One of the advantages of sailing on a half full ship is that we get to do things that we can’t often do and see things that we can’t often see. The Volendam arranged to take us on “Behind the … Continue reading Behind the Scenes on a Sea Day
I originally thought I would be writing this post from Casablanca comparing the Sacre Coeur, a former French Cathedral built in the Art Deco style with clean lines and a simple style with the Hassan II Grand Mosque, which I … Continue reading Serving the Same God, Dakar
…and an additional thought. One of our stops on our Dakar tour was at a Sand Painting workshop where the proceeds from sales of sand paintings go to UNESCO, the UN Educational and Cultural Organization. Sand painting, called “souwér” in … Continue reading Two Dakar Sidebars…
Our friend John likes to call people who travel on Holland America tours “Sticker people.” That’s because before we get on the bus, we have a dayglo sticker with a number slapped onto our jackets or shirts. That way each … Continue reading Sticker People (Dakar)
I came to Kubunah Village to see Wide Open Walls but came away with a lot more. Modou Lamin, our town guide, provided us with glimpses of different aspects of life in Kubunah. We visited women oyster fishers. They gather … Continue reading Kubuneh Village Life
When you google Wide Open Walls, Gambia the Village you are most likely to see come up is Galloya. It is close to the airport and easy to get to. It is the center of the Wide Open Walls Project … Continue reading WOW, The Gambian Art Villages.
Spiritual dragons, but very real. In 2010 the Village of Kubuneh got a proposition from a British resort owner, Lawrence Williams. He had an eco-resort adjacent to the mangroves on the Gambia river. He was also an artist. Williams, along … Continue reading Here There Be Dragons
We heard drumming outside our sliding door. We were getting ready for breakfast to be sure we arrived on time for our 8:45 pickup. We had booked a car for the day (you will read more about that in future … Continue reading Welcome to The Gambia!
I wrote about Palm Sunday and music in Paria 202in an earlier post. I don’t have much to add except that the city has spruced up a lot in the last 7 years, with new paint and continued restoration of … Continue reading Praia Gallery
When we were in Cabo Verde seven years ago I fell in love. I thought “I could live here.” I have agreed to live in places that I had never visited. I visited here, albeit for only a day, but … Continue reading “I Could Live Here”
In a strange way Cabo Verde reminds me of Singapore. Singapore is a good place for Americans who think Southeast Asia is outside their comfort zone to begin their exploration. It eases you in. It’s clean, orderly and feels safe. … Continue reading Africa Starters’ Kit, Cabo Verde
The Kriol Jazz Festival in Praia ended last night (Saturday, April 12) and I wasn’t there. Last night we were on Volendam heading from Mindelo on Sao Vincente Island in Cabo Verde to Praia, the capital. Missed it by a … Continue reading A Day Too Early…A Day Too Late. Cabo Verde
Brazil casts a long shadow. I am sitting in the stateroom listening to “Brazilian Memories” from David Amram’s “No More Walls” album. When we first started KAXE it was a real ear opener, with music from different genres and lands … Continue reading Brazilian Memories
Îles du Salut in Fr2025ench. So called because missionaries from the mainland of South America sought refuge from disease on these three islands, just 11 km (6 nautical miles) from the coast. The three islands are named Isle Royale, St. … Continue reading The Isles of Salvation
Normally Gil Serique’s tour in his hometown of Alter do Chão, about a 40 minute drive from Santarėm, is a little over 5 hours and includes a drive through Henry Ford’s town of Belterra and a walk in the Tapajós … Continue reading Gil Serique Redux. Alter do Chão
We left the Amazon about a week ago but I am still sorting pictures and sifting through my thoughts. This is a photo gallery will remind me of an area where the river rises annually and people build houses to … Continue reading Life Along the Big River
Going on an Amazon Adventure with Gil Sirique is kind of like going to Catholic mass. It is a multi-sensory experience that, at sometime during the event, engages each and all your senses. Of course it’s different from the mass, … Continue reading With Gil in Santarėm
Are Poseidon, Neptune, Njördr, and Manannán mac Lir separate sea gods for the Greeks, Romans, Norse and Celts or are they manifestations of the same being? Certainly, they are manifestations of the same spirit of the sea. I am particularly … Continue reading Crossing the Line
Sometimes going to museums is sobering. The Manaus the Provincial Palace started as a home for a rubber baron who went broke when the Brazilian rubber market crashed. The Englishman Mr. Henry Wickham (you will hear more of him in … Continue reading Halfway, Manaus
As far as I can tell Viking River Cruises has not yet discovered the Amazon. It is a pity because there is so much to see. Fortunately, for us, Holland America does cruise the Amazon and on three cruises we … Continue reading A Gallery of Riverboats.
Americans are used to the divide between red and blue, as in red state, blue state. But in Parintins, Brazil, on the Amazon, it has a whole different meaning. Every year at the end of June, Brazil’s third largest party, … Continue reading Red and Blue, Boi Bomba Redux
(Plural Intentional) Along the Amazon there are places where rivers join but because of differences in qualities of the water they do not mix for miles. The most famous in at Manaus where the Rio Negro meet the Amazon. The … Continue reading Meetings of the Waters
John Hartford included those words in a song about the Ohio River. A version of the line was originally attributed to Mark Twain as “Too thick to drink, too thin to plow” about the Missouri. As we rode in a … Continue reading Too Thick to Navigate, Too Thin to Plow
Today our ocean cruise became a river cruise. Last night we crossed the bar and we woke up this morning in the Amazon River. The river runs west-southwest from its mouth, which is just above the equator. So, we crossed … Continue reading River Day (Not a Sea Day.)