CP53: Spirit of Africa by Roderick Eime

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Our reviewers look over EuroPa 2, the shiP that's creating a sIir with the best ratinqs irom Berlitz; and ioval Prince>s1he liner launched by the Duchess of Cambridge'

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*Mld-Atlantic in a force nine gale, the maitre d'was flamb6ing cr€Pes Suzette at the tableside of a dowager duchess. The shiP lurched and they landed in her lap. No one missed a beat'

34 South America

Krls Madden takes us to the port of Balboa and a cllPPer ihat looks as if she came from the set of Pirates of the Caril:bean

39 West Africa It's way off the tourist track, but G Adventures MS ExPedrtion

used to taking her Passengers outside their comfort zone'

43 GalleY Stars

Forqei shiP's biscuits TodaY s sailors are more likely to be se,rveo bv celebritY chefs len ot the best

Tricia Welsh

*While cruising South America, I was readlng Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of theWorid ab'out Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. The exPlorer and I found his strait at the same time: he after months at sea and me afterjust a few days and 1 78 Pagesl"

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CRT]ISEM lssue 53, Spring 201 3

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Contributors and writers Sue Bryant, Toni Eatts, Rod Eime, Louise Goldsbury, joanna Fiall, Nahrain -lohn, Sally Macmillan, Kris Madden, Teresa Ooi, Maggy Oehlbeck, John Pond, Sue Wallace, Tricia Welsh, Glenn Wheeler

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ADVENTURE MS EXPEDITION

Spirit of

WORDS & PHOTOS: RODERICK EIME

the western coast of Africa from Caoe Town to Dakar, our intrepid reporter discovers mystery and history way off the tourist track.

As M5 Exoedition traces

ou will travel far and the spirits will guide you safely

through many perilsj' Anthony whispers into his hands cupping the tiny object. And with that short and sweet blessing, he lnserts a tiny wooden pin into the little shaft and presents

me with my travelling talisman. Anthony,

idols arranged on the little table."You won't

not his real name l'm certain, looks at me with a satisfaction that reminds me of

frnd these legba lvodun ldol and gatekeeper to the spirit worldl out in the market," David says to me through barely moving lips, "these

triumphant used car salesman.

In this tiny, darkened back room, Dr David Conrad (a PhD in African studies)

are the real deal."

and I survey the bizarre assortment of fetish

hldden away in the backstreets of the capital,

Here ln Togo's Akodessewa Fetish Market,

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ADVENTU RE MS EXPEDITION

group Lome, a small contingent of our tour ventured has res'Expedition from G Adventu piles of inside the compound to examine the heads animal remains, withered desiccated and amputated parts on sale for vodun practitioners and curious tourists alike'

the dungeons

POIGNANT HISTORY

INAUGURALVOYAGE There are

colonial remnants of the once war-torn grisly nation of Angola Ahead of us are the Ghanaian slave ports of Elmina and Cape Coast, where visitors report hearing the ghostly whispers of long-departed slaves in

Passengers aboard

lt's a mixed G Adventures'inaugural voyage for sure: Americans, Australians' Brits'

bunch,

in Despite centuries of Christian influence Ghana' to Nigeria from Guinea of Gulf the the art of vodun is practised in some shape

Canadians and a sprinkling of Germans' Spanish and others. Each has their own reason for making this voyage Some die-hard

the G Adventures devotees will go anywhere company's flag is hoisted, while others simply just fascinated want to tick boxes. The rest are for the unthinkable long so by these lands, general tourist, and what they may hold in

When or form in both the cities and villages' in transported were West African slaves their thousands from these shores to the

'A hand-Picked platoon of I

lm p ress lvely

cultural and natural riches' into Our ship, M5 Fxpedition'was drafted loss sad the after service by G Adventures of stern of "the little red ship" in 2007 Made stuff, what she lacks in glamour is more than compensated for in sheer hard-core functionality. Built as an Arctic vehicle and passenger ferry in 1972,she has had several names but is now enjoying a relatively leisurely life refitted as a dedicated expedition vessel.There's generous space in allthe public areas, including bars, lounges and very decks, and she seems to have adapted wellto this new life Now she is tracing the western coast of Africa from CapeTown to Dakar, Senegal' the over 24 days Already we've gazed from Cape in heights ofTable Mountain

diuying

Town, explored the abandoned structures of Kolmanskop on the edge of the Namib Desert and investigated the Portuguese

credentialled lecturers, adventure

' r anOlavid guldes naturalists escorts us at every turn.' Caribbean and Americas, it became"voodoo" - and something else again The poignant slave history is the other predominant cultural experience available

to us at the many sites, now UNESCO recognised, in Ghana, Gambia and Senegal' The slave trade ltself extended almost the entire length ofthe African west coast and inland, and almost certainly exists in

well

some shaPe or form to this day

INDIANA JONES A hand-picked platoon of impressively credentialled lecturers, adventure guides and avid naturalists escorts us at every turn'

helping us unravel the flora, fauna and ethnic complexity we encounter every day l'm one among the small band that continually posthovers around David Conrad, a kind of eagle-eyed an and Woodstock lndiana Jones most art hunter who has forgotten more than land' crazy this about know ever will us of Others flock around Dr Steve BoYes' the ornithologist, while Wolfgang Kaehler plays Pied Piper to his wide-aperture gang

Elmina Castle, Ghana

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of camera-toting travellers Peter Baxter' historian, author and inveterate African field guide, draws a loyal following too'

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FIIGHS tc s.i uoti uq, oft-t hp-beeten tra.k iti nera ry;

Fishermen near Ghana's Cape Coast Castle rem nding us that Alr

ra s notjust

curious, rubber-recked vo1,eur. tac nq a nru tiiude of env

c/ryilo/ri ne/ll. for the

bv the planet's inquis tive fleet of adverture

is a land

vessels. Whi e the larger ships of Cunard and

LOWS

Crystal are comfortab e stopplng by the s.rfe

5r.lne poorly notched passenqers (mobtlity

rorrlenta

and

hunrar tarlar cha enqes, fronr messy and

1. ., .-

i. d e.p

6 ,.ion

inrrrerslon in c,.tItr-tral ond natural teatures; exceliertt orqcrtiscttian in o challenginq

9 qr6..

roots rredlca facillties.

UNEXPLORED BEAUTY I be coast of West Africa is one of the last

remainng parts of the wor d unexp ored

Nanr bian ports o1'Luderitz and Walvis Bav, lt's

o , lo' e rlly f Lrat ud..t .t'd . I. p Op . rl have deemed Ango a, Congo, Sao Tome arrd the Gulf natlons sutfrciently cf isis free to a lovv tourlst ship visits. Even so, a I precautions are taken aId, .

from Point No re in f ongo Lrnt I Accra r Ghana, we are joined by three verv

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/to cievarlar/ i,frara/ai

BEST SU]TED TC A,ctive, odventLnaus,

oper rrirrrTerl qrown

ups nol airaici fo exceed theit corDla)tt zonet r:ccasiona||y. Not physicol|), cha||enqinq, but tonq aoys (an oe taxlnq.

business ike ex-Royal Marines rr,rho stand

vlgl whl rA^,^^:^rrH'Jrul

e l\/iS Fxpeditiou passes through

. A^,^,A^, Al-l-rll

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oeer.nec necessary. In 2014, G Adventures wi lextend its

to N4arrakech and Morocco, a e.robl c "dled oopor 'J'lil ' fur llo . ,n .f, r'g -O .to. 01 i

danger

itrnerar-y

f^ I, oo, ol-dd' o

these mystical .un45

zones

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WHO ELSE GOES THERE? Hapag Lloyd is sending Bremenh October for 23 rJays and, while Saga Cruises, Silversea Llndb ad and Zegrahm lst the West Coast of Africa as an itinerary, none has pLrb isbed departures at time of writing. Freigbter voyages are ava lable too for example, 40 days return from Anrsterdam to Lagos.

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