harbor, Tema. In the morning on Dec 18 a bus tour to sightsee the 3 mil. people capital Accra. Among other places we stop at the extensive Memorial Park of the first president Kwame Nkrumah. The following 2 days in Tema we make a visit to Shai Game Reserve to see animals, later to a beads factory and the second day to a Aburi Botanical Gardens and Mompong Center for herbal medicine. On Dec 21 morning our ship is moored at a pier in Lome, TOGO. Next two days we are in this on the map skinny country. There are 2 armed policemen in our bus. First visit is to a royal palace where we hear speech of the local king then a local school. In the afternoon there is a sightseeing of the capital Lome including a woodoo market. Next day morning a visit to a village with another king. In the afternoon a voodoo village s voodoo ceremony. On Dec 23 morning our ship moves to the next country BENIN. We are in the harbor of its largest city Cotonou. There is a trip to the capital of Benin, Porto Novo, on the border with Nigeria. Again we have 2 armed policemen in each bus. One has a machine gun. The buses are escoted by motorcycle policemen. We visit an ethnographic museum in Porto Novo. Later we stop at Honme Museum, where the kings used to live. Afternoon trip is to Ganvie a village built on stilts in a large lake. We get there on a local boats. I have been here 9 years ago coming from Mali through Burkina Faso in a 4WD car. Then we spend a day on the Gulf of Guinea, a day filled with lectures as always when on the ocean. On Dec 25 Corinthian II. put anchor at Limbe in CAMEROON. This is an English speaking part of this country which joined the French speaking one during the decolonization. The rest of the British Cameroon joined Nigeria. In the morning a visit to oil palm plantations and then we stop at a tea plantation and see the processing of tea leaves. Later on we see a palace, where a German governor had a seat, when Cameroon belonged to Germany before WWI. In the afternoon there is a stop at lava flow from 1999 when Mt. Cameroon erupted. The volcano is in the clouds above us. We also visit a collection of apes and monkeys in a zoo. On Dec 26 morning we get to shore on zodiacs. Our ship anchors in Kribi in the French part of Cameroon. The countryside is covered by a rain forest. First on buses then on Lobe River we board boats of local pygmies a go to visit their village deep in the forest. There are not as small I thought the pygmies might be. They are hunters and gatherers and their children don t go to school. In the afternoon we visit waterfalls on Lobe River. They fall practically into the ocean. Our next visited place is an island country SAO TOME & PRINCIPE in the Gulf of Guinea. It used to be a Portugal colony. Originally uninhabited islands were used by the Portuguese over 500 years for coffee and cacao plantations. The work force was brought from Africa. The revolution in Portugal in 1975 withdraw that country from its colonies and the whole system collapsed. On Dec 27 we come to the Island of Principe. Again using zodiacs we get on the island. Four vans take us around the island. The following day a visit to the bigger Sao Tome Island where 160 thousand out of 200 thousand people of the country live. A tour around the island. High humidity and temperature. A stop at a waterfalls. We learn about the coffee production. Local women dancing in the street. A visit to a museum in an old Portuguese fort and local villages. On Dec 29 we are back at the African continent in Libreville, GABON, practically on the Equator. In the morning there is a sightseeing of Libreville. At noon a lunch break some 40 km outside Libreville. Here we have an interesting talk with 7 employees of American embassy about their work in this country. In the afternoon, a visit of Monday Forest. Another day on Atlantic Ocean with several lectures. On Dec 31 in Pointe-Noire, REPUBLIC of CONGO. This used to be a major French colony. Its capital is Brazzaville. Our bus goes through Pointe-Noire on its main drag, Blvd. De Gaulle, bordered by important buildings. We see a soccer stadium built by Chinese. Out of the city our bus follows the highway to Gabon. At noon, some 25 km from Pointe-Noire, we leave the bus and enter Diosso Gorge reminding Badlands in So. Dakota. Close by we see a museum which used to be a residence of Loando kings. Interesting was the royal succession: from the king to his nephew. After lunch in a beach hotel back to our ship. Originally we were to enter the Congo River, but that was cancelled due to possible pirates on the river. Then there were to be 2 stops in Angola (Luanda and Lobito), but according to the information those harbors do not work around the first of the year. So we have now 3 days on the ocean going south to Namibia. At noon on Jan 4, 2011 Corinthian II. lands at Walvis Bay in NAMIBIA. Until WWI it was a German colony, then it was run by South Africa and from 1990 it is an independent country. There is a bus tour to Swakopmund in the afternoon. Until quite recently the streets of this city carried names from the German era. The main street was Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse. Now it is Sam Nujoma Avenue, named after a Swapo member. There are high sand dunes near Walvis Bay. We have a dinner in a large tent under Dune 7, which is with its 800 m the highest. Next morning a trip in 4WDs south to salt ponds, the coast and making runs among dunes. After lunch a visit to a township. On Jan 6 we leave our ship and fly from Walvis Bay to Cape Town in SOUTH AFRICA. Our accommodation is in a 5 hotel Mount Nelson. The following day we take a cable car to the Table Mountain, visit the Peninsula with the Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. Later a visit to the famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The last day morning a wine tasting in Stellenbosch wine area outside Cape Town. Early in the morning on Jan 9 I am taking a KLM plane from Cape Town to Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, where in the afternoon. Due to 2.5 hour delay at departure I missed my plane to Los Angeles. On account of KLM I am spending a night in a hotel here. In the evening I take a train from the airport to downtown Amsterdam for a little sightseeing there. Next day, Jan 10, before noon I fly from Amsterdam to Los Angeles. Here I rent a car and drive home to Vista where just after 5 PM the same day after 42 days traveling. Travel office: Destinations & Adventures and Travel Dynamics International Who took part: Nov 30 through Dec 19 there were 59 passengers in 49 cabins, in addition there were 2 lecturers with wives and 4 people from Travel Dynamics who directed the trip. On Dec 19 some passengers and people from Travel Dynamic left and new came on board. Corinthian II: The ship had 57 cabins each could take 2 passengers (so max 114 passengers). Gross Tonnage: 4,200; Length: 297 ft. (90 m); Beam: 50 ft. (15 m).