Around the World Again

Banjul, The Gambia – April 16. 2018

When I tried to post my blog last night I needed to redeem a new internet voucher. It was the replacement for the voucher code that would not work previously. It, of course, did not work either and there was nothing that could be done about it at 11 pm. So, I was up around 8 hoping to catch Kass at her desk in the library. She was there and said she would have to check with Seattle about a different code.

Since my tour did not leave until 2, I decided to spend the morning at the pool. Grabbed my roll and juice and headed to the Sea View pool. The sky was a beautiful blue and there was a slight breeze. The pool temperature was perfect. I spent from 9:30 until noon swimming and sunning. Picked up lunch and ate by the pool. On my way back to my cabin I took a piece of chocolate cake that looked a lot like the room service cake. As I was getting in the elevator Barbara (the EXC Guide) was getting off. She mentioned how good the cake looked and I said I hoped it was as good as room service cake. She said that the room service chocolate cake has continued to be as delicious as it was since she first started working for HAL 20+ years ago. I am glad that they did not mess with perfection!

Back in my cabin I found four codes from Kass to try. None of them worked. I left her a note that I would be by to see her later. Taking some pictures from my deck I noticed there were craft vendors along the pier so I quickly got everything into my purse and went down to check them out. Bought a few items. I am not a good negotiator because I feel these people have so little that haggling over a dollar or two is silly.

At 1:30 I went to the Ocean Bar to meet for my tour which was through my travel agency. We waited until about 2:30 before the buses showed up (I heard later there was a shortage of buses for the ship’s morning tours). We finally headed out about 2:55. We were told we would get to see all the sights and the ship had already been alerted that we would be past the 6:30 all aboard time.

Have you ever wondered why the country is called “The Gambia”? According to our guide it is because Gambia and Zambia used to be confused so they added “the”. The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa and, except for the short Atlantic coast, is totally surrounded by Senegal. Through its history, the country has been under the control of various European countries but was a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations until 2013. English remains the official language. 90% of the population are Muslim.

We started with a drive through Banjul (which is on an island) heading to the Kachikally Crocodile Pool which has over 100 Nile crocodiles. They are fed fish and are, therefore, not real interested in eating humans so you could actually pat them on the back (which I did).

Then on to the batik and tie-dyeing workshop where we were shown how both are done. They had some beautiful fabrics as well as wall hangings available but I did not buy anything. Our refreshment stop was next at a guest house with a restaurant. There was a band playing (and some people danced) and we had a choice of a soft drink, bottled water, or a local beer (I had the beer) along with some of the local peanuts – peanuts are their biggest agricultural product. Surprisingly, the temperature was not overwhelming all day because of a nice breeze.

We had two short photo stops – one at the King Fahad Mosque (the largest in Banjul) and Arch 22. Our next stop was at the National Centre for Arts and Culture which contains a variety of artifacts. We were supposed to have some time to visit the largest market, the Albert Market (formerly known as the Royal Albert Market), but it was already 6:30 so we only had a chance to walk down the street and peeking in the shops (no shopping). Glad I bought what I wanted at the pier.

We finally got back on the ship at 7:00. I had already decided that I was not going to eat in the MDR because I needed to get my internet voucher situation sorted out. I went back to see Kass. She had e-mailed but had not received a reply so I decided to see if I could work out something with Guest Relations. The young man I talked to didn’t seem to believe that none of the codes Kass had sent worked so he tried them all. When they did not work for him either he called someone, got a code, and I finally had my service again. The bonus 100 minutes for purchasing before the cruise is nice but I am not sure I will consider buying it again.

By the time I had my voucher issue resolved it was 7:55 and I wanted to go to the 8:00 show of the group 4Ever. They were just as good as before.

Had room service dinner and worked on the blog and pictures until after midnight.

Dakar, Senegal tomorrow.

From my deck…