Western Coast of Africa

Leaving the stark beauty of Cape Town behind, The Vista heads north up the coast of western Africa. Travel agents would be hard-pressed to sell this itinerary to anyone who has made the voyage before - which has been proven by the number of vacancies in this segment. Wait staff has been slashed. Multiple sea days have been added. Ports chosen based on the availability of fuel. Yet destination services, as well as the entire entertainment staff, has worked tirelessly to keep their spoiled, pampered guests content. Oceania has done their dead-level best to make delicious lemonade from this batch of lemons world politics handed them.

Walvis Bay, the first port on this segment, did have our necessary fuel but not much else. In 2023, I took my first birding excursion here. It was wonderful. Saw thousands of flamingos and lesser flamingos - everywhere! This year, they have already migrated; to where, I know not. This is my friend and fellow knitter, Ahyoung's, first time to visit Walvis Bay and was thrilled with her first jackal sighting along with other sites unique to Walvis Bay. Seeing no excursion of interest, I remained on ship.

As spotted by Ahyoung

Next stop, three sea days later, we arrive at Luanda, Angola. The selection of possible excursions failed to pique my curiosity and needing nothing from the local mall, I again remained on board ship. Good call. It seems that the Angolans are not especially accepting of American's nor their dollars. To my knowledge, Lois, armed with her Australian bank card, was the only person who was successful in purchasing anything. Oh well, onward and upward.

Blue skies looking at me...

...and a great big yacht!

Someone needs to stay behind to eat the Chef's beautiful creations...

Then came Sao Tome, an island nation from which one can "almost reach out and touch the equator" as my guide in 2023 said. Finding nothing new and intriguing offered for Sao Tome, I once again remained onboard. Did catch this beautiful sunset shot, however.

The Last Tender to Sao Tome

Next up, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. According to our guide - but not according to Peter at Trivia - Abidjan is the second largest French speaking city in the world. When the question was asked at Trivia a few days later, Phillip, Parker and I were certain of the answer. After all, we had just been told that it was Abidjan with its six million or so population. When Peter, our cruise director, gave Montreal as the correct answer, we remained certain of our answer, however he remained unmoved and said (as he is found of doing), "I don't care!" No Big-O points that day...

As luck would have it, I selected the same excursion as I had when here in 2023, but with a different guide and a different day of the week - different experiences. First, we passed by the gigantic supposedly "elephant-shaped" cathedral, but were unable to tour the interior as it was Sunday and services were in full swing. No worries, I have pictures from 2023. Next up: African Cultural History Museum. Very interesting. Our guide spoke long and often of their deep respect, bordering on worship, of both elephants and women. The elephants in this region were hunted down and slaughtered for their tusks almost to the point of extinction. Then, we learn at the museum that women who are unable to bear children, even after all the various fertility ceremonies, lose ALL of their rights. Hearing this, I paused to ponder, did one really benefit from their so called "honor?" Outside the museum were musicians and an extremely energetic dancer performing their tribal folk dance of years gone by... In the courtyard just outside the museum was a dead tree/statue with many hands attached. No explanation was forthcoming...

An Artist's Rendition of the Dance we Watched

From this museum, we traveled under heavy guard to an African Art Museum in Bingerville. Again, very interesting. Note pictures taken within. Half an hour later, under heavy protection, we proceeded to the Botanical Gardens. These gardens encompassed many, many acres with lots of bamboo, and virtually any other foliage know to this area. Lots of benches, picnic tables, recreation areas. Something of a Central Park of Bingerville. Our guide, as in 2023, took up a healthy pace toward what he called "the cheese tree." After some quarter-mile or so, I spotted a partly shaded bench and planted myself there upon. Soon, Jeff, having undergone some strenuous therapy the previous day, joined me. It was sometime later that I noticed that one of the many "EMS" guys had taken a seat under a tree just a few yards down the path from our bench. This entire day we were nothing if not well-protected! Comforting on the one hand. Unsettling on the other.

An Egret at the Botanical Gardens Striking a Pose

Back on the bus, we are told that the tree is called a cheese tree because back in the day when they were exporting huge quantities of locally produced cheese to France, these trees were downed to be made into shipping cartons for said cheese. Hmm! No mention of would-not-be slaves hiding from their would-be captors in and amongst the roots of those trees? Different time. Different guide...

After a very brief stop at the Boys' Orphanage (formerly The Governor's Mansion), it was off to the craft market near our pier. Contributions to the local economy made, it's back to the ship and another full day at sea before our next port.

Today is Someday! Make Lemonade!