Random thoughts from the sea
Day 85, Grand World Voyage Wednesday, March 29, 2023; Banjul, The Gambia. In 1977, more than half of the U.S. population at the time watched the TV miniseries “Roots.” I was just out of college and remember being mesmerized by the story about the young African Kunta Kinte, who was
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Days 81 and 82, Grand World Voyage Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, 2023 Takoradi, Ghana, and Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Between them, the west African countries of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) account for about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa production. Yet less than 6 percent of the global chocolate
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Day 80, Grand World Voyage Friday, March 24, 2023; Null Island, South Atlantic Ocean. We had finally arrived. Hundreds of smartphones confirmed it. Latitude 0 degrees. Longitude 0 degrees. But where was that dang island? Actually, as we all scanned the water’s surface, we weren’t looking for an island, but
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Day 77, Grand World Voyage Tuesday, March 21, 2023; Luanda, Angola. Don’t we all like to think of ourselves as travelers who would rise to the challenge: “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before?” To
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Day 74, Grand World Voyage Saturday, March 18, 2023; Walvis Bay, Namibia. When the pandemic ended our 2020 Grand World Voyage in Australia, one tour company in Africa refunded all our money. We didn’t have too many private tours booked, but most were small companies that didn’t have the cash
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Day 73, Grand World Voyage Friday, March 17, 2023; Luderitz, Namibia. It must have been a wonderful life, living on the edge of the desert with more money than they knew what to do with. The German residents of Kolmanskop in what is now Namibia had a tram to take
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Day 71, Grand World Voyage Wednesday, March 15, 2023; Cape Town, South Africa. Raise your hand if you thought the Cape of Good Hope was the southern tip of Africa? If so, you are wrong. But didn’t we learn that in school? The most southern point in Africa is Cape
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Day 68, Grand World Voyage Sunday, March 12, 2023; Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, South Africa. By the time I checked the Holland America excursions in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), South Africa, both non-safari day trips were sold out. For those who haven’t chosen to take overnight safaris, there are several day-trip safari options,
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Day 66, Grand World Voyage Friday, March 10, 2023; Kruger National Park, South Africa. How do you measure the success of an African safari? Some say by “hunting down” the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. At one time that meant hunting with guns, and those were
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Day 65, Grand World Voyage Thursday, March 9, 2023; Kruger National Park, South Africa. “Look, it’s a yellow bird!” “There’s a red bird.” “It’s Big Bird!” “I see another red bird through the bush … wait, it’s the elusive Red-Tailed Toyota!” Who knew there were birds among the elephants, lions,
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