West Africa Cruise

 With a  ”Spirit of Adventure”

Normally I am a fiercely independent traveller who avoids package tours and cruises like the plague. However, West Africa's individual countries can be difficult to visit. Thus, I selected a cruise. My cruise took place from February to March in 2011 on the Spirit of Adventure, a Saga ship, which has since been bought by a German cruise operator sailing again under its original name "Berlin".The ship has  a capacity of approx. 500 passengers. The week before I was scheduled to board “Spirit of Adventure”, the ship had a near-adventure of its own – an attempted attack by sea pirates off the coast of East Africa. On my departure date from Cape Town, South Africa, I drove up to the first viewing point under table mountain  and saw that the ship was securely anchored near the Victoria & Alfred complex. What a relief! 

Our Ship

Dining Room

Happy Waiters

Soon after settling into my comfortable cabin, we set sail towards Luederitz, Namibia. Namibia was a German colony from 1884 to 1919, known then as German South West Africa. After reboarding the ship and sailing past the magnificent Namib desert, with its spectacular scenery, we arrived in Walsh Bay to embark on a tour of Swakopmund. Famous as a Namibian beach resort, it still retains magnificent examples of German colonial architecture and charming coffee houses that I especially enjoyed.

Luederitz

Luederitz Town

Namib Desert

I eagerly anticipated our next port of Call, Luanda, the capital of Angola. I was intrigued by Angola’s history. Angola was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century to 1975. After gaining independence, Angola suffered a horrendous civil war lasting until 2002. Although it is the second-largest petroleum and diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa, Angola’s wealth does not get filtered down to the population-at-large and as a result Angola’s life expectancy and infant mortality are among the worst in the world. Due to a lack of individual freedom, safety concerns and potential hostility by locals, we were only allowed off the ship in a police-escorted bus convoy and could only visit certain nominated sites. Whilst I thoroughly missed my intended private walk through Luanda’s high street, and a visit to a café to interact with locals, I made the best of the situation.

Approaching Luanda

Luanda Apartment

Street Musicians

Arch in Luanda

Diamond Wealth 

After a somewhat eventful day, our ship set sail for an island state which over the years had grabbed my attention in the Olympics opening ceremony’s parade of the nations: Sao Tome and Principe, the second-smallest nation of Africa (Seychelles being the first). We disembarked by tender and visited local fishing villages, as well as the town square and its church. 

Kiddies on the beach in Sao Tome

Passing the island of Principe and steaming through the Gulf of Guinea, we arrived in Douala, Cameroon, where Western tourism is still rare (except for occasional arrivals from Belgium). Cameroon was also a German colony from 1884 through the end of the First World War and I eagerly awaited my visit to one of the main street’s German style bakeries and was not disappointed. Since we were there on a Sunday, we got treated to a very lively church service where the worshippers turned up in bright green robes: what a sight to behold! 

Church service in Douala

Next port of call: the lively harbour city of Cotonou (famous for its red brick cathedral) in fascinating Benin. 

Cotonou Cathedral

I had been prepared for the impact of the history of slavery by my prior research, augmented by several on-board lectures. But nothing could stop my flow of raw emotion when I visited “Point of No Return” on the beach just outside of Ouidah. That site is a memorial to those who were kidnapped, sold, and sent off to the other side of the world. Whilst slavery in Africa was prevalent for milleniums due to intertribal warfare, it gained another dimension with the arrival of colonial powers seeking to fuel their massive sugar plantations in the New World. As a result Benin’s coast developed into the largest slave trade centre in Africa, thus earning its moniker: the “Slave Coast”. Here we walked the path of the slaves, with the huge difference that we were not in chains and could leave this site as free people. Still, tears were running and the moment was more than still in memory of a time when millions disappeared from Africa until the abolishment of slavery in 1870. 

The Point Of No Return Memorial in Ouidah Benin

the Slave Memorial in Ouidah

Benin and especially Ouidah are also known for the practice of Voodoo, in fact, Ouidah hosts a famous annual voodoo festival in January, and even our visit was not complete without a visit to the voodoo temple and its high priest.

Ouidah Voodoo High Priest and Consorts

Voodoo Temple

Back on the ship, we sailed onwards towards Togo’s capital Lome, which impressed me with its welcoming locals, palm-fringed boulevards, colourful markets and a cathedral reminiscent of its German colony period. Wow, what a welcome complete with a camera crew waiting for us port side. A definite highlight was a visit to Lome's famous fetish market.

Film Crew in Lome

Lome Cathedral

Fetish Market

Onwards to Ghana! After some sightseeing and visiting a school in Accra we indulged in something very western: heading for the huge Accra mall for a decent “flat white” and free wifi. 

Accra Presidential Palace

Light Tower in Accra

School in Accra

Girls at Accra School

While in Takoradi we observed local fishermen mending their nets and the atmosphere around the port was more than lively. 

Always working on the Fishing in Ghana

Sierra Leone was yet another country, which piqued my interest, mainly due to the horrendous civil war that raged from 1991 to 2002, allowing some comparisons with Angola. Freetown exhibited lots of trading everywhere, a positive attitude towards  tourism and overall a much friendlier approach. 

Beach Resort in Sierra Leone

Musicians in Freetown

Dancer in Sierra Leone

Beauty in Freetown

The Gambia, next on the itinerary of the “Spirit”, had been open to tourism for years, exemplified by its Senegambia coastal strip complete with resort hotels, eateries, bars and cafes, along with lots of wrinkly ladies sunbaking under colourful umbrellas. Another attraction in Banjul was the Albert Market, a frantic place of bartering and selling. 

Gambia Batik

Banjul Gate

SeneGambia

Soon after, we anchored in the amazing port of Dakar in Senegal. Perched on top a picturesque peninsula, Dakar offers elegant boulevards, plenty of street hustling and vibrant markets, all of which is but a ferry ride away from “Ile de Goree”, another symbol and memorial to Africa’s tragic slave trade. For me, a highlight was a visit to the famous “Grande (and green) Mosque” which I had previously seen on several post cards. It sits in the middle of the Medina, Dakar’s oldest township. 

Presidential Palace in Dakar

Green Mosque

Prayer Time in Dakar

Far too quickly the ship's captain steered us away from  colourful as well as tragic West Africa into European territory of the Canary Islands and Madeira before our cruise suddenly came to an end. Whilst such a cruise has only offered glimpses of an amazing part of the world, I felt quite satisfied with my experience and may well be lured back to explore the region further. 

Happy Cruisers

Sun is setting on our Cruise