‘Travel brings POWER and LOVE back to your life’.Rumi.
‘TRAVELING is not something you’re good at. It’s something you do. LIKE BREATHING’. Gayle Foreman.
Another three days at sea and we crossed the equator for the third time. Again there was the threat of Pirates so at night all lights were either turned off or curtains drawn. For instance on the sports deck no lights were allowed to play football. In 2009 there were several pirate attacks but none recently. We have constant plumbing problems with flushing and the cold water was extremely hot.. In about 200 to 300 AD Malays reached Madagascar in outriggers, hence the spread of civilisation. Our next stop was the Seychelles which is perfectly positioned for trading long before the Europeans. The unique fruit from here is the coco de mer. This is a fruit that takes two years to germinate and 6-7 years to mature. It weighs between 15 and 30 kg. It resembles an elephant’s behind. The shell is the expensive part and now has spread to India and the Maldives. The island was settled due to the Tradewinds in 1-3 AD and the discovery of sails. Vasco da Gama visited it. In 1608 a British East company ship was attacked off Zanzibar and escaped several storms heading southwest to land in the Seychelles in 1609. The first settlers discovered giant tortoises weighing 5 to 600 pounds. Pirates came from the West Indies to the Indian Ocean and raided enemy ships in their Corsairs. They were backed by France and as such if caught were regarded as the enemy and put into prisoner of war camps instead of being hanged as Pirates. Buccaneers were land-based hunters in the West Indies and sold meat etc. Privateers originated from French British and Dutch and prayed on Spanish ships. When caught Pirates were hung high with a short rope to avoid waste of the rope. Today the dock was full of industrialized large ships and the view was marred by several wind turbines. The surrounding land rises steeply and forms an ideal harbor. It is extremely hot and humid. The population is 72,000 and independence was gained in 1976. There are 115 islands 40 of which are granite and 75 coral. The exports are copper, cinnamon bark and vanilla. They are the oldest oceanic granite islands on earth. The centrally situated Clocktower in Victoria was a present from the UK but was dropped before installation and now the chimes do not work. I felt a bit ill so returned to the ship but Lesley continued the tour to the beach with lovely white sands, and the botanics to see the coco de mer. Overall the tours were grossly overpriced. Unfortunately the exotic far Eastern ports did not match up to my high expectations and were somewhat disappointing. Mahe isthe capital of the Seychelles and the main industry is tourism on the south side of the island.
‘To live that is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all’ Oscar Wilde.
All the docks were ubiquitously populated by awesome huge cranes moving multitudinous legolike containers computerised to be precisely placed on board cargo ships. The scene is reminiscent of the outerspace machines straight out of a scientific movie such as theWar of the Worlds when the earth was invaded by Martians. Slow and careful are the watchwords and any aesthetic notions of the voyageurs from the Amsterdam were totally dispelled by the confrontation of the docks initially changing the delights of the hinterland of the exotic countries. To join the Navy to see the world is to be condemned to frequent the sterile activity of the mundanity of cargo shipping and rusting ugly pollution causing cargo ships.
‘No matter WHERE YOU GO, there you are’. Buckaroo Banzai.
We were supposed to visit Madagascar to dock at Nosey Be but they were suffering from bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Pasturella Pestis, similar to the great plague of London with a very high mortality rate spawning the nursery rhyme ’ring a ring of roses’. At the time judges had a posy placed before them in court to cover the smell of rotting corpses as well as the classic ring rash heralding the onset of the disease. A fatal symptom involves sneezing and imminent death, hence the falling down. The Holland America line wished to choose the safer and financially wiser alternative of Reunion island. We docked at St. Denis. The port is some way out of the city and the complementary shuttle bus took us along the coastal highway to St. Denis. From the docks the hillside graduates into a mountain shrouded by mist and clouds. Sightseers at the top could view the valleys briefly before being cut off by the moving colloidal mass. The sight we were told is beautiful to see. Housing was creeping up the gradient but stopping well short of the summit. The road was a switchback all the way up inducing motion sickness with some of the travelers. The new highway to the city has been built 50 yards offshore to avoid any falling rocks. Having reached the city we were underwhelmed by the paucity of points of interest, so the visit was very short-lived and pointless. After a few days at sea we were due to arrive in mainland Africa, the dark enigmatic continent.
‘I read, I travel, I become’. Derek Walcott.
That night there was a celebration on board as the CEO of Holland America had embarked. Free booze and a band blasting from five to 6:30 PM. I personally was celebrating because it was 20 years to the day when I had my last cigarette. This was March 28, 1998 in Washington DC outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel!
‘Work,TRAVEL, save,REPEAT’. An adventure.
All public areas in the ship are adorned with potted orchids immaculately maintained by two full-time florists.
‘It is in all of us to defy expectations to go into the world and to be brave and to want, to need, to hunger for ADVENTURES to embrace change and chance and risk, so that we may be in know what it is to be FREE’. Mae Chevrollo.
Before the Civil War but Lourenco Marques was loved by South Africans as a playground with wonderful seafood. The Civil War decimated Mozambique and changed the name of the capital to Maputo. When I was working in Natal there was an outpouring of Portuguese from their colony and it is claimed that the government was left bereft of intelligence and expertise which delayed the revival of the country. I distinctly remember an incident involving a very large coal black Portuguese male nurse who when I worked on a sugar farm looking after diabetic and hypertensive Indians translated by speaking louder. These patients presented with a test tube of their urine to be checked for sugar. Unfortunately when I was putting on a blood pressure cuff on one lady she turned her arm and poured the urine over my immaculately white safari suit. I immediately changed my technique. These days Maputo has not recovered and is frankly a dump. The government wanted $75 for a visa to step on their land so we stayed in the ship. The view was not very pleasant with ugly high-rise. Reports we got from those that visited were not good.
‘We TRAVEL not to escape life, but for LIFE to escape us’. Anonymous.
Another day at sea and we were awoken at 5:30 AM to sheet lightning for half an hour. I was recalling my experience of my last visit to Cape Town 41 years previously. This was to sit the oral exam called the primary FRCS, the first stage in becoming a surgeon. I was working in Durban and was preparing to fly to Cape Town. I was very unsure if the cost on the plane trip was worthwhile. I went to the airport a day early and coincidentally met a colleague doing the same thing. On our arrival we were picked up by his cousin and driven to Groote Schuur (big barn) hospital for the exam next day. I was extremely surprised to learn that the exam had been brought forward by one day and hence I had to perform immediately. In one of the three orals I was asked about high blood pressure and it did the usual answers and then said one that was extremely uncommon. This was seized upon by the examiners, if you’re in a hole stop digging, but they did not realize I had just finished an academic paper on exactly that subject. I kept talking for the 20 minutes of the oral and did not let them ask any other questions. So much against public opinion I passed.
‘You do not travel if you are afraid of the unknown. You travel for the unknown, that reveals you within YOURSELF’. Ella Maillart.
We approached the dock and found a cargo ship in our berth so we had to wait for it to be moved. We were delayed for four hours and then had to form a long line for immigration. All passengers and crew had to go to whether they went ashore or not. In Cape Town at the time there was a drought and water was at a premium . I wanted to go to Stellenbosch to see the architecture and Vineland. Thankfully the tour bus was rescheduled. The countryside is beautiful with vineyards all over the place. I visited Blaukippen winery (blue stone) which was very well kept. No need for the South facing slope as in Nova Scotia, there is enough heat and sun to ripen the grapes. I tasted six wines but all were very mediocre. There was a push to buy, but Holland America charged US$18 to take the wine on board, meant it was not feasible. They did not ship to Canada. Then I visited Stellenbosch with a population of 150,000 people, Cape Town had 600,000 and the surrounding area 3.7 million. The Republic of South Africa has a total of 50 million population. The architecture of Stellenbosch has a good reputation but I was somewhat disappointed with the sporadic old buildings. There were several tourist curio shops, again very expensive. On the way home we passed corrugated townships with multiple satellite dishes. Apparently no animals were allowed although goats (sign of richness) abound. Kaleigha is the name of the township of forced displaced Cape Town dwellers which is quite a distance from Cape Town. In the meantime Lesley traveled to the top of Table Mountain via cable car hence I stayed at sea level. She said the sights were fantastic.
‘Keep your EYES on the horizon and your nose to the WIND’. Clint Eastwood.
The next day we went on a safari (means journey) to Aquila Reserve (black eagle). We were supposed to start at 5:45 AM but there was no show from the driver. We began to think they had forgotten us but in fact the driver was told to pick us up at 6:10 AM which he did. A two hour drive would take us to the reserve. We almost didn’t make it. We were driving along in the highway fast Lane at about 70 mph when a car in the slow lane appeared to drift off the road and then over corrected himself to cross 3 lanes and drive right in front of us do a 180 degree turn and miss us by about 12 inches. If we had made contact I fear I would not be making this report. We passed through the Drakenstay and Du Toit mountain ranges and a 3mile tunnel. We eventually arrived for breakfast and in all the journey took us three hours. The safari was in an open truck with 13 people. He was a very good guide, black whose first language was Afrikaans but his English was very good. The first animals we saw were two male elephants. The African elephants have large ears which they flap to cool themselves, as well as hosing themselves with water from the trunk (they have two stomachs one for water and one for food) and sand and mud. The elephants have notoriously bad sight. While playing together the younger elephant appeared to grow a fifth rear leg. Once realization dawned on them there was hysterical howling laughter from the ladies at the back of the truck. The appendage continued to lengthen but with no recipient did not amount to anything. The elephants were surrounded by elands which are the largest antelopes in South Africa.. The next animals we saw were ostriches, the male is more beautiful than the female. The male has black feathers which warm during the day and give off heat to allow incubation of eggs during the night as the female does not incubate at night. Hippopotamuses were concentrated near a big Lake. These behave like ballerinas in the water and cannot swim. They require shallow water and kill more humans than any other mammal. They only attack if they are blocked from water when they become anxious as they have very sensitive skin and the water prevents skin rashes from the sun. They are vegetarians normally. The zebras are described as donkeys with pajamas. They have digestive problems producing abdominal gas. They are beautiful animals and each marking is individual. We then saw lions in their own enclosure basking in a postprandial somnolence with apparent self-content. There were three southern giraffes which are noted for good eyesight and high blood pressure. Springboks were plentiful and identified with a black marking from their eyes like tear drops. There were also several rhinoceroses, the southern white type which are endangered. They have remarkably poor eyesight. The male deposits faeces with urine to form a solid ball which tells the female he is nearby. The ball is eaten by baby rhinos and zebras. We had an uneventful return and on the way back saw some black wildebeestes which are like camels, a mixture of many different animals. The big five was the name given to the most dangerous and difficult animals to hunt on foot which are African elephants, black rhinoceros, Cape Buffalo, African lion and the African leopard. The lion and the African bush elephant is classified as a vulnerable. The leopard and the white rhinoceros are classified as near threatened. The black rhinoceros is classified as critically endangered.
‘TRAVEL is about the GEORGEOUS feeling of teetering in the unknown’. Anonymous.
The reserve totaled 10,000 acres of which all was fenced in and the lions had their further enclosure. The headquarters contained a restaurant and several holiday rooms as well as rondavels which are thatched roofed small houses. They are often round. There was a group from Cleveland Ohio with families, the kids played rugby in a tournament locally and another group from the Wirral, England with schoolchildren playing various games against locals. We thought this was excellent to open up the idea of understanding and tolerance of those who are not brought up in the same vein as these protected boys and girls. The Hottentots, one of the first races to inhabit the area, believe if you have a good life you will become a springbok in the next and a bad life makes you a wildebeest. Our guide also showed us that by rubbing quantitate stone against the iron rich Redrock and water produced a dark brown warpaint. On the way back to Cape Town we saw the floors of valleys covered with grapevines. Some had a Y trellis system blocking out the sun to the floor and reducing weeds. Some had nets but some had been harvested just recently. In parts the vines stretched as far as the eye could see.
‘TRAVEL. As much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life is not meant to be lived in one place’. The things we say.
The next day there is a thick fog on awakening. We visited a local mall which seem to become bigger in every port but was expensive. The adjoining market was full of cheap souvenir tat. On the way back to the ship the lineup to have an exit stamp on the passport was tedious. There is another emergency drill on board and then we had a’ sail away’ to a normal day at sea. It was a nostalgic visit for me after all this was a place where I first sharpened my scalpel, got incomparable experience and passed the first exam to become a surgeon. I will always have some feeling for the country.
‘The eye never forgets what the heart has seen’. African proverb.
‘ Perhaps the gangway from deck one was very easy to negotiate kept me in a good mood.
‘The IMPULSE to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of LIFE’. Cherkasy.
Today it was Walvis Bay in Namibia. It garners a huge amount of rain at 2 inches per year. The day we visited was very foggy and overcast. About 7 km from Walvis Bay in Darob is the Dune 7 which is 92 -100 m high. Quite a sight. Then we went on to the Mendoza Township. The tour was classed as “the real Namibia”. We were shown the warts and all of Oliver Cromwell. The original Township had lots of shanties with corrugated roofs and some new buildings. Some had electricity and sewage but the new townships adjacent did not. For some there were communal toilets or outside toilets. There has been an influx from the hinterland of those seeking employment but unfortunately only too often this does not work out. The youth unemployment is 46%. Apparently each lot is 300 m² and the occupants can build themselves their houses but the government is stopping further potential tenants. We were entertained to traditional food including fried worms beans and spinach. I chose not to partake although Lesley did. The population of this township was 65,000 but with abject poverty. Nearby is Swakopmunde which was a German colony prior to being taken over by South Africa. It was very helpful to the German war effort in the second world war. It is now an expanding city with some lovely houses. Some passengers went on 4 x 4 vehicles up and down the sand dunes giving them an exhilarating experience. The other industries are fishing and mining. The grinding unending poverty was reflected in the open air markets where all the state governed hygiene rules were ignored because it was a Saturday and no inspectors were working. Flies were ubiquitous covering dried fish and vegetables. Mounds of discarded clothing were laid out for sale to those unfortunates unable to afford better. The roads, were unmade, dusty and worsened by the encompassing extensive sand dunes. The flat desert leading to the surrounding sand dunes reminded me of the movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ which was where I worked in Northwest Saudi Arabia. Our tour guide emphasized that liberation from the colonial rule of South Africa gave the Namibians freedom. I could imagine he would be a leader in the revolution, however he was only eight years old on the day of independence in March 21, 1990. I did not want to go too deeply into the difficulties of setting up the independent state but he was confident in the future and on the face of it the country has vast resources with the potential of stability and economic viability although in my opinion this may take several generations. Overall we were impressed with Namibia and wish them well.
‘TRAVEL far enough, you meet YOURSELF’. Cloud Atlas.