Wednesday, October 16, 2013

takoradi

We awoke yesterday to the smell of smoke as we arrived in Takoradi, Ghana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekondi-Takoradi) around 7:30am. There apparently are not many passenger ships that arrive in Takoradi Harbour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoradi_Harbour); it is mainly for container ships and is very industrial, almost hazardous to walk. We had been warned of a couple of things in Takoradi - the persistence of the young men who are trying to sell their wares (bracelets, bookmarks, key rings, paintings, various articles of clothing), and the gutters and gaping holes in the sidewalks that are full of raw sewage. We were advised to use mosquito spray (we were already taking our malaria medications), to carry no more "stuff" than we absolutely needed, and that we would absolutely need toilet paper and hand sanitizer. John had decided he would stay on the ship and use the time to get some work done, and I went out with one of the other women on the ship whose husband was off on a field lab with his students.

A shuttle bus had been arranged from the ship to the port gate and we got on it after talking with some of the young men at the market that had been set up just off the ship. They were indeed persistent, but very warm and welcoming, calling me and my friend "mama", as they did with all women our age. As we approached the port gate, we could see another, much larger gathering of these fellows. They are all selling the same things, but introduce themselves as famous artists in Takoradi. As the bus doors opened, we were absolutely overwhelmed by this group. We had been told that if you don't make eye contact and just keep walking saying "no thank you", they will eventually leave you to find someone else and this does work, although having them all invading personal space and grabbing at your arms is a bit disconcerting! We were planning to walk to Market Circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_Circle,_Takoradi,_Ghana) and met up to walk together with one of our Life Long Learner couples and three students.

The whole experience is not one I will soon forget and one that I am still trying to process. It would be difficult to overstate the amount of filth in this city. The open raw sewage is real, the market area is packed with people and full of food. The smell is impossible to imagine and difficult to tolerate. There were lots of vegetables, fish both raw and dried, snails the size of your fist (my companion said later they looked like something out of a Disney movie and should have had names), some textiles and other items. We stayed on the outside of the market because we were afraid what we might find or how we might react if we went inside, and it was very hot and humid outside, worse inside. But then we began to look at the people there, mainly women and children. They had radiant smiles and words of welcome for us. They tried using their limited English. Young mothers showed us their babies. There are not a lot of tourists in Takoradi and they seemed genuinely happy to see us. Children carrying trays of items on their heads followed us. These children work as hard as their mothers do. As dirty as the city is, they are clean and so are their clothes.

After walking the entire circle, we decided it was time to head back to the ship, so we started back the way we had come. We split up - the students got a cab to go to the beach, and the LLL couple decided to stop at a grocery store. My friend and I walked back to the shuttle, occasionally stopped by the young "artists". It was a very hot walk back; taxis drove by and honked and asked if we wanted to ride (this is the only place I have ever been where the taxis call YOU), but we continued walking were relieved to get back to the port and the ship. I have felt no need to go out again, but am very glad we had a little adventure in Takoradi.

In an hour or so we will be leaving for our next port, Tema. It is not far away and we will be there in the morning. This port is close to Ghana's largest city, Accra. Some of us have plans to go to a market tomorrow and eat lunch off the ship. Can hardly wait to see what our next adventure will be!

flying fish, dolphins and whales

We have sailed for many days to arrive in Ghana, and have had numerous issues with Internet access along the way, thus the length of time since the last entry.

The waters have been smooth from Casablanca and there have been several days when it was lovely to sit outside and enjoy the sun and look at the beautiful turquoise water. We have seen silver flying fish, their wings shining in the sun (do they travel in flocks or schools?), and dolphins playing in the water. Some people, including John, have seen whales further from the ship. I did enjoy these days on the water so much, spending lots of time on our balcony reading, knitting or just watching the sea.

Unfortunately lots of people got sick in Morocco and were very sick for a few days. At first it appeared that the cause was food poisoning on one of the camel treks, and although that may have been one cause, others who had not been on that trip became ill. In the end there were so many sick our medical staff had to report the outbreak to the CDC, triggering a health classification of the ship which required the staff to do sanitizing at a high level. I think we are still in this situation because we smell bleach wherever we go. A number of people were in quarantine  (tricky for student roommates who remained healthy) and the cabin stewards were very busy delivering meal trays and helping to clean up cabins. Our cabin stewards are wonderful and hard-working individuals who care for us as if we were family. Most people have now recovered and have learned not to use local water in some of these places for brushing teeth, not to eat fruits and vegetables that may have been washed in contaminated water, and so on. Everyone had been warned about this, but there is nothing like first hand experience to enhance learning!

Our many days at sea gave us time to get to know some of our shipmates better. I know I have told some of you we are traveling with two former astronauts, one of whom is Academic Dean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_C._Thornton). The other teaches astronomy on the ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Nelson_(astronaut)). We also have a couple of Life Long Learners who have had solid academic careers and who have collaborated in both academic and fiction writing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Hatfield, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rapson). Of course we have many talented faculty, staff, and Life Long Learners, and our students are a delight.

We have spent more time with our extended family, and as expected it is fun getting to know these young people. We had a chance to have a more formal dinner in the "special" dining room and it was a fun evening. Cody took some great photos, and if you keep an eye on http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/fall-2013/, you should see one of his photos of our family published on the Fall 2013 Voyage Blog in an entry about the extended family program. We have been told the photo will be in the article, but the article is not there as of this writing. There are other very interesting entries in the voyage blog that you might find interesting as well.

We hope all of our Canadian friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!