Today we are in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, a new port for us and many others we know. The population is 23.4 million people that speak primarily French as well as several African native dialects. The capital is Yamoussoukro in the interior of the country. Also known as the Ivory Coast, this country has a similar history of civil war as the previous stops. However, these days, it is making a comeback. The coastline is reportedly full of starfish-studded sandy beaches with palm tree forests and roads of orange soil. It is said that the soil resembles bronzing powder. Funny that should be mentioned, because the more you drive on these dusty roads, the more orange sands you will be wearing. Some of the country's hidden secrets are nut-cracking chimps in the forest of Parc National de Tai. There are beach resorts outside of Abidjan with lagoons, skyscrapers, cathedral spires and surf beaches. Nightlife is said to be unmatched. Exactly where, we are not sure. We never saw the downtown area today.
What do they like to eat? Grilled fish with grated cassava, which we believe to be manioc root, or chicken and guinea fowl simmered with veggies are some of the favorites. The drink is Flag beer although we read that Tuborg has a brewery here. A random fact is that fewer than 300 elephants are in the Ivory Coast due to poaching many years ago.
The day began with the Zuiderdam sailing into the estuary where several docks were located. The one assigned to us was an empty sand lot with a new berth. Nothing else was there. We did see a sign saying that a new terminal is in the works for this spacious property. It was overcast once again and the temperature was 84 degrees. High humidity is always present. When the sun did peek through the clouds, the heat was brutal. One bad thing was seeing rafts of garbage, mostly plastic bottles and wrappers floating by. They even had herons walking on top of the piles, looking for food. One lone red kite flew over the floating raft of trash. Suzanne, who had recently completed the Grand Africa voyage in the fall, said their dock had been covered with so much garbage, it had to be cleared before anyone debarked. Luckily, we were in a different spot today.
Five excursions were offered and all of them had lunch included. Akwaba Abidjan was $170 for 6 hours, while both Colonial Grand Bassam and a taste of Ivoirian cuisine and culture were $210 for 6 hours. Finally, a trip to Banco National Park was $220 for 6 hours, and Abidjan and the Botanical Gardens of Bingerville was $280 for 6 hours as well.
Right off the bat, there was a switcheroo with the shuttle stop. Originally we had been informed that the free bus would take the guests to the Pullman Hotel. But the Daily Program listed the shuttle as going to an Arts and Craft Market outside the city center. For those of us that researched the area in and around the Pullman Hotel, we'll have to start over. And today being a Sunday, we have been warned that most everything will be closed. And yet another incentive to book an excursion on the ship perhaps?
There were shuttle bus problems from the start. Too many people, not enough buses. It was up to a thirty minute ride each way to this market, and for what it appeared, there was only one bus. When the guests began pouring off of the gangway at 9:30am, Ian had to announce for them not to wait outside in the hot sun, but go for a cup of coffee as the bus would not return for a half hour. Buses held up to 55 guests, and there was a line 100 deep. Doing the math, we might as well wait until noontime before leaving. We had a lot of computer work to do anyway to stay caught up. By the way, none of the crew members would be allowed off of the ship today, as if that should make everyone feel better about the lack of buses provided? We cannot begin to imagine the grumblings going on where the folks were waiting for those shuttles near the gangway. Bet it was not a pretty sight.
In the meantime, we could hear some pretty strange music or chanting coming from across the estuary. Could be church services or tribal gatherings – nothing we recognized. We stayed onboard until close to 12:30pm, then went off of the gangway right into the waiting bus. At least we were grateful those tiny shuttles were not being used like yesterday. The ride to the Arts and Craft Market took us away from the downtown area to a more industrial part of town. The further we drove, the worse it looked.
Turning down a narrow one-way dirt road, we were dropped off at the "hidden market", entering through an unadorned opening. Some folks, especially the single ladies, never left the bus when they saw this entrance as we could not see the market for the tightly squeezed tents. We had come this far, and decided not to back out now.
Deeper into the maze of covered stalls, we felt like we had entered the identical market we saw in Banjul, The Gambia, 5 years ago, only on a smaller scale…and no produce or meat market. The treasures resembled those of the Gambia as well or even Senegal. Anyway, there were souvenirs galore here, which included wood carvings, trinkets, woven baskets, masks, some costume jewelry, hand-made batik dolls with matching bags, fans, and purses. Being careful not to point, we did look everything over and decided there were some possible things to buy. One was a leather (?) purse, but they were asking too much. Four times too much. We passed on it. Other items were cute African dolls dressed with the colorful batik. This worked for $6 and will be easy to pack and weighed little. The last purchase was a pair of beaded sandals in the correct size, which is difficult to find. No Cinderella slippers for me. The price was right at $22.
After about an hour of exploring, we boarded the waiting bus for the ride back to the pier. We did notice that some of the entertainment crew members were on this shuttle, so they are allowed to leave over the regular workers. We were back onboard the cool ship by 2pm after being greeted by Nik our dining room waiter. Room service lunch arrived by 2:15pm, indicating there is no problem once again with them being overwhelmed. We ordered beef paninis and a shared Caesar salad. The size of the salad has been reduced because we suspect they are running out of the produce. Only green apples are left, so we had better stock up for a few days before they run out.
All aboard was 4:30pm, and before leaving, the Captain mentioned something about confusion over the time. Yesterday, GMT had observed daylight savings time, putting their clocks ahead one hour. The ship did not spring ahead, but many of the guest's computers, GPS watches, cameras, and other devices had done it. No sense going ahead to go back in a day. So they did nothing. So confusing, as long as we were not late to dinner we joked.
The ship sailed out of the huge estuary and past the bulkheads with scores of locals watching us leave. Something tells us this was a special event, and not many cruise ships stop here on a regular basis. Once outside the harbor, a breeze picked up and it was actually comfortable on the veranda again.
Tonight's attire was suggested as "sporty". What did that mean we asked. Reading the program, it tied to a sports themed evening of events such as trivia, majority rules game, and a sports commentary challenge. People were encouraged to wear sport team colors or t-shirts, jeans, and baseball caps. A few even came dressed to dinner that way. Not our tablemates, we are just happy to figure out the menu and what a lot of descriptive words mean. Barb discovered that jambalaya meant a pile of rice and mixed boiled veggies dotting the rice with a few spicy shrimp. Next time if she orders the dish, she will request to have half the rice, no veggies, and only a pile of shrimp. Susie did contribute her little ear of corn from her BBQ rib plate giving it to Barb. We had one trout dish, which really looked just like salmon, and one prime rib meal medium rare. The horseradish was so hot it burned the lips. Both meals were good. Only orange slices, honeydew melon, and mangos were available for the fruit plate, so we ordered jello instead.
We have two sea days before reaching The Gambia, which will become just another sea day for many of us.
Bill & Mary Ann
