With the Explorer in Africa.

[drron]

And while I ate our trumpeter was entertaining us-

Now in this and the next post will be the dancers.I am going to give you a quiz.Two of the dancers became my favourites.The question is which two?

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[drron]

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Now I will be out of action for a while so the answer will come in roughly three days.I think it is easy to choose though.

 

[drron]

So back to Togo.During the dancing two of the women put a spell on drron.That's my story and I am sticking to it.These two had the biggest of smiles,asked for their photos to be taken and asked drron to join them dancing.These are the two-

The bands manager took this photo for me and I promised him I would put his details on line.They are trying to get some money together to make a CD so that they then may be able to raise some revenue for the village.
His email address which is also his name [email protected]
And here is the bands name-

I thoroughly enjoyed these few hours at the village.it will be remembered for a long time to come.Drron even bought two dolls here for his grandaughters which passed muster with Mrsdrron but more importantly his granddaughters-

But the day isn't over.We are heading back to Lome but will stop at a village to observe a vodun ceremony.Each bus stops at a different village.But first a few shots along the way starting with a teak nursery-

and a market-

We left the bus and walked down a lane.People went about their work-

and I intrigued this fellow who followed me around-

But these four caught my eye.They will become important later.

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[drron]

This is not a picture of overeating-

However virtually all the children we saw during this cruise appeared reasonably nourished and a great majority appeared happy.
Then to the site of the ceremony.The heirarchy was already there-

People were ready to make music-

And the dancing began-

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The youngsters played to the visitors-

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Now who could resist these faces-

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[drron]

Or these-
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So when asked to dance Drron just had to say yes.And this time there are pictures to prove it.

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An older woman took me up to dance but gave up very quickly.So the young boys took over my tuition-

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They thought it was pretty funny so one of the young girls cut in and took over the teaching role.I think I might even have got it right-

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Our maitre'd got in on the act as well.
The local cheif of police didn't seem impressed though-

 

[drron]

Two women went into a trance.This one we were told was not from the village but had come here to sell books.She however got caught up in the ceremony-

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She was taken into the village,another covering for her top and her face painted-

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At one stage it seemed our guide was in a trance as well-

But now our day in Togo was coming to an end.So back in the bus.At points along the road there were checkpoints.Locals took advantage to try and sell some goods-

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[drron]

So some last photos on the way back to the Explorer-

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And for the last time on this voyage I say goodbye to our guides and prepare to board-

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[drron]

That day in Togo I will remember for some time.However it was a long day and we didn't get back to the ship until 6pm.To top of the day we had dinner with Stefan.Once again my beef came just as ordered and full of flavor.
Before dinner we had a performance by a local Togo group.Didn't do much for me.The dancers though were good-

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The dinner was the Captain's farewell dinner.Fortunately as the tour had got back late we did not have to have our bags out this night we were given an extension until 6am on the morning of departure.
So we went up to the bar for some last drinks.the last song was performed by our wine waiters Ricci and Eva.Both were exceptional at their job and they could sing too-

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Alfredo at the piano was as good as ever-we had met all 3 before.
Thursday and we were up early and Mrsdrron finished off the packing.I used the last 30 minutes of our internet time.A leisurely breakfast and then waited until we got cleared to disembark.We had hired a 12 seater van for the 6 of us for the day.I was half expecting it not to turn up but it was there at 7am.Africa never ceases to amaze.
A last problem,the Ghanain authorities decided to do random bag searches before clearing the ship.A suite from each deck was selected and they had to open their bags and everything inside was inspected.Fortunately we were not selected.

Finally got clearance a little after 0830.went to our minibus and met Sammi our driver.He turned out to be a gem.

 

[drron]

The first bit of advice I have if there is a small group with a day pre or post cruise in Accra is to consider hiring a minibus.We did this through Avis for the 6 of us.In Ghana Avis will only rent you a vehicle with a driver.The cost $US170.Compare that to the Silverseas day tour at $US209 per person.
Our only problem was American express.Despite my giving them our itinerary before leaving home and specifically telling them I would be renting from Amex in Accra they knocked back the charge.I ended up paying cash.But that was a saga.The woman had to ring to get permission to access my booking.Then ring another person to authorise her to accept cash.Then I gave her $200 so she had to ring yet another person to bring the change.keeps employment figures up.

So our itinerary was worked out by Mrsdrron.It had a very heavy shopping bias.So first we went by the motorway to Wild Gecko crafts.This had a very good selection of crafts,fixed price and about 40% cheaper than the same items in South Africa.And Amex accepted the charge.

Sammmi then took me to an out of the way currency exchange.I did get about a 5% better rate than the banks.This was close to our second stop-Woodin a material and clothing store.Again a very good range and what Mrsdrron wanted.The prices were 70% less than in the Duty Free store at Accra airport.
Next was the African Craft Market.However this was mainly wooden articles which we basically cant take back into Australia.It was interesting to look around however.Sammi had now worked out what we were about and took us to Oranyane Crafts overlooking Osu beach.Up market but a great range of products even including coffins so we didn't have to go to a coffin makers.The beach however has a terrible rubbish problem

The last thing for the morning was lunch.Mrsdrron had chosen Buka.it has a good variety of Ghanain and Nigerian dishes plus roast chicken and fish dishes for the less adventurous.very clean and well appointed.I had a local stew.The others stuck to more conventional dishes.
Seated at the next table was an American couple.They were boarding the Explorer for the next voyage so we had a good chat.

The afternoon next.

 

[drron]

Sorry I had forgotten i did not finish this TR so here we go.

After lunch we let Sammi choose.Mrsdrron had basically got what she wanted apart from some Dutch wax fabric for our son.We were taken to the final resting place and memorial to Ghana' first president.We had some inside information as two of the passengers on board had been in Ghana from it's Independence to Mr. Nkrumah's overthrow.Naturally their stories are different to the stories told by the guide at the Memorial.
Certainly he led the move to Indepence but by 1964 he had himself declared President for life and called himself an unaligned Marxist.Of course he had 2 palaces and drove around in a Cadillac.He was overthrown in 1966 in a military coup.The memorial was built by the Chinese.
Mrsdrron had done extensive research on tour guides and despite saying she didn't want to go to this memorial all of them insisted it be part of the tour.
Next we were taken to the African"Cultural Centre.Quite a misnomer as it consists of a ramshackle collection of stalls with no air circulation and was unbearably hot.None of the fabric stalls knew what mrsdrron meant when she asked for Dutch wax fabric.

At that stage we decided comfort was now important so we went to the Accra mall.A typical large air conditioned mall.However if you only have a couple of hours before needing to go to the airport this is probably where you should head as it is close to the airport.Also the craft shops and an upmarket fabric shop were much cheaper than the shops at the airport.Plenty of food options.We just had drinks so I could taste a last bottle of West African beer.

Now just a suggestion when leaving Ghana by air after a cruise.We had no trouble checking in but we were given many different versions of what to say on our departure forms.At the first check point we had not filled in our home address or hotel we had stayed at in Ghana.The fellow told us to just put Australia as the address and leave the hotel section blank.
Second checkpoint-told we needed to put in our full home address but leave hotel blank.
Third checkpoint-now had to put the name of the ship in the hotel section.TIA.
Security was a farce.Had to take shoes off but not belt,watches etc.Machine was obviously turned off as no one set it off and everyone then got a pat down.
Lounge facilities-only one lounge for all airlines.But also a Diners club,priority pass lounge and if you pay 20CDEs($10) you can get in anyway.So obviously it was crowded.

 

[drron]

In the lounge you get 30 minutes of free wifi.but with everyone trying to access it there was no point.No showers so changed in the toilet.Both the automatic hand dryer and the paper towel dispenser were out of action so everyone who bothered to wash their hands was using tissue paper-there was a box provided.

SA53. ACC-JNB. ETD-2230. Push back-2230. Take off-2239.
ETA-0630. Landed-0553. At gate-0602. seats 4A,C.

Definitely no premium boarding here though they do announce it.First to get to the gate you go through 2 more passport and BP checks plus a check of carryon-though i just walked through that and no one tried to stop me.Several Afrikaners pushed their way past and blocked the access to the actual gate.So when boarding was called for families with infants(and it seemed the definition of infant included all children) and Business class passengers there was no way anyone could get past so they all boarded the first bus.This bus had at least triple the number of j seats and only a handful were in the J cabin of that first bus.As an aside at no time did I find the nature of afrikaners endearing.

No pictures of this flight.We had been up since 0500 and just wanted some sleep.Mrsdrron soon had her eyes closed.I took a little longer so had a pre take off orange juice,a ginger ale and a vegetarian lasagne which was forgettable.A fitful sleep.Woken to be given a glass of mixed fruit juice.boarding had been through the middle door so most headed back.We noticed the airbridge was heading towards the front door so nearly first off.No lines at Immigration.our bags(3) were off in the first half dozen so we were in the arrivals hall before the plane was due to arrive so had to wait 20 minutes until our driver arrived.But in the Sheraton Pretoria by 0730.Review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nces-and-reviews/sheraton-pretoria-50579.html

 

[drron]

When we arrived not surprisingly there wasn't a room ready.We waited in the lounge and it was just on an hour when a room became available.we were on the top floor with a side on view of the Union buildings.Our priority though was to catch up on sleep.This day was programmed as a rest day,we needed it.The lounge is spacious and the food was quite reasonable though not in large amounts.That was probably because very few use it.In fact on our first happy hour we were the only ones sitting there.Three others came and collected food and went back to their room.The hot foods available were beef ribs,calamari and large fries.

With the executive floor rooms you get a complimentary minibar.Water,fruit juices,coke,beer,kitkats and pringles.For the coffee lovers there was a Lavazza coffee machine with a selection of pods.if you have read the Sheraton review you will know of the problems we had when we decided to have dinner at the Sheraton.Only the buffet was available and the excuse was that they had a new cook and he couldn't cope with the buffet and cooking A La Carte meals.Sounds like they hired the wrong fellow.After this first stay we wondered if we should consider changing our hotel when we returned from Botswana.However as many of you know loyalty schemes do have the downside of tying you to a chain.If we changed I might fall short of requalifying as SPG plat.

This was a one night stay and we then went off to Botswana.That is covered here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-trip-photos/a-botswanan-adventure-50060.html

I will now go on to the second Pretoria stay and our flight back to Australia

 

[drron]

On our second stay we arrived at about 1630.We went straight to the lounge and once again a room on the top floor this time directly overlooking the Union buildings.There was a lot of activity as they were preparing for Freedom day in 4 days time.This was the 19th Anniversary of the first post-apartheid election.

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For dinner we just went to Happy hour.Again the only 2 there.At least the South african Sauvignon blancs are nice.
Wednesday 24/4.We are toured out.Besides the news when we arrived showed the riots in Soweto.They even burnt down their KFC outlet.The South Africans though were trying to confuse us.We watched the morning news on SABC 2 and they tried to convince us it was Tuesday.We went to the Menlyn Park mall and the shops there had the date up as wednesday 25/4.Mostly we just people watched but Mrsdrron discovered a piece of southern Africa she loved.It was called Tanzanite.One of the Department stores had a sale of Pringle so we did pick up a few items.

We had lunch there at the Baobab Grille.A huge restaurant so we did wonder if it was going to be good.Need not have worried.Great service from Steve our waiter.The food was good.Mrsdrron had an entree of bone marrow(the best she has had) and then 2 grilled lobsters.I started with a pot of mussels then had a fillet steak plus a lobster.We chose the dearest SB on the wine list and plus a generous tip the bill came to $A76.
We got a car back to the hotel.The driver was an interesting fellow.Was genuinely pleased we were Australians telling us he remembers when he was 8 Australia supporting the boycott of South Africa and hearing a speech by our PM Malcolm Fraser.He then told us his story.he was taken from his mother at age 5 by an American NGO.He remembers thinking that whites were bad so he ran off and lived on the streets until age 18.He did find his mother at the age of 30.
He then told us of his children's dreams-his young daughter wants to be a doctor.He is grateful his children have a chance that he was denied.Once again you feel inadequate when this fellow can speak nine languages.However his last words to us was for us to tell all Australians how thankful he was for their support.

After our large lunch we didn't need much for dinner and we did have a large platter of biltong,dried fruit and nuts as well as a fruit platter and a bottle of champagne all complimentary from the hotel.It was much busier on this night.It looked like African dignitaries coming in for Freedom days.The large suites on our floor all had a few guards outside.
Thursday and we got up late.Brekkie in the lounge and as our flight was in the afternoon I went across the street to the Union buildings and got treated to a full dress rehearsal for Freedom day.

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[drron]

And the action was not all on the ground-

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Yet with all this going on I was the only tourist watching.Quite a few of the African service men and women came over and had a chat.they really are a very friendly people and it is sad they are being let down by the high level corruption.This fellow does express it well-
Daily Maverick - Freedom Day 2013: The South African dream, still deferred

So just the flight home to come.

 

[drron]

Walking back from the Union buildings I recognised the face of an Australian walking into the Sheraton(his ID said australia).Cant remember names but guess it was a pollie.We had a few more of our nibbles before checking out at 1415 and heading for the airport.Had a little delay with a crash on the M26 but arrived in good time to maximise lounge time.First got our bags wrapped and then headed for the VAT refund.5 agents and 3 people waiting.Only one agent though worked.They give you a visa loaded with Euros-they decide the currency and today it was euros.At least you have a year to use it.with the dollar going down it has gone up in value.

No troubles with check in,Immigration or customs so off to do a little Duty free shopping and use up our rand.Things are at least 30% cheaper than Sydney and Amarula which we got to like was 60% cheaper than Sydney.Qf use the SAA lounge but you cant get into the Flounge section so we went over to the BA lounge.The F section is a little small but a good selection of food and wines.
Off to the gate where there is another hand check for liquids.I walk through again without being stopped.Picked up our duty free at the gate.arrived as they were boarding families with "infants".70 kids on this flight.None in the nose section but some went upstairs.Champagne served as soon as seated.

QF63 JNB-SYD. ETD-1815. Push back-1810. Take off-1830.
ETA-1440. Landed-1351. At gate-1401. Seats 2J,K.

Mrsdrron got no recognition on this flight.No menus were loaded for dinner or breakfast so FA had to go to every pax with her written copy of the menus for us to choose.Naturally took a little longer than usual.Dinner was good apart from Neil Perry's leaves which once more went untouched.Mrsdrron had the chicken and mushrooms-

I had the vegetarian lasagne whicg was good-

We both had the citrus layer cake-

The couple in Row 1 were laughing so much I couldn't sleep and even had problems concentrating on my Soduku.finally got off to sleep and awoke 1.40 hours out of Sydney in time for brekkie at midday.at least it was a hot breakfast but as usual everything is served at once so the tea is cold by the time you want to drink it.
The woman in 2B was continually complaining.The FA was always talking to her.She boarded on a wheelchair,had to have her carryons put in the bin by FA.Yet at SYD she had no problems walking faster than me and lifting her bags off the carousel.couldn't use Smartgate as we had been to Africa.Also had to go through quarantine as some of our souvenirs needed fumigation.We hadn't taken long until it came to paying the quarantine fee.There were 7 workers standing around when we arrived at the desk at 1420.Told she couldn't be served as it was change of shift at 1430.So waited until 1440 to get to pay.Not impressed.
Once that was done it was quickly into our Avis car and off to the Four Points.

 

[drron]

One of my reasons for doing these trip reports is to provide information on some travel ideas that are different.Though to be really honest the major reason is I have something to look back on and jog my memory.
So for this report it is to bring the idea of Expedition cruising to those who have not tried it.But to me the best Expedition cruising is to do it in style with Silverseas.All the tours we did on this cruise are included in the cruise price.The destinations generally are those less visited with less infrastructure for tourists.I certainly would not have gone to the countries in West africa any other way.All the tours are included in the price.It really is all inclusive.

There are however enough SS features that make the cruising very comfortable.You have your butler and suite attendents.The Main dining room is structured in the same way and many of the staff we have met on the other ships.The standard on this last cruise was excellent.Not only the service but also the food.A big call but this would have been near the best MDR food we have had on silverseas.
You dont have a cruise director on the Explorer but instead you get a whole Expedition staff instead.Many of them are very interesting people as well which leads me to the first link.Roddy Bray was one of the Expedition staff and lecturers.He has set up and excellent resource for researching African travel here-
About GreatGuides.Org - Roddy Bray's Great Guides
For Benin and Togo the land segments were organised by these people-
www.transafrica.biz
For the other countries a lot of input was from these people based in Seattle-
Africa Easy | African safaris and tours by South African native | Africa Easy
Nadia was on this cruise and a delightful person to know.

I have sorted the food pictures on this cruise but no captions as yet-
https://picasaweb.google.com/ron.dol...M2lwoOkuuHnhAE#

So the next long report will begin in August when we are again sailing on the Explorer from Reykjavik to Churchill,Canada.My wish is to be able to post pictures of walrus and beluga whales.

 

[turtlemichael]

In the lounge you get 30 minutes of free wifi.but with everyone trying to access it there was no point.No showers so changed in the toilet.Both the automatic hand dryer and the paper towel dispenser were out of action so everyone who bothered to wash their hands was using tissue paper-there was a box provided.

SA53. ACC-JNB. ETD-2230. Push back-2230. Take off-2239.
ETA-0630. Landed-0553. At gate-0602. seats 4A,C.

Definitely no premium boarding here though they do announce it.First to get to the gate you go through 2 more passport and BP checks plus a check of carryon-though i just walked through that and no one tried to stop me.Several Afrikaners pushed their way past and blocked the access to the actual gate.So when boarding was called for families with infants(and it seemed the definition of infant included all children) and Business class passengers there was no way anyone could get past so they all boarded the first bus.This bus had at least triple the number of j seats and only a handful were in the J cabin of that first bus.As an aside at no time did I find the nature of afrikaners endearing.

No pictures of this flight.We had been up since 0500 and just wanted some sleep.Mrsdrron soon had her eyes closed.I took a little longer so had a pre take off orange juice,a ginger ale and a vegetarian lasagne which was forgettable.A fitful sleep.Woken to be given a glass of mixed fruit juice.boarding had been through the middle door so most headed back.We noticed the airbridge was heading towards the front door so nearly first off.No lines at Immigration.our bags(3) were off in the first half dozen so we were in the arrivals hall before the plane was due to arrive so had to wait 20 minutes until our driver arrived.But in the Sheraton Pretoria by 0730.Review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nces-and-reviews/sheraton-pretoria-50579.html

I'm doing the reverse flight, JNB-ACC, early next year and your report does not fill me with joy. At least mine is a day flight.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Wonderful images drron.

I can't say the continent of Africa is on my list at the moment, but without offending anyone perhaps when I am older as I think the best way to see it is as you have done - all-inclusive cruising.

Thank you for taking the time to write this great TR

 

[Stoopidsteve]

Drron and Mrsdrron, thank you for sharing your experiences. Great pictures, great insights, and wonderful photography. One of the pleasures of this site is admiring your TRs, and thinking "One day..."

 

[Flying Fox]

Thanks for the great TR. It takes me right back there!

The woman in 2B was continually complaining. The FA was always talking to her. She boarded on a wheelchair, had to have her carryons put in the bin by FA. Yet at SYD she had no problems walking faster than me and lifting her bags off the carousel.

Gosh, I have seen this quite a few times before. Was she American???

On one internal US flight I swear that 10 pax needed wheelchairs to get on the fligt but the amazing healing power of an AA flight meant that 0 pax needed wheelchairs to get off !!!