Banjul is the capital of the Gambia, and, sadly, seems maybe to be the most dire of the circumstances we’ve seen.

 

Anyway, onward & upward. Tomorrow we dock in The Gambia. Know nothing about it, but ready to learn.

Yeah, the “voodoo” stuff was a little troubling & eye-opening. And that, combined with a quick back/forth I had with someone on the home front (we all know some, right?) who’s convinced that life in “the West” in the 21st century is just such misery……well, seems to me those folks could benefit from a couple of days in Togo or Benin. Possibly re-calibrate.

We went to to the Akodessawa “fetish market” in Togo, have to think that the euphemism “fetish” is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting in that phrase. Vodun (voodoo) is apparently still alive and well - the marketplace consists mostly of dead animal heads….very recently dead. This is not some touristy, cynically established place for Westerners to take faux-triumphant, touristy, cynical pictures, sadly, it’s a thriving local enterprise. (and remember those adorable 2 little kids a few posts back - we gave them a couple of chocolates? They were just on the other side of the road from this marketplace, 30-40 feet away). The decapitated animal heads (monkeys are apparently especially integral to the cause) go on forever. Imagine, if you will, what recently-dead animal parts, in the thousands, smell like. Yes, as it turns out, you are correct. Maybe x100.

I think I may have been guilty of writing this: “(every time the Olympics roll around, and at the Opening Ceremonies they have that interminable “March of the Athletes” into the stadium, I usually get bored right up until the southern African teams enter, with those glorious, elaborate, gorgeously colorful outfits. Puts the whole boring “Ralph Lauren look” to shame, imho)”. Anyway, we shopped at the wonderful textile market in Accra, and there are now colorful dinner table placemats and table runners in our future.

The Independence Monument in Lome, Togo. Our bus driver and guide got into hot water with local police, for daring to park nearby for a few minutes, they instructed us to park ¼ mile away. Absolutely no one around or near the area.

I think I remember the tour buses in India being similar….heavy on the tassels and red velvet-y embroider-y stuff.

A couple of cute little kids were fascinated by our group. (boy & girl twins?) Several of us have taken to bringing along on shore excursions a couple of the nightly chocolates that the cruise company leaves in our suites, to offer to the wee ones. Sometimes the kids are understandably a little apprehensive (and sometimes a little assist from the guide helps break the ice) - but…..chocolate usually wins out. 🍫

 

Our welcoming committee in Accra.

 

Independence Square in Accra.

In Ghana, if you’re pressed for time, you can do a lot of your normal shopping without ever getting out of your car.

Around town.

The National Museum.

Our first stop off the ship in Ghana was the W.E.B. Du Bois center.

The Temple of the Python was populated with ….pythons.

Unfortunate reminders along the way. Which reminds me, while we were on the first of the three overland off-the-ship safari adventures, when the ship was in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, one of the escorted walking tours from our ship was robbed at gunpoint. Everyone lost cellphones, jewelry, watches, passports. Travel to the off-the-beaten-track, exotic locations is great, but not always fun and games.

Getting to the Vodun (“voodoo”) stuff, there was a sacred forest where a king magically had turned himself into a tree. Ironically, at the base of the tree was a bat, apparently in its death throes. Not at all creepy. 😬