Morocco

Our last port of call was the surprisingly modern city of Casablanca. The port was bustling, filled with unloading container ships and heavily laden trucks moving about. We cleared customs relatively quickly and I joined a field trip to the capital city of Rabat. The trip via bus took us about an hour, traveling along the shore. Rabat used to be a walled city and the historic wall still stands, guarding a city grown much too big to contain within it's old stone walls. The parapets still look down upon a river flowing into the Atlantic. Just outside the walls is a large, very old cemetery which sits above the rocks along the ocean side. A small beach held crowds of young men in swimsuits and young women completely covered from head to foot - Morocco is a Muslim nation although it is quite tolerant and even a bit proud of its Christian and Jewish populations. In 1492 Spain kicked all the Jews and Muslims and many of them ended up right across the Mediterranean in Morocco. I get the impression that they still have a strong sense of that shared adversity today.

Quite the view

The following day a small group of us took a harrowing cab ride to the train station. The traffic in Casablanca is no worse than half the other ports we visited, but the drivers are aggressive and impatient. Imagine a New York cab driver with ten minutes to get across mid-town Manhattan to win a million bucks. It was interesting.

Our purpose today was to boarded the express train to the city of Marrakech. Reading that sentence, you may have the same song running through your head as I did that morning. The train trip took about three hours through rolling hills covered with scrub grasses and cultivated plots of cactus-looking plants that apparently are raised for their fruit. They weren't true cactus, those only live in the New World. Sitting there on the train, you could have believed that you were traveling through southern Utah. Outcrops of vaguely red rock stuck out of mute-green sparse patches of tall grass. It was only the occasional minaret from a local mosque that spoiled the illusion.

Marrakech is another walled city, long outgrown it's original fortifications. We were booked into a Riad (small hotel) in the historic part of the city which required a ten minute cab ride. Six of us piled into an old Mercedes Benz with a grizzled old cab driver and we made our way through the city. This cab ride was a bit less harrowing, but no less quick and soon we were dropped at the edge of a huge market square. We crossed the large open area covered with booths selling spices and fruits and totally crowded with people, motor bikes and the occasional car edging itself slowly through the crowd. We had a somewhat imperfect map, but eventually found ourself traveling down a tunnel with merchants on both sides hawking clothing, lamps, and assorted souvenirs of all kinds. The walls between the shops were about ten feet wide and crowded with people. This didn't stop the progress of occasional small cars, motor bikes and even three or four horse-drawn carts. The street was full of life, noise and exotic smells.

Our new neighborhood

A hundred meters or so down this narrow street, we found a left hand turn onto, or into an even narrower street. Part tunnel, part arbor and part street, our path led down a narrow way punctuated by iron strapped doors set right into the stone walls. On both sides, even narrower side streets led off at random, bending out of sight like some sort of bizarre maze. We came to the door of our riad which looked no different from the several we had already passed. We knocked and our host, a Frenchman named Daniel led us into paradise. The transition was amazing. One moment we were in a dark narrow alleyway, then next we were in a beautiful open courtyard, shaded by orange trees with a small fountain in the center. We sat down at a small cafe table and were served dark, thick coffee with biscotti. I felt like I had been transported into some sort of espionage film.

Following coffee, Daniel showed us to our rooms. The room I was given was actually located in what he called the "petit riad", which was down the alleyway from the main riad. This space had it's own terrace along with a courtyard containing a small plunge pool. Any moment now, James Bond was going to step out and offer me a shaken martini. Absolutely beautiful.

Goods for sale in the marketplace

We spent the rest of the day walking around the market, getting hassled by vendors and just enjoying the sights and smells of this little city inside the city. Late afternoon found us back at the riad where our host provided us a bottle of wine and four glasses. We proceeded to the roof of the third floor where we could look out over the entire city. As the sun set, we sipped our wine and admired the maze of rooftops, alleyways and crowded spaces. Right after the sun set, we could hear the call to prayer sounding out from six or seven mosques all over the city. It was a surreal experience.

Sunset in Marrakesh

After a fantastic meal of meat kabobs and cous cous, we wandered around the square which had now transformed itself into a maze of small vendors and performers looking for tips. There were snake charmers, monkeys on leashes, dancers and birds of prey. Small displays of lanterns, statues and other items for sale laid in between small carts hawking juice, sweets and other food. It was a crowded and hectic space full of life. Quite a different feel from other markets we had visited in previous ports.

That nest isn't looking so good...

The following day we wandered some more, visiting some far flung sides of the city. We visited a (semi) restored part of the city wall fortification which was now mostly open space and nesting space for cranes. We enjoyed a late lunch and then packed up for the return train trip to Casablanca - this time decidedly not an express. The three-hour trip out took more than four back and we didn't get back to the city till late at night.

Our student group in the Hassan II Mosque

On the last day in Casablanca, I joined the Comparative Religions course's Field Lab to go to a variety of religious sites in the city. We started at a small museum of Judaism which chronicled the life of Moroccan Jews. Next we visited the Hussan II Mosque - the third largest mosque in the world (the other two being in Saudi Arabia). This was an absolutely massive structure that was amazing to walk through. We were told that the mosque can (and has) held 25,000 worshipers during Ramadan, with 50,000 outside listening to the worship through speakers mounted on poles outside the building. We were given the opportunity to walk through the main structure and then go into the basement to see where the ablutions occur. The entire structure is made of Italian marble and is gorgeous.

The beast with seven head

Our last stop was at a Catholic church where a replica of the grotto at Lourdes has been created. The inside the church (which brought all sorts of flashbacks from my childhood) was pretty standard for a Catholic parish church. There was however some amazing stained glass work featuring all sorts of images you don't usually see in stained glass. My favorite was an image of Angels fighting with the seven-headed beast of Revelations. Quite striking.

The Gold Coast

We had nearly a week after departing South Africa to make our way up the west coast of Africa to Ghana. Historically, called the Gold Coast the country renamed itself following its independence from Great Britain in the 50's. This is a pretty poor nation with a wealth of natural resources that don't seem to trickle down to the common citizen. I have a great deal of affection for the culture and people of Kenya so I was looking forward to seeing their compatriots on the other side of the continent. Ghana didn't have nearly the appeal for me. While we admittedly were in areas where goods were for sale, I found most of the folks we met to be pretty aggressive and insistent that we spend our money with them. Twice we had cab drivers try to cheat us and at one point in Accra we actually had a guy follow us for about twenty minutes trying to sell us his artwork. He proceeded to wait outside of a shop that we spent a good twenty minutes in, and then he followed us back out again. Even when we made it clear that we didn't want us following us, he continued to harangue us and got pretty angry that we weren't showing him "respect". Apparently in this situation, respect means giving him money. It was uncomfortable and left a bad taste in my mouth. The other merchants we encountered weren't quite as bad, but were still quite aggressive. With all the poverty, it's easy to see why people might be motivated to get all the tourist dollars they can. This is one side of the visit, but there was plenty of good in the visit however which I'll describe here:

We arrived in the port city of Takoradi for the first two days of our visit.  On our first day I was the "Bus Lesion" for a trip to the Kakum National Park to the north of the city. The trip involved a two and a half hour drive through dry scrub and settlements. As we gained elevation we saw increasing greenery and banana and coconut plantations. Reaching the park itself, we found a small group of thatch roofed buildings with an entrance station. There was no visitor's center to speak of, but there was a small shop allowing the students to immediately start shopping. This park is in a tropical

A walk in the woods

rainforest and has a series of seven hanging bridges suspended about a hundred feet above the rainforest floor. This allows a person to experience the canopy of the rainforest and get an idea of just how thick and extensive the forest is. The bridges are about eight inches wide and are quite securely fastened. Each bridge has chest-high nets and hand lines to hang on to making them quite easy to traverse. Many of the students however found it quite challenging to look down on the high drop and deal with the bouncing and swinging of the bridge. I happen to be a bit of an acrophile and I had no trouble with the height or movement of the bridge. If you've ever done a ropes course, these bridges would seem like a sidewalk. The walk across the bridges was fun, although with fifty-five some students in our group hooting and hollering, you can hardly say that the experience was a solitary one. With all the noise, any birds and mammals were long gone.

Just hanging out

We did however discover a very cool green tree snake that seemed unfazed by our traffic. Following the rainforest trek we bussed down to a local restaurant and had a nice local lunch. Like East Africa, the food was heavy on meat and thick sauces. The vegetarians in our group didn't love the offerings but I found it plenty tasty.



Takoradi was our first port in Ghana. After a bit less than two days the ship transited to the slightly larger and much busier port of Tema. This port was closer to the city of Accra, which was a bit of a draw for the students. Also, several of the Field Labs for courses were in this area making the logistics easier for the busy Field Office aboard the Explorer. On our first day in Tema I took the ship's shuttle into Accra where I had a nice lunch with a few friends and looked around the shopping district. Accra didn't really speak to me and I was most looking forward to our next day which held all sorts of potential for adventure.

Our plan for the next day? One of the Professors aboard, Dr. Laycock who teaches Comparative Religion has a colleague who has worked in Ghana for nearly two decades. His colleague had arranged for a small group of our faculty to meet a group of leaders from the local religious community - a group of Fetish Priests, apparently the term they prefer over "Witch Doctors". This religious tradition is the West African faith system that shares common roots with the various aspects of Voodoo that developed from slave communities in the New World. We had no idea what sort of experience we were going to have - all we knew was that we would pay a small fee, part of which was going towards the purchase of "Aromatic Schnapps", which would be used in the rituals we were going to attend. We were to be picked up the following morning from the port and brought to Accra to meet the group of Priests. Just going to a voodoo ceremony paid for with alcohol - what could possibly go wrong?

Our group was met by a van outside the port gates and we piled in and headed along the coast towards Accra. Along the way we stopped at a coffin-building workshop to admire the "fantasy coffins" Apparently, this is something of a tradition in Ghana. People will commission a coffin to be built in the shape of a tool, an animal or some other thing that symbolizes their life. A fisherman might be buried in a giant fish, while a carpenter might choose a hammer. We saw both of these along

Yes, this is a coffin

with a six-foot long semi truck, a large vegetable and a movie camera. The strangest was a giant spider. When we asked our driver who might commission such a thing he just shrugged and said "maybe Spiderman?". There were five or six craftsmen in the shop and they seemed a bit bemused by the group of white tourists wandering through their shop taking pictures. They were quite friendly and smiled as we complemented on their craftsmanship. They were quite frankly the nicest people I had met in Ghana - they didn't try to sell me anything.

Following the coffin shop, we piled back into the van and continued our way towards Accra. As we got closer to the city, the traffic became thick and soon we were in stop and go with more stop than go. The heat was pretty intense and with no air conditioning, we had every window in the van open. All along both sides of the street and between the rows of mostly stopped cars wandered vendors. These folks were dodging between the cars with fantastic piles of goods balanced on their heads, selling to the autos as they inched through traffic. We were amazed by the incredible balance and the sight of all manner of products for sale. As we sat there in traffic we began to compile a list of things that would fill several different kinds of brick and mortar shops. Here's our list:

And she has to dodge motorcycles!

tissues, toilet paper, paper towels
papaya, Mentos, peanut cakes
windshield wiper blades, phone vouchers, cell phone covers
small bags of water, roasted ground nuts (peanuts)
bathroom scales, giant Jesus paintings
jump ropes, watches, bobble head dogs,
plantain chips, veggies/potatoes, banku, sugarcane, coconuts
belts, wallets, purses,
movies and dvds, sandals, sunglasses
laundry soap, air freshener, brooms and brushes
sliced bread and tubs of butter
some sort of fried-dough looking thing

All of this, just over the course of four or five miles. No need to stop at the store on your daily commute - it's no-stop shopping!

Eventually we made it through the traffic and entered Accra. Our van drove down increasingly narrow streets until we were deep into the part of town the tourists don't visit. We stopped in front of a narrow alley and were greeted by seven men dressed in traditional West African dress. These were the Fetish Priests. After a brief introduction, they began a welcoming ritual that involved chanting with a call and response that revealed the deep roots this culture shares with the slaves brought over to the New World centuries ago.

Welcome to Accra

The ceremony involved something that they called "libations" which was a ritual spilling of spirits (alcohol) on the ground and then filling a small cup and sipping from it. The entire ceremony lasted about twenty minutes, concluding with each of us being brought forward to sip from the cup. The libation was a clear liquid with the same smell and I imagine the same taste of lighter fluid. The ritual concluded, we were beckoned down the alleyway into a courtyard which was covered by a small tent with a ring of chairs under it. Three drummers were set up on one end and they began beating out a complex rhythm. This was the beginning of a second ritual that involved several of the Priests standing and dancing within the circle of chairs. We were each, one-by-one brought up with one of the Priests and encouraged to copy his motions. Following this, the drumming stopped and we were welcomed and introduced to each of the Priests. They explained the meaning of the various rituals and then explained that we were going to go visit a series of shrines holy to their faith. As I understood it, each shrine has a powerful totem which symbolizes (or perhaps embodies) an entity that allows the worshiper to communicate with God. Kind of like praying to a patron Saint to communicate your prayers forward.

We piled into the van, this time accompanied by one of the Priests while the others disappeared into another vehicle. Our van was led through a twisting maze of narrow streets with crumbling buildings and slow-moving people peering at the strange group of white people. We eventually stopped and were led down a narrow alley to another small courtyard where again plastic chairs were set up. Here we met a Priestess who explained that this was a fertility temple where women would come to have a pregnancy blessed or pray for a healthy child. The Priests called the place a "temple" but it looked for all the world like a mostly empty space that was being used to store old fishing gear. There were no idols, no images on the walls or any other indication that this space was used for anything of spiritual significance. In fact, we eventually were brought to four separate shrines, each in incredibly poor surroundings with nothing to indicate that they were in any way holy except for a small beehive-shaped mound in the threshold where apparently they make weekly offerings of cheese, butter or yoghurt. The actual "fetish", the symbol of the temple was kept behind curtains and we were not permitted to view it. At each temple we were either given small cups of the sour Schnapps to sip, or presented with chanting and call-and-response that we had observed at the beginning. Interestingly, at each site there was a local man who was not introduced video taping our visit. Following each Temple visit, we were asked to pose with the locals for a group photograph. They seemed very happy that we had come and spent time answering our questions at each site. It was quite fascinating, strange and vaguely off-putting. I imagine that from the outside any religion looks pretty strange to those not used to it, but this was so far outside my experience that I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing.

I understood that this religion was connected to the voodoo of Haiti and the Sanataria of Cuba by an ocean a few hundred years, but really don't know more than that about the roots of this faith system. I know nothing of voodoo except for movies that portray it in relatively unfavorable light. Here we were being presented with fertility temples and offerings of welcome to outside visitors - not exactly the dark rituals and dolls with pins sticking in them that Hollywood portrays. However we did get a glimpse at something perhaps a bit darker. One of our group asked the Priestess at the fertility temple if the temple was used for anything other than blessings for unborn children and she was told that yes, they also did death curses here. Wow.

After several hours of touring the different sites, we were brought back to the first courtyard and brought inside the building. We were offered drinks and a simple, but very spicy/tasty lunch of chicken and rice with potatoes. There was one final short ceremony and each of us posed for an individual picture with the head Priest who gave each of us a small carving as a thank you for coming. We then piled into the van for the long ride back to the ship. This was an educational experience unlike anything I've ever experienced. This day will stick with me for a long time.

The Prime Meridian!

At 1443 (2:43 p.m.) today April 5, we crossed the equator (0 degrees North/South) at the Prime Meridian (0 degrees East/West). This is a featureless point off the west coast of Africa and has no significance except for geeky-types like me. Whee!!!! One minute it's fall, the next spring. Actually it's pretty hot and feels like summer on both sides of both imaginary lines. We arrive in Ghana tomorrow morning.

'Round the Cape

After an uneventful passage around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, we approached the city of Capetown, South Africa on a clear, crisp March morning. We were just past the equinox and fall was in the air. The foredeck was crowded as dawn broke and we were treated to the distinctive skyline of Capetown with Table Mountain towering above the city, dominating the skyline. It was truly beautiful and I was psyched to get my boots on the trail to climb the sucker. (My inner peak bagger from my grad school days sometimes comes to visit my soul) Hillary said that we climb to get to the top, but really that was just a flip response to a question that if you have to ask it, you cannot comprehend the answer.

Capetown from sea

Following the requisite organized chaos that is customs clearance for a thousand plus people, we were released to go play ashore. I had no responsibilities in this port so I was free to join a group of staff and faculty who were looking to stretch our legs and tour the town a bit. The port facility is right downtown and we were able to get onto busy streets immediately and see what was what. The first shock was to have cars stop at the crosswalks - very different from China, Vietnam, Burma, and pretty much every single place we had visited including Hawaii. People seemed friendly and we had a pleasant stroll through streets where everyone spoke English and all the street signs were in good repair and easily followed. It was quite a treat.

We visited a local market and eventually found a street cafe where we enjoyed a beverage or two and a big basket of chips. "I don't want chips, I want french fries" was a line from one of our group. "Ahhh… 'chips' are 'french fries' here" was the reply. You have to speak English here, not American.

The following day was the big draw for me in this port - we were set to climb Table Mountain. We had a small group of six set to do the  climb and the weather was a bit of a worry. The day previous had been very windy and the mountain had beed quite cloudy by mid-day. This is a common weather pattern for this time of year and we were hoping to get some views from the top of the mountain. When I awoke I was pleased to see that the day had dawned clear and calm. We eagerly boarded the bus and were quickly brought around the city to the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of the city. We were met there by our hiking guide Binny and another guide Frank who was set to meet us at the top of the mountain. Binny cheerfully organized our little troop and we set out across the gardens to the start of the trail. Table Mountain pretty much rises straight up out of the ground with very little in the way of foothills. We went from a casual stroll to a hike worthy of New Hampshire - straight up. Our track was up the colorfully named "Skeleton Gorge". Switchbacks were few and sections of the trail were so steep that ladders had been installed in order to get us past the sheer rock faces. It was a bit strenuous, but our group moved well and after a couple of hours we topped out and took a snack break.

Our route up Table Monntain

I expected the top of a mountain called "Table" to be pretty flat, so I was surprised to be greeted by small peaks and valleys covered with thick scrub. It looked all the world like the San Raphael Swell in Southern Utah with hardy vegetation covering sand and rock. The top of the mountain is interspersed with five reservoirs built in the 19th century to supply water to the city. The upper basins were dry, but the lower ones still held water kept back by stoneworks hand-hewn from the surrounding rock. We could still see the scars on the sides of rocks were the stone had been broken out and shaped for the dam and stone pathways around the water basins. We spent several hours walking around and across the top of the mountainside and stopped on the far side to gaze down at the broad Atlantic Ocean far below us. There wasn't a breath of wind and the air was warm - it was hard to look across the water and realize that the next stop was Antarctica.

We continued our long loop around the mountain and in a couple of hours we reached our lodging for the night - a stone cabin maintained by the South African version of the National Park Service. I expected some sort of rustic building with rough accommodations and was pleasantly surprised to find bedrooms with comforters and china plates, silverware and even wineglasses for our evening meal. Very cush - not at all what you would find in an American national park to be sure. Our group spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing with a bit of napping and reading all that was on the agenda. As the sun sank low over the horizon, a few of us trooped out to a fantastic overlook and enjoyed the amazing sunset. Turning around, we were created by the rising

Moonrise - our cabin is on the left

full moon for a second amazing celestial spectacle. As the moon continued to rise, the lights of the city came up far below and we relaxed with a glass of wine and good conversation. We had a very nice group. Dinner was an amazing affair with steak, Tandori chicken, local sausage and roasted vegetables. Frank is an amazing cook and there was more food than we knew what to do with. The cabin had running water, but no electricity so our dinner was a lazy affair with great conversation and stories of South Africa from our generous hosts.

Sometime in the middle of the night I was awoken by the sound of the wind which had returned with force. I got up just before sunrise and bundled up and climbed up on some rocks above the cabin to greet the sun. I found a nice lee and huddled down to watch the sun rise. Clouds were pouring over the mountain and cascading into the valley below. The lights of the city stood out as the valley slowly began to fill with clouds. The sunrise was spectacular and by the time I got back down I found breakfast waiting for me. After a lovely meal, we packed up and headed out. Our original plan was to hike across the top of the mountain and take the commercial cable car back down to the city. The winds made that plan impossible, so we went to Plan B which was to walk back down. Binny's extensive knowledge of the area gave us a different way down and we were able to enjoy another aspect of the mountain and very different weather. I learned from a Hurricane Island Outward Bound instructor: "There's no such thing as bad weather, just different kinds of good weather".

Sunrise

The winds were whipping and the clouds were pouring over the top of the mountain - definitely a different kind of good weather from the previous day. We looped around through dry mountain vegetation and eventually passed down into thicker trees and occasional running water. We ended back where we began in the beautiful botanical gardens in bright sunshine. Looking up, we could see the clouds racing across the sky. The winds had not abated and indeed would continue to blow for the entire rest of our visit. We had hit on the only clear calm day in the entire week - good fortune indeed.

The following day four of us took a rental car south along the scenic coastline towards Cape Point - the end of the Cape of Good Hope. This is not the absolute southernmost point of Africa, but it is the one cited by mariners as they pass from Indian to Atlantic and back again. The weather was windy and threatening rain, but the drive south stayed clear and sunny. We enjoyed fantastic views and I got to practice my driving on the left skills honed in Kenya and Grenada. It's so much easier with an automatic transmission. Finding reverse in a hurry when you've got an elephant in the road is much more of a challenge than the smooth, wide roads of South Africa.

The view from Cape Point

We eventually reached the National Park and got to the lighthouse at the end of the road. There was a Visitor's Center and nice restaurant where we had a lovely meal that included my favorite beverage - Stoney! Stoney is an African Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic) that I first grew to love when I used to go to Kenya all the time. I was reintroduced to it last summer when Jim and I went back to Kimana and I was pleased to see it here as well. I'm currently sailing with a couple of six packs to enjoy for the rest of our voyage. While we were down on the Cape, I took a short hike with Ariana down the sea cliffs to a beach to collect a bit of sand for my beach sand collection. The

For the nautically minded

trail was a boardwalk that turned into a steep set of stairs down to the beach. Fun going down, a bit less fun going back up. Our timing was perfect and as we set down to eat lunch, the threatening rain came in and we enjoyed the smokey coastline from the safety of our Ostrich Burgers and Stoney. Happiness.


Retracing our way off the Cape, we turned further east and headed out to Simons Town, the home of a National Park site that hosts a huge penguin rookery. They have a series of

Lots and lots of penguins

boardwalks up to allow people to walk above the nesting penguins. My only other penguin experience was in Tasmania where I went on a "Penguin Safari". This consisted of standing out on the cold shore in the middle of the night to watch Fairy Penguins run across the beach to their nests. You could only see the animals from a distance, lit up by the spotlights of the guides. This was a completely different experience. Our stroll along the boardwalk showed us hundreds of African Penguins engaged in all sorts of behaviors. In the span of mere minutes we observed nesting, feeding, mating and all sorts of social interactions within the crowded colony. It was absolutely fascinating.

Our time in South Africa was way too short. I opted out of going on safari, which was the choice of many of my friends and most of the students. The safaris all involved long plane flights and huge expense. I've already spent a fair bit of money on this year without salary and I've decided to

Penguins are very cool

conserve my funds. Also, if you've read my posts of the awesome experiences Jim and I had in Amboseli this past summer, I figured that I wasn't going to top that anyway. It definitely leaves me with plenty undone here in South Africa and lots of desire to come back and visit again. Now we are on to Ghana on this whirlwind tour. More to follow.