And so on April 6, we were clear of Brazil, in the Atlantic Ocean and on our way to Devil’s Island.  It’s still French, but they don’t keep their prisoners there anymore. Daniel had a great talk about it, including a sad tale about a man wrongly convicted, and how he was finally brought back to France.

Devil’s Island and The Dreyfus Affair

The World Stage featured pianist, Katie Clarke, and I always love a piano.

On April 7, we were at Devil’s Island.  The Island we actually tendered to was Ile Royal, the largest of Les Iles du Salut (Salvation Islands).  You could see Devil’s Island from there

Make no mistake.  Those are shark infested waters, at least they were when they were feeding them dead prisoners in the day.  I went out with Bev Moon and we walked around a bit, until the skies just opened and dumped on us.  We took shelter under a pretty substantial tree, but still got soaked to the skin.  So, it was back on the tender and into a hot shower.  So much for that.  Nice place but I wouldn’t want to live there.  I missed the magician, Craig Diamond, but I heard he was good, so I’ll catch his second show.

As of April 8, we were in for four sea days, and, of course I had high hopes of catching up – and I didn’t.  You guys must be wondering what I am doing with my days, and it’s not snoozing and having massages.  It’s not even playing Bridge.  I am as busy on a cruise as I am at home, busier when I am hosting.  It’s nice not to be this time, but I am selling cruises and servicing bookings, which can include selling insurance, working on claims, creating and maintaining Tripits for my clients, interacting with tour suppliers, booking my own travel, etc.  I did manage to get a blog out on April 8, so the catching up started well.

The Runaround Kids were on the main stage.  A four-piece boy band like we had in the late ‘50s, 60s.  Think Runaround Sue.  They were silly but fun and that’s my music.

The 9^th was another sea day, and I was busy with miscellaneous and assorted travel work all day.  There’s a lot of minutia in this business and that’s what people pay me to do.  The theory is that I get better at it, the more I do, and the new tools make it faster.  Well, some of them do, and some of them don’t, and pretty much all of them break a lot.  The good news is that It’s now cheap and easy to phone just about anywhere in the world and get your business done, even from as ship, as long as you’re patient.  I never thought I would be getting paid for patience, but that’s how it’s turning out.  Patience and persistence are the keys to success in this game, and it doesn’t hurt that I know my way around a computer and its mate, the Internet.  My assistant, TripIt, is going through some growing pains at the moment and I am helping by reporting problems, with screenshots, etc.  Their support team is pretty responsive.

We had Susana, the Hungarian violinist for dinner tonight, and she was delightful, then we all went to the World Stage for another dose of Martin Beaumont, who makes us giggle.

Daniel Edward was back on the stage on April 10, with a moving description of Cape Verde, where the slave trade began, think Roots and its hero Kunta Kinte.  His memory was evoked rather strongly.  YouTube doesn’t seem to have this video.  Maybe someday.  I took time out for that and went back to work.  I also had a nice walk around the deck, a good dinner at my fun table, and a half hour at the fun fair, where I managed to toss a couple of rings over a couple of bottle necks and won a couple of tickets, which won no prizes in the lucky draw.  Oh well.

On April 11, having run out of ports to talk about for the time being, Daniel got very philosophical and delved into the topic Pole to Pole to Pole.  The third pole being the middle, not the North, not the South, not the highest, nor the deepest, but the middle, where most everything lives.  It got deeper than I will ever be, but he’s always fun to listen to, and so were the Repertory company on stage at night. 

April 12, Land Ho! Mindelo, Ilha de São Vicente, Cape Verde.  You really need to send someone else out in the world to report.  I never even got off, after four days at sea.  What a bore I am. When I stay aboard on a port day, I really get to get some work done.  The best I can do is a picture taken from the promenade deck of an interesting mountain skyline of a sleeping giant.

And Katie Clarke was on the piano on the World Stage.

I did get off on Sunday, April 13, in Praia, Ilha de Santiago, Cape Verde.  And, well, it was Sunday.  I took the shuttle into town.  It left us off at this slightly frightening place. 

The locals were waiting for us, ready to walk us around any place we wanted to go.  I wanted a pharmacy and a very pushy passenger wanted to buy a couple of bottles of booze.  She was well on her way and willing to share, but I thought not.  What I wanted at the drugstore was Imodium.  I didn’t get it either.  It was Sunday and there was only one drugstore on the island open.  It’s address was posted on the shuttered one near us, but it was a 5 euro taxi ride away.  I didn’t need the Imodium that badly. Somebody on the ship always has it, if you do.

A little walk around and back to the ship. Craig Diamond was on stage and he’s a very good magician.

We were still at sea on April 14.  The Atlantic is a big ocean. Daniel was there to teach us about The Gambia and Senegal.  Daniel often teaches me things I feel I should know already.  No one has taught me quite as well before.  As often as I have traveled I never really realized that The Gambia, home of Kunta Kinte, looks like a snake on a map.  Apart from the part that touches the Atlantic Ocean, which makes it so valuable, it’s just a long curly sliver of land along the Gambia river.  

Britain had a lot of forts along that river and they manned them to be impenetrable.  The 1783 Treaty of Versailles gave Great Britain possession of the Gambia River and the French got the rest of Senegal.  The river was that important to the slave trade.  Wikipedia is a good source, once one’s curiosity is piqued.  Who knew this little country has meant so much? 

The Runaround Kids were back on stage, still silly, but good enough for a night’s entertainment before bed.  This is the life.

And the next day, April 15, we were IN The Gambia.  I was in the market, of course.  There were way too many “guides” waiting to escort us through.  I tried to get rid of mine by saying I had been here before.  He said he remembered me.  I told him that was unlikely because I had not been near the market the last time, having just shopped on the pier.  I knew that was right because I read my own blogs, usually right before I re-visit a place.  He stuck with me like glue.  Leading me all the way through the market to its outer edge, when I said I wanted a black marker.  I took pictures along the way whenever we turned, so I could find my way back out. 

There wasn’t a chance I would need them.  Your man remained stuck.  If I found a stall I liked, he became part of the negotiations. 

When he finally got up the courage to ask for money, for milk, for his baby, twice, I explained that I had planned to give him $10 for his services, keeping me safe and getting me back to my bus, BUT, every time he mentioned it again, I was going to subtract a dollar.  That worked so well, I wished I had come up with it in the first 30 seconds of our relationship.  He became focused on good things like making sure I got my change in a timely fashion, etc.  He was now motivated to get me through there and on to that bus, ten dollars lighter.  Money talks. I am learning its language.